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Ennio Morricone – The Mission (1986) [2003 Remaster]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 48:28 minutes | Scans included | 1,97 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 920 MB
Ennio Morricone’s Academy Award-nominated score captures the conflict between 18th-century Jesuit missionaries trying to convert the native Indians, and the slavers who want to destroy them. In keeping with the serious subject matter and epic scope of Roland Joffé’s film, the score is by turns grave, lyrical, and tense. Ever inventive, Morricone mixes liturgical chorales, native drumming, and Spanish-influenced guitars, often in the very same track, to capture the drama of the culture clash. His trademark lyricism also comes through, notably in the beautiful themes for “Gabriel’s Oboe” and “The Mission.” Not as over-the-top as his well-known spaghetti Western scores, The Mission shows Morricone at his dramatic best.
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Ennio Morricone and Dulce Pontes – Focus (2003)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 64:30 minutes | Scans included | 4,15 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | 64:19 min | Scans | 1,24 GB
2003 album features the work of the world-renowned film composer as interpreted by the Portuguese singing star.
This is an impressive album where Dulce Pontes turns cinematic themes from the Morricone repertoire into songs in English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, and she is breathtaking in most of them. Dulce Pontes embellishes Morricone’s compositions with an epic grandeur that few other singers could have achieved. Her voice is very potent and playful, yet subtle when necessary. I’m always surprised by how gracefully her vocals blend with the music and succeed in recreating the absurdity, the nuances, and the overwhelming beauty of Morricone’s eccentric musical temperament. My favorite songs are those in English, particularly “Your Love” (with music from Once Upon a Time in the West). Dulce’s elegant venture into a Brazilian arrangement makes “Nosso Mar” another favorite of mine. Her best achievement, however, is probably “No Ano Que Vem”, a song inspired by Jerusalem and set to the strangely upbeat music from the film Maddalena. Focus is a superb accomplishment in Dulce’s career. In the end, one could not possibly deny her the classical stature of Ennio Morricone. — customer review at amazon.com
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Elisa – Lotus (2003)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 68:48 minutes | Scans included | 4,26 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,31 MB
Elisa Toffoli is an Italian singer-songwriter, performing under the mononym Elisa. She is one of few Italian musicians to write and record mainly in English. She draws inspiration from many genres such as pop, alternative rock, electronica and trip hop.
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(e.s.t.) Esbjorn Svensson Trio – Viaticum (2005)
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 60:39 minutes | Scans included | 2,97 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,14 GB
Features 2.0 Stereo and 5.0 multichannel surround sound | ACT Music # ACTSACD 9801-2
As Esbjörn Svensson’s trio has developed into a first-rate contemporary jazz entity, the combined acoustic-electric sound he employs is more alluring and arresting with each recording. The subtle nuances of amplified keyboard shades that embellish his piano playing is a unique quality of E.S.T.’s music that sets them apart from the vast majority of combos who place a larger value on louder complements. Another aspect of this group is that they are truly a working ensemble with stable personnel, as bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Öström have joined Svensson in this trio for years. The meditative and surrealistic quality of this music is hard to deny or dismiss, as it is so refined and defined within a spiritual parameter — unique unto itself, and beyond most modern categories. While the titles are elusively cryptic, they can shed some light on the musical content. “Tide of Trepidation” aligns itself to the ECM/Bobo Stenson school of piano thought, a mysterious type of composition with underlying, echoed electronic washes lapping up the melody. “In the Tail of Her Eye” is undoubtedly a slow, 4/4 song of brokenhearted regret, “What Though the Way May Be Long” is a poetic discourse on unseen destiny lying ahead, and “The Unstable Table & the Infamous Fable” intimates a film noir spy scene in its cinematic anticipation of held tension. Less inanimate, “Eighty Eight Days in My Veins” is cast via a shuffle mode in 6/8 time, more driven and chiming with a two-note contrapuntal buzzing insert. The slightly bouncing or bumpy modified tango line of “The Well Wisher” is very light on its feet, in a style that could be a cousin of Keith Jarrett. The most compelling track is “A Picture of Doris Travelling with Boris,” as the trio conjures up an aural visage of sleepwalking movement or late-night paranormal mean streets with a sheen of electric light guiding the way. E.S.T.’s music is for specific tastes, but seems to have found common ground with fantasy imagineers, the baby boomer ECM crowd, and youth searching for parallels to the Bad Plus or Brad Mehldau. Viaticum is a successful effort, a progression from their previous efforts, and in many ways a new pathway to the future without relying on black holes.
Read morePratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.4 (2011) SACD ISO
Pratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.4 (2011)
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 01:13:39 + 01:08:37 mins | Scans included | 7,38 GB
© Caro Mitis | Item Number: CM 0022010-2 | Genre: Classical
Among the art treasures of Dresden is a collection of music manuscripts that in part goes back to the repertoire of the Dresden Hofkapelle, which was founded more than 450 years ago and became world famous in the 18th century. One of its patrons, the Saxon Elector Friedrich August I, known as August the Strong (reigned 1694–1733), had been elected King of Poland in 1697. According to the feudal concept of representation, this rise in status was the cause of an even further increase in the display of splendour, from which the residence and its court chapel profited as well. August had grown up into a fertile cultural tradition. Journeys abroad had rendered him susceptible to the refined culture at the French court as well as to Italian art. He was as fickle in his aesthetic predilections as in his amorous adventures, open to change in music, drama and the opera. Whereas particularly in the performing arts the artists were dependent on the Prince’s favour, the court chapel, which employed German, Italian, French and soon also Bohemian and Polish musicians, enjoyed a long tradition and was allowed to develop in a continuous fashion. Just as he absorbed into his Green Vault the most precious gems, in his royal household he employed the most exceptional talents, turning Dresden for a while into a melting pot of European culture.
Read morePratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.3 (2010) SACD ISO
Pratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.3 (2010)
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:47:23 + 00:58:10 mins | Scans included | 5,66 GB
© Caro Mitis | Item Number: CM 0032008-2 | Genre: Classical
If I hear the first part of a good overture I experience a peculiar elevation of my mood; during the second part my spirits spread out, full of delight; and when the serious ending comes along, they collect themselves and retreat to their usual abode. I think this is a pleasant alternation which an orator could hardly improve upon. A close observer might be able to trace these emotions in the mien of an attentive listener. (Johann Mattheson, Der vollkommene Capell-Meister, Hamburg 1739, p. 208, § 36) Johann Mattheson (1681–1764), the contemporary and fellow musician of Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), here puts into words what music connoisseurs particularly liked about a large group of instrumentalists playing together in the typical manner of a musical introduction to a French theatre performance: the beginning – nearly always marked by dotted rhythms – which draws in the audience with its broadly declamatory, harmonically rich presentation; the lively continuation based on the imitative texture of the various parts, which encourages a sophisticated manner of listening; and finally the return to the initial affect, often seasoned with a temporary harmonic deviation. This artful succession of concentration, distraction, and again concentration was an excellent way to prepare for what was to follow – a stagedpresentation or an instrumental suite.
Read morePratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.2 (2009) SACD ISO
Pratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.2 (2009)
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:51:06 + 48:02 mins | Scans included | 5,03 GB
© Caro Mitis | Item Number: CM 0022008-2 | Genre: Classical
In 1725 Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) in addition to his official and other professional responsibilities started his own publishing firm with which he realized a variety of projects, some of them using innovative formats. While it is generally known that he engraved his music onto copperplates himself, a look at his correspondence reveals that he also organized the distribution of the finished products by selling copies from his own apartment and in the “music shop at the stock exchange” as well as through his contacts with musicians, booksellers and merchants throughout Europe. Until 1740 Telemann published severalhundred works gathered in almost fifty printed opera. The culminating point of his private publishing endeavor was his Musique de Table of 1733, which apart from enhancing his international reputation must have been highly profitable, as he was eager to invest in new projects. To this end he offered, in his catalogue flyers, “works that may be edited by and by” in order to whet his clients’ appetite for new compositions and to find out which kind of music might sell.
Read morePratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.1 (2008) SACD ISO
Pratum Integrum Orchestra – Georg Philipp Telemann: Complete Orchestral Suites Vol.1 (2008)
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:52:22 mins | Scans included | 2,79 GB
© Caro Mitis | Item Number: CM 0082007 | Genre: Classical
The Russian historical-performance group Pratum Integrum has embarked on a complete recording of Georg Philipp Telemann’s orchestral suites, which number more than 100. This debut album includes three of them in a program lasting just over 52 minutes, and though the dimensions of the project are daunting, the initial indications are good. Like Bach’s suites, Telemann’s are collections of French-style dances, some of them formally fixed like sarabandes and courantes, while others give freer play to the imagination. Imagination is Telemann’s strong suit, and the collection of unusually conceived movements keeps these suites lively, and presumably those to come will be the same way. Consider the musical-joke-like “Galimatias en Rondeau” (track 12) from the Suite in E minor, TWV 55:e3, with its comically contrasting strains (a galimatias is a representation of gibberish), or the “Irlandoise” (track 3) from the D minor suite, TWV 55:d2, a kind of Irish jig, or the explicitly programmatic pieces of which Couperin would have been proud. Also intriguing is the movement sequence of the Suite for orchestra in D minor, which ends with a movement marked “Entrée.” You might suspect a copyist’s error if not for the odd middle-of-the-conversation opening of the Overture; perhaps the piece was intended for some kind of special occasion in which the music would end with the “entrée” of an important personage. The Pratum Integrum Orchestra, predominantly young, is promising indeed. It doesn’t yet have the orchestra-of-virtuosi quality of some of its Western European counterparts, but its performances have a briskly enjoyable quality with plenty of percussive rhythmic drive in the continuo. One looks forward to future releases in the series. Notes are in Russian, German, and English; they’re informative and enthusiastic, as is usual for this label, but annotator Anna Bulycheva kills Telemann off too early when she refers to 1737 as “towards the end” of his life; he lived for another 30 years. The sound is not up to the usual audiophile standard of the Caro Mitis label; close-up microphone placement and a steely edge highlight instrument noise that Telemann’s audiences would have found bizarre. ~~AllMusic Review by James Manheim
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Elton John – Elton John (1970) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 39:14 minutes | Scans included | 1,59 GB
Uses the 2011 DSD master based on UK original analog tape. Reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (fully compatible with standard SACD player, but it does not play on standard CD players). DSD Transferred by Richard Whittaker.
Empty Sky was followed by Elton John, a more focused and realized record that deservedly became his first hit. John and Bernie Taupin’s songwriting had become more immediate and successful; in particular, John’s music had become sharper and more diverse, rescuing Taupin’s frequently nebulous lyrics. “Take Me to the Pilot” might not make much sense lyrically, but John had the good sense to ground its willfully cryptic words with a catchy blues-based melody. Next to the increased sense of songcraft, the most noticeable change on Elton John is the addition of Paul Buckmaster’s grandiose string arrangements. Buckmaster’s orchestrations are never subtle, but they never overwhelm the vocalist, nor do they make the songs schmaltzy. Instead, they fit the ambitions of John and Taupin, as the instant standard “Your Song” illustrates. Even with the strings and choirs that dominate the sound of the album, John manages to rock out on a fair share of the record. Though there are a couple of underdeveloped songs, Elton John remains one of his best records.
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10cc – The Original Soundtrack (1975) [Japanese SHM-SACD 2010]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 41:40 minutes | Scans NOT included | 1,68 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans NOT included | 824 MB
10cc’s third album, The Original Soundtrack, finally scored them a major hit in the United States, and rightly so; “I’m Not in Love” walked a fine line between self-pity and self-parody with its weepy tale of a boy who isn’t in love (really!), and the marvelously lush production and breathy vocals allowed the tune to work beautifully either as a sly joke or at face value. The album’s opener, “Une Nuit a Paris,” was nearly as marvelous; a sly and often hilarious extended parody of both cinematic stereotypes of life and love in France and overblown European pop. And side one’s closer, “Blackmail,” was a witty tale of sex and extortion gone wrong, with a superb guitar solo embroidering the ride-out. That’s all on side one; side two, however, is a bit spottier, with two undistinguished tunes, “Brand New Day” and “Flying Junk,” nearly dragging the proceedings to a halt before the band rallied the troops for a happy ending with the hilarious “The Film of Our Love.” The Original Soundtrack’s best moments rank with the finest work 10cc ever released; however, at the same time it also displayed what was to become their Achilles’ heel — the inability to make an entire album as strong and memorable as those moments.
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10cc – Deceptive Bends (1977) [Japanese SHM-SACD 2014]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 51:22 minutes | Scans included | 2,1 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,02 GB
Genre: Rock
When Kevin Godley and Lol Creme left 10cc in 1976 to pursue a solo career, many thought it was the death knell for the group. However, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman kept the group alive as a duo (with the assistance of percussionist Paul Burgess) and turned in a surprisingly solid album with 1977’s Deceptive Bends. It may lack the devil-may-care wackiness that popped up on previous 10cc albums, but it makes up for it by crafting a series of lush, catchy pop songs that are witty in their own right. Deceptive Bends also produced a pair of notable hits for the group: “Good Morning Judge” told the comical tale of a career criminal over a hook-laden, surprisingly funky pop backing while “The Things We Do for Love” was an irresistible Beatles pastiche that showcased 10cc’s mastery of pop vocal harmonies. “People in Love,” a surprisingly straightforward ballad built on a gorgeous string arrangement, also became a modest chart success. The remainder of the material doesn’t stand out as sharply as these hits, but each of the tracks offers up plenty of naggingly catchy pop hooks, oodles of catchy riffs, and surprising twists in their arrangements. Highlights among the non-hit tracks include “Marriage Bureau Rendezvous,” a satire of dating services set to a lilting soft rock melody, and “You’ve Got a Cold,” a portrait of illness-influenced misery set to a percolating pop melody. The only place where Deceptive Bends slips is on “Feel the Benefit,” the lengthy medley that closes the album. Its excessive length and hazy lyrics make it less satisfying than the album’s shorter tunes, but it is kept afloat by a catchy, mock-Spanish midsection and some lovely string arrangements. All in all, Deceptive Bends is the finest achievement of 10cc’s post-Godley and Creme lineup and well worth a spin for anyone who enjoyed Sheet Music or The Original Soundtrack.
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Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra – Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1961) [Japan 2011]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 48:42 minutes | Basic Covers | 1,95 GB
or FLAC Tracks 2.0 Stereo (Official Digital Download) 24bit/96 kHz | Front Cover | 957 MB
EMI Remaster – Warner Music Japan # WPGS-50103
Otto Klemperer was very much a man of the theatre. “Here, opera and drama were truly united”, he said of his time at Berlin’s Kroll Theatre, a progressive and influential force in the heady years of the Weimar Republic. He was also a man with a sharp sense of humour: this performance of Mendelssohn’s incidental music to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream both glows with enchantment and sparkles with wit.
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Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra – Klemperer conducts Wagner (2012)
3x SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 138:59 minutes | Artwork included | 5,61 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Artwork included | 2,67 GB
Klemperer’s early 1960s Wagner recordings have long held a treasured place in the catalogue. “Klemperer conducts Wagner”, Volume 1 – 3, performed by the Philharmonmia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer – these recordings were recorded in 1960-61 & were originally issued on the Columbia label. Now it was remastered by EMI and reissued on SACD in Japan.
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Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra – Mendelssohn & Schumann: Symphony No.3 (1960/69) [Japan 2017]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 80:39 min | Basic Scans incl. | 3,23 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Basic Scans included | 1,67 GB
Japanese SACD Reissue 2017 | Warner Classsics / Esoteric Company, Japan # ESSW-90159
Otto Klemperer conducts the Philharmonia and New Philharmonia Orchestras in Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A minor and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, recorded in 1960 & 1969. This reissue series of classical music masterpieces by Esoteric has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound. This series marks the first hybrid SACD release of historical recording selections that have been mainstays of the catalog since their initial release.
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Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra – Mendelssohn: Symphonies 3 & 4 / Schumann: Symphony 4 (2012)
PS3 Rip | 2x SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 107:57 minutes | Scans included | 4,35 GB
or FLAC Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Full Scans included | 2,29 GB
Otto Klemperer conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture “The Hebrides” & Symphonies 3 & 4 and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, originally recorded in 1960. This reissue is a part of the Signature Collection from EMI Classics featuring the finest catalog recordings released for the first time ever in high resolution format. 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.
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