Sony PS3 SACD to *ISO | DSD 1bit-2822,4kHz 2.0 | 2xISO 4.46GB
FLAC 24bit 88.2kHZ 2.0 | DR11 (+6dB gain) | 1.98GB
Classical | Label: EMI | Catalog Number: 50999995591025 | RAR 3% Rec.
The Signature Collection is a brand new series from EMI Classics featuring the finest catalog recordings released for the first time ever in high resolution format. The first batch of ten titles which include Jacqueline du Pré s Elgar Cello Concertos, Giueseppe Di Stefano s Neapolitan Songs and Walter Gieseking s Debussy: Complete Piano Works offer listeners more clarity and detail than ever before. The expert engineers at Abbey Road Studios who remastered the original EMI recordings on Hybrid Super Audio CDs have breathed new life into these iconic catalog recordings. Each title in the Signature Collection is beautifully presented in a full-color illustrated hardback book. The liner notes explore not only the rich music but also the story behind original LP covers. Also included are never before seen photographs of the original master tapes
Felix Mendelssohn:
01.The Hebrides Overture Op. 2610:20
Symphony No. 3 in A minor Op. 56 'Scottish'
02.Andante con moto - Allegro - un poco agitato - Assai animato - Andante come prima15:17
03.Allegro non troppo05:15
04.Adagio09:36
05.Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro maestoso assai e guerriero11:50
Disc: 2
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major Op. 90 'Italian'
01.Allegro vivace - Più animato08:24
02.Andante con moto06:22
03.Con moto moderato06:22
04.Saltarello: Presto06:14
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D minor Op. 120
05.Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft -11:26
06.Romanze: Ziemlich langsam -03:54
07.Scherzo: Lebhaft - Trio -05:17
08.Langsam - Lebhaft - Schneller - Presto07:44
Surprisingly excellent Mendelsssohn from Klemperer - sterling sound May 27, 2012By W. Chiles
Having purchased and subsequently lost the prior remastering of the Mendelssohn recordings, I'm quite familiar with the brilliant account of these symphonies by Klemperer. Fortunately, EMI's engineers decided to give some of their better master tapes the royal treatment, remastering them using today's higher resolution technology. The performances were highly praised in ARG reviews for their (uncharacteristic for late Klemperer recordings) well paced tempos. The 4th is nice and breezy without being as rushed in the first movement as so many conductors treat it. You can hear brilliant articulation in the winds and a transparency combined with weight that was unique to Klemperer. The 3rd or "Scottish" Symphony benefits from Klemperer's good judgment in giving the bombastic and un scottish coda it's proper weight. I hate how most other conductors just blast their way through it as a means of coping with its awkwardness. Klemperer does tend to slower tempos than his contemporaries but not by such a great degree as you might expect. The finale of the 4th is indeed slower than the indicated vivacissimo indicated in the score but it still works quite well. Maybe not as brilliant as my favorite recordings (Commissiona/ Baltimore on Vox if you can find it, or Abbado,LSO on DGG) but still quite good.
The Schumann 4th was an unexpected pleasure, weighty yet quite transparent. Klemperer admits to a bit of tinkering with the score to eliminate some doublings or add others to improve balance, but this was rather common in his era when conductors were not so pedantic about fussing with original scores where the performance would be enhanced by it. For years many of us considered Szell's Cleveland Orchestra recordings of the Schumann symphonies to be definitive and he was not above some judicious retouching of the scores for sake of balance. Again, the SACD sound is warm and transparent, free from distortion with just the right amount of air around the notes. Significantly better than their first remastering around the early 90s. The packaging and notes are deluxe in hardbound booklet form. The discs are in sleeves at the beginning and end and a bit difficult to remove, but well packaged nonetheless. Get it while you can as EMI loves to release and drop from print quickly. If you don't have an SACD player, these are hybrid discs, playable on your CD player. The CD layer is derived from the high resolution remasters and sounds better than the prior release.
Note that the Mendelssohn 3rd uses the original coda, not the alternate developed by Klemperer using Mendelssohn's sketches. He recorded that alternate ending during these sessions and I wish to hell the engineers included it, but you get a nice weighty Hebrides Overture all the same. The notes state that the Klemperer live recording of the "Scottish" symphony with the Bavarian Radio Sym. DOES use his alternate ending. I'm eager to hear it as the original coda suffers from bombast and weakens the overall structure of an otherwise delightful and inventive work.
