Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko – Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 ‘Leningrad’ (2013/2015)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:19:07 minutes | 3,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: ProStudioMasters | Booklet, Front Cover | © 2xHD
Three weeks after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Shostakovich volunteered with the Home Guard in Leningrad. As the siege of the city intensified, he worked on his Seventh Symphony, completing three movements before being forced to leave Leningrad and travel east by train. The work was completed in December that year. Initially he gave each movement a programmatic title, but later withdrew them, leaving this epic work as an emblem of heroic defiance in the face of conflict and crisis: ‘I dedicate my Seventh Symphony to our struggle against fascism, to our coming victory over the enemy, to my native city, Leningrad.’ Shostakovich’s epic Seventh Symphony is a study in defiance and survival, written largely in the ruins of the besieged city in 1941. Its reputation has fluctuated over the years, with its immediate post war reputation largely low. But in recent years it has taken its rightful place in Shostakovich’s symphonic canon. As one of the Twentieth Century’s most recorded symphonists, the composer has been the subject of many recordings.
The award-winning Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is the UK’s oldest continuing professional symphony orchestra, dating from 1840. The dynamic young Russian, Vasily Petrenko was appointed Principal Conductor of the orchestra in September 2006 and in September 2009 became Chief Conductor.
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Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko – Dmitry Shostakovich – Symphony No. 4 (2013/2016)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:04:52 minutes | 2,56 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Booklet, Front Cover | © 2xHD
Completed in 1936 but withdrawn during rehearsal and not performed until 1961, the searing Fourth Symphony finds Shostakovich stretching his musical idiom to the limit in the search for a personal means of expression at a time of undoubted personal and professional crisis. The opening movement, a complex and unpredictable take on sonata form that teems with a dazzling profusion of varied motifs, is followed by a short, eerie central movement. The finale opens with a funeral march leading to a climax of seismic physical force that gives way to a bleak and harrowing minor key coda. The Symphony has since become one of the most highly regarded of the composer’s large-scale works.
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Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gustavo Gimeno – Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1, Scherzi, Theme and Variations & 5 Fragments (2012)
Gustavo Gimeno conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg in a fascinating survey of confident, assured and striking orchestral works by the young Shostakovich. This new recording for PENTATONE includes his breathtaking Symphony No.1 op. 10 — the student work which brought Shostakovich international fame.
While indebted to the Russian masters, Shostakovich’s early works nevertheless demonstrate his precocious brilliance, originality and flair and they offer an intriguing glimpse at the evolution of his distinctive, mature style. From the easy going and good humoured Scherzo op. 1, the Tchaikovskian Theme and Variations in B-flat major op.3, or the Stravinskyan Scherzo op. 7, his youthful vitality is never in doubt. But with his Symphony No.1 op. 10 he produced his first masterpiece and found his own distinctive voice. It’s a thrilling work full of sardonic edginess, pained introspection and dramatic outbursts, and closes with a barnstorming finale. Composed 10 years later, the aptly titled Five Fragments for orchestra op. 42 are short, pungent and austere pieces; the arresting style is modernist but the sound is unmistakeably Shostakovich.
Following his acclaimed conducting dbut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2014, Gustavo Gimeno took up the post of Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg with the 2015/2016 season. An auspicious collaboration with PENTATONE followed in 2016 and three releases with the orchestra are planned in 2017. “His musical rhetorics are refined, his grip on the structure of the compositions is accurate and convincing” observed Joep Stapel in the NRC Handelsblad, “Gimeno knew how to keep the tension and made the musicians … excel.”
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Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko – Dmitry Shostakovich – Symphonies Nos. 2 & 15 (2012/2015)
DSF Stereo DSD64, 1 bit/2,82 MHz | Time – 01:06:53 minutes | 2,64 GB | Genre: Classical
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:06:53 minutes | 1,18 GB
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Booklet, Front Cover | © 2xHD | Naxos
This album was mastered using 2xHD’s proprietary system. In order to achieve the most accurate reproduction of the original recording they tailor their process specifically for each project, using a selection from their pool of state-of-the-art audiophile components and connectors. The process begins with a transfer to analog from the original 96kHz/24-bit resolution master, using cutting edge D/A converters. The analog signal is then sent through a hi-end tube preamplifier before being recorded directly in DXD using the dCS905 A/D and the dCS Vivaldi Clock. All connections used in the process are made of OCC silver cable.
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Sekou Bunch – Sekou (2012)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:04:45 minutes | 2,55 GB | Genre: Jazz
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:04:45 minutes | 1,24 GB
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: nativeDSDmusic | Booklet, Front Cover | © Fonè Records/Audiophile Productions
“What? Mr. Bunch” neatly frames the question: how do you define Sekou Bunch as a musician? Obviously, he is an electric bass-player of extraordinary talent. To my ears it goes further than that: he is simply the best I’ve ever heard. Note particularly on “Catano”, “As A Matter Of Fact”, “Night On The Town” and “Pastels” that Sekou plays the Tenor-Bass melody with the pyrotechnical skill that will be admired by the most accomplished guitarists! Further yet the man writes some lovely tunes; and further still he is a cool, calm and collected musical director who never loses his head, even under the most musically trying circumstances. It is getting late at night (read early morning), some of the best are battling… but Sekou never misses a beat (or a solo-trick), never loses his smile of sheer musical enjoyment: he uplift and inspired everybody to give of their best and they respond… You hold the results of their collective talents in your hands now. Sekou molded his repertoire around some of the most interesting (and diverse) players around California and demonstrated a whole palette of sound-colors in his arrangements. So those are my impressions and experiences with Sekou Bunch. Trumpeter Tom Browne chose Sekou for his gold album “Funkin’ for Jamaica” (and as co-writer on the hit single “Thighs High”). Anita Baker selected Sekou for her PLATINU M album “Givin’ you the best that I got”. He has toured the world with Melba Moore, Tom Browne, Phyllis Hyman, Dave Grusin, Jocylyn Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Dayton, Randy Crawford, Bernard Wright, George Duke, Anita Baker and Sheena Easton… All in all we’re in pretty good company in choosing Sekou Bunch for our VITAL label. –David Manley California, 1991
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Olli Mustonen – Scriabin: Etudes & Preludes (2012)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82 MHz | Time – 01:07:01 minutes | 2,66 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: HighResAudio | Digital Bookelt, Front Cover | © 2xHD – Ondine
This album features the acclaimed Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen with piano works by Alexander Scriabin, which have become his signature pieces in recital. The virtuoso sets of Etudes and Preludes cover a wide range of late-Romantic expressions, from heroic to religious, ecstatic to melancholic. The Sonata No. 10 is regarded as one of Scriabin’s greatest works. The collection culminates with the pianistic tour-de-force of Vers la flamme, an astonishing piece famously championed by the late Vladimir Horowitz.
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Alexei Utkin, Igor Tchetuev – Robert Schumann: Pieces for Oboe and Piano (2010)
DSF 5.0 Surround DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 48:59 minutes | 4,84 GB
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 48:59 minutes | 1,94 GB
Official Digital Download – Source: nativeDSDmusic | Booklet, Front Cover | © Caro Mitis/Essential Music
In his youth Schumann was reputed to be a tender-hearted and desperate Romantic. This is undoubtedly true. We need only recall his ardent love for future wife Clara and how passionately he fought for her, how fervently he poured his feelings into numerous piano pieces and spared no effort in writing critical articles, where he furiously attacked Philistines and waxed lyrical about talented young composers such as Berlioz and Chopin.
When Schumann later found family happiness and his life became more tranquil, at least to outward appearances, characteristics that had previously lain hidden finally surfaced. The pieces recorded for this album give an idea of what the mature Schumann was like as a person and what interested him. Nearly all of them (except the violin sonata) were composed in Dresden, where he lived from 1844 to 1849. It should be mentioned that the change in Schumann’s place of residence which involved leaving Leipzig, the epicentre of musical activity, and moving to quiet, peaceful Dresden was undertaken on the advice of his doctors. The composer suffered from bipolar affective disorder. He was overcome by bouts of terrible depression which, in the end, also led to his death. Initially the move brought no relief: ‘I am still badly afflicted and often quite despondent. I am not allowed to work at all, only to rest and take walks, but often I lack the strength even for a stroll,’ wrote the composer in October 1844.
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Thomas Oliemans, Paolo Giacometti – Schumann: Lieder – Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (2016)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82 MHz | Time – 32:04 minutes | 2,47 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Bookelt, Front Cover | © Challenge Records
Two souls, alas, reside within my breast’ Faust ascertained, and he was not the first to do so. From time immemorial we have quite some struggle with our inner contradictions, and we try to restrain them in many ways. Knowledge, alchemy, music, literature and drink are just some of the paths we follow in search of clarification and in the hope of gaining mastery of these troublemakers. Through the centuries all this has given rise to many literary and mythological couples: Apollo and Dionysus, Yin and Yang, but Florestan and Eusebius, Schumann’s literary and musical alter egos, are part of this tradition as well. The cautious, gentle Eusebius, as distinct from the more impulsive, high-spirited Florestan, prevail over both the musical and literary oeuvre of Schumann, as a line of approach, a disguise, and an attempt to get a grip on his inner turmoil.
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Title: Steven Wilson – Drive Home
Release Date: 2013
Genre: Progressive Rock
Production/Label: Kscope
Duration: 01:02:22
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: AVC
Audio codec: PCM, DTS
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 21305 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 96 kHz / 4608 kbps / 24-bit
Audio#2: DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 96 kHz / 6628 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 6.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Size: 15.93 GB
Available in both Blu-Ray/CD and DVD/CD combinations the ‘Drive Home’ video EP is essentially a single from The Raven that Refused to Sing, but so much more! The video disc consists of the two Jess Cope directed videos for ‘Drive Home’ and ‘The Raven That Refused To Sing’, and 4 songs filmed live in Frankfurt on The Raven That Refused To Sing tour, approximately 35 minutes of high definition live footage. Also included as audio only content is ‘The Birthday Party’, a previously unreleased track taken from the recording sessions for The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories), and an orchestral version of the album title track. All content on the video disc is mixed in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound.
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Title: Steven Wilson – Grace for Drowning
Release Date: 2011
Genre: Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Art Rock
Production/Label: Kaleidoscope Entertainment
Duration: 01:23:03
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: AVC
Audio codec: DTS, PCM
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 24500 kbps kbps 1920*1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 / 96 kHz / 6188 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 6.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: English LPCM Audio 2.0 / 96 kHz / 4608 kbps / 24-bit
Size: 30.31 GB
This is the high resolution Blu-Ray format version of the Steven Wilson Grace For Drowning Release. It features the Album in hi resolution 5.1 stereo audio plus 2 bonus tracks, six work in progress demo versions and 5 promo videos.
Steven Wilson is a twice Grammy-nominated producer, writer and performer, best known as founder and front man of British rock band Porcupine Tree, He has also produced and /or mixed albums for artists as diverse as Swedish metal band Opeth, Norwegian chanteuse Anja Garbarek, and progressive rock institution King Crimson, Last year, he also co-wrote and sang a track from Pendulum’s number one album ‘Immersion’, Porcupine Tree’s last album was a top 30 album in both the UK and USA, and the tour climaxed with sold out shows in October last year at Royal Albert Hall in London and Radio City Music Hall in New York. ‘Grace For Drowning’ is the second album released under Wilson’s own name, and builds on the artistic inroads he forged with 2009’s exceptionally well-received ‘Insurgentes.’ A double album (two 40-45 minute albums in the same package), Wilson has described it as
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Title: Steven Wilson – Get All You Deserve
Release Date: 2012
Genre: Rock, Progressive Rock, Experimental Rock
Production/Label: Kaleidoscope Entertainment
Duration: 02:11:23
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: AVC
Audio codec: DTS, PCM
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 24955 kbps 1920*1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 96 kHz / 7280 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 6.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: English LPCM 2.0 / 96 kHz / 4608 kbps / 24-bit
Size: 38.67 GB
Get All You Deserve, is a new high definition audio-visual set from Steven Wilson. Directed by long-time visual collaborator Lasse Hoile, Get All You Deserve was filmed in Mexico City during the recent Grace For Drowning Tour. The set captures the spectacular live experience that Wilson and Hoile created for the tour on Blu-ray.
Steven Wilson is a twice Grammy-nominated producer, writer and performer, best known as founder and front man of British rock band Porcupine Tree. He has also produced and /or mixed albums for artists as diverse as Swedish metal band Opeth, Norwegian chanteuse Anja Garbarek, and progressive rock institutions King Crimson and Jethro Tull. He also co-wrote and sang a track from Pendulum’s number one album Immersion. Porcupine Tree’s last album was a top 30 album in both the UK and USA, and the tour climaxed with sold out shows at Royal Albert Hall in London and Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Grace For Drowning was the second album released under Wilson’s own name, following 2009’s exceptionally well-received Insurgentes. The album, released in September 2011, entered the UK top 40 album chart at #34, both the Dutch and German national charts at #22, the US Billboard Rock album chart at #19 (#13 in independent chart) and debuted at #7 in the Polish national charts.
Following the release of Grace For Drowning, Steven embarked on his first ever solo tour, assembling a virtuoso band, featuring Marco Minnemann (drums), Nick Beggs (bass), Theo Travis (flute and sax), Adam Holzman (keys) and Niko Tsonev (guitars), to accompany him. For the shows he worked extensively with Lasse to create a show unlike nothing else that he had ever done with his other bands, Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, No-Man or Bass Communion.
The shows submerged fans in a rich sensory experience: rear speakers provide surround-sound effects, giant screens show off Lasse’s films made specifically to accompany these songs, and cutting-edge lighting designs giving texture to each song.
Get All You Deserve captures one of the highlight shows from the tour. Recorded at a sold-out Teatro Metropólitan in Mexico City, the gig features tracks from both Wilson’s solo albums along with the new, as yet unreleased, track Luminol.
Tim McGraw – Standing Room Only (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 49:57 minutes | 1,11 GB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Big Machine Records, LLC
Tim McGraw releases his highly-anticipated new album “Standing Room Only”.
“Standing Room Only” features 13 brand new tracks and was produced by McGraw and longtime producer Byron Gallimore. Among the writers contributing to the new album are Craig Wiseman, Jaren Johnston, Lori McKenna, Chase McGill and Kameron Marlowe.
“As an artist, I always want to dig deeper and get better every time I make a new record – it’s a big part of what drives me, and I really believe this is one of the best projects we’ve made. I’ve been working on this album since 2020, and this collection of songs are some of the most emotional, thought-provoking, and life-affirming music I’ve ever recorded,” McGraw stated via a press release.
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Third Coast Percussion – Between Breaths (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 58:55 minutes | 1,16 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cedille Records
Grammy Award-winning Chicago-based percussion quartet Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, David Skidmore) presents Between Breaths, an album of world premieres of works by four contemporary composers, plus a new work by the quartet itself.
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Thierry Lang – Walk With Me (Heritage Project Vol. 2) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 56:48 minutes | 622 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music GmbH
The Swiss pianist and composer, Thierry Lang, was born on the 16th December 1956 in the small town of Romont in the canton of Fribourg. He started learning piano at the age of 5 and by 7 years old had decided to make piano his career. He excelled in classical piano studies until the age of 21 while at the same time developing a passion for jazz. As a fifteen year old, he first heard the pianist Bill Evans who would influence his thinking for many years to come. Inspired by this music, Thierry Lang found the perfect link between classical and piano jazz which rapidly became the characteristic of his own musical expression. As a talented composer with a great sense of melody, he rapidly established himself as a master in this domain. In 1986, he gave concerts with various jazz groups in Switzerland playing alongside numerous local and foreign musicians from different musical backgrounds. He gained further experience as a professional through accompanying musicians of diverse styles including Blues, BeBop and Mainstream. In 1987, he created his first trio through which he was able to share his brilliant technique and strong sense of melody with a wider public, who began to recognize the characteristic features of his musical signature. In 1988, his trio, already famous at a national level, was invited to accompany the world famous harmonica player Toots Thielemans.
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The Choir of Canterbury Cathedral, David Newsholme, Sam Corkin – Palimpsest: New Works From Old For Saxophone and Choir (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:22:56 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Signum Records
This album marks the culmination of a landmark project to re-imagine new works from old for saxophone, choir and organ. Celebrated saxophonist Sam Corkin is joined by Canterbury Cathedral Choir to bring a fresh perspective to some well-loved repertoire, recorded within the iconic surroundings of Canterbury Cathedral. Featuring fifteen specially commissioned works by leading composers including Gabriel Jackson, Errollyn Wallen and Roderick Williams.
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