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THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - CONDUCTOR: DEBBIE WISEMAN - MEZZO SOPRANO: ROSIE MIDDLETON ----- BIZET-CHABRIER-RIMSKY KORSAKOV ----- ESPANA ----- PURE ANALOGUE-DIREKTSCHNITT (DIRECT-TO-DISC)-CLASSIC-LP/RECORD - MADE IN ENGLAND (U.K.) IN EIENN WERTIGEN KLAPPCOVER(GATEFOLD-JACKET) ----- CHASING THE DRAGON - BINAURAL RECORDINGS IN UK (DIRECT TO DISC) ----- 180GRAM AUDIOPHILE VIRGIN VINYL-PRESSING IN GERMANY ----- LIMITED EDITION ----- OUT OF PRINT ----- ( ..... OVP = ORIGINAL VERSIEGELT = FACTORY SEALED !! / ..... PURE ANALOGUE DIREKTSCHNITT-LP/RECORD 2016 MADE IN ENGLAND(U.K.) / ..... CHASING THE DRAGON - BINAURAL RECORDINGS (DIRECT TO DISC) 2016 / ..... ORIGINAL PURE ANALOGE DIREKTSCHNITT-AUFNAHMEN 2016 BEI CHASING THE DRAGON - BINAURAL RECORDINGS (DIRECT TO DISC) IN ENGLAND (U.K.) / ..... ORIGINAL PURE ANALOGE DIRECT-TO-DISC REORDING 2016 BY CHASING THE DRAGON - BINAURAL RECORDINGS (DIRECT TO DISC) IN ENGLAND (U.K.) / .... HIGH QUALITY 180g ANALOGUUE PRESSING IN ENGLAND (U.K.)/ ..... LIMITED EDITION ..... OUT OF PRINT ..... EINZIGES EXEMPLAR IN MEINER PRIVATEN, GEPFLEGTEN, ANALOGEN & AUDIOPHILEN LP/RECORD-SAMMLUNG = ONLY ONE SAMPLE IN MY PERSONAL, WELL TENDED, ANALOGUE & AUDIOPHILE LP/RECORD-COLLECTION (ONE EXEMPLARY !!) ..... DIESE ANALOGUE DIREKTSCHNITT (DIRECT-TO-DISC) LP/RECORD IST = OVP = ORIGINAL VERSIEGELT = FACTORY SEALED!! ..... VERY-HARD-TO-FIND-WORLDWIDE IN THIS " FACTORY SEALED " QUALITY !! ..... )

************************************************************************************************* España (A Tribute To Spain) (Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo) album cover Bizet*, Chabrier*, Rimsky Korsakov*, The National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Debbie Wiseman Mezzo Soprano Rosie Middleton ‎– España (A Tribute To Spain) Label: Chasing The Dragon ‎– VALDC004 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, 180g, Direct-to-Disc Country: UK Released: 2016 Genre: Classical Style: Romantic, Classical, Opera Tracklist Show Credits A1 Carmen - Habanera A2 Carmen - The Gypsy Song A3 Espana B1 Capriccio Espagnol Companies, etc. Pressed By – Optimal Media GmbH – BG62721 Recorded At – Air Lyndhurst Hall Mixed At – Air Lyndhurst Studios Lacquer Cut At – Air Lyndhurst Studios Credits Bassoon – Julie Andrews (2), Richard Skinner (2) Cello – Adrian Bradbury, Cathy Giles, Justin Pearson, Miriam Lowbury, Robert Dent, Yvonne Parsons Conductor – Debbie Wiseman Cornet – Bill Cooper*, Martin Rockall Double Bass – Andy Marshall (2), Richard Pryce, Roger Linley, Stacey Watton Flute – Abbie Borrows*, Andy Findon* French Horn – Joe Ryan (11), Richard Steggall, Richard Watkins, Stephen Nicholls (4) Harp – Skaila Kanga Mastered By, Lacquer Cut By [Uncredited] – John Webber Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Rosie Middleton Oboe, Cor Anglais – Adrian Rowlands, Philip Harmer Percussion – Glyn Matthews, Sebastian Guard, Steve Henderson, Tim Barry (2), Tim Gunnell Photography – Adriano Pennetti, Susan Arnold Piccolo Flute – Nina Robertson Producer – Françoise Valentine, Mike Valentine (3) Timpani – Tristan Fry Trombone – Mark Frost, Philip Judge (2), Richard Ward (12) Trumpet – Paul Archibald, Simon Munday (2) Tuba – David Kendall (7) Viola – Diana Mathews, Fiona Leggat, Kate Musker, Mark Chivers, Morgan Goff, Nick Barr, Philip Dukes, Rachel Bolt Violin – Alison Kelly, Anya Birchall, Charlie Brown (18), Ciaran McCabe, David Ogden, Enrico Alvares, Gordon Buchan, Hazel Mulligan, Jeremy Isaac, Julian Tear, Karen Anstee, Lorraine McAslan, Mardyah Tucker, Marina Solarek, Matthew Scrivener, Neil McTaggart, Olly Sapsford, Richard George, Rita Manning, Tim Birchall, Tom Bott (2), Warren Zielinski Notes "Rehearsed, Mixed & Cut Directly Cut To Vinyl, All In One Day!" Recorded at Air Studios Gatefold Barcode and Other Identifiers Matrix / Runout (Side A runout etched): BG62721-01 A1 Matrix / Runout (Side B runout etched): BG62721-01 B1 ********************************************************************************************* Michael Fremer | 18. Juli 2017 España Das National Symphony Orchestra unter der Leitung von Debbie Wiseman mit der Mezzosopranistin Rosie Middleton VALDC004 180g LP Produziert von: Mike und Francoise Valentine Entwickelt von: Rupert Coulson Gemischt von: Rubert Coulson Gemastert von: John Webber im Air Studio, London MUSIK KLANG España jagt die neueste und ehrgeizigste Direct-to-Disc-Platte des Drachen. Es ist schwierig genug, Direct-to-Disc eines Streichensembles oder einer Big Band oder einer Big Band mit Sänger aufzunehmen, was das Label alles erfolgreich geschafft hat. Die Aufnahme eines vollständigen Sinfonieorchesters bringt jedoch eine Reihe zusätzlicher Herausforderungen mit sich, insbesondere wenn Sie Auszüge aus Bizets "Carmen" mit einem Sänger hinzufügen. Doch Mike und Francoise Valentine, die Chasing the Dragon leiten, ließen sich von den potenziellen Problemen nicht davon abhalten, es zu versuchen. Sie können hier über die Aufnahmesitzung lesen - eine eintägige Veranstaltung, die Proben und Aufnahmen enthielt, an denen der AnalogPlanet-Redakteur Michael Fremer teilnahm. Das erste Problem bei der Aufnahme eines "Kriegspferdes" wie Chabriers "España" in Verbindung mit Rimsky-Korsakovs "Capriccio Espagnol" ist, dass es bereits viele exzellente Versionen gibt, einschließlich der legendären Decca-Veröffentlichung mit Argenta unter der Leitung des London Symphony Orchestra ( Decca SXL2020 / London CS6006) wurde 1956/7 in Stereo in der Kingsway Hall (selbst ein legendärer Veranstaltungsort) aufgenommen. Diese Platte, die sowohl für die Performance als auch für die Sonics bekannt ist, wurde bereits in den 1990er Jahren von Speakers Corner neu aufgelegt und ist noch in gedruckter Form. Bild von innen Gatefold aufgebockt Die Produzenten entschieden sich für Ausnahmen aus Bizets "Carmen" und es gibt wieder viele großartige Performances und Aufnahmen, darunter ab 1964 das RCA Soria 3 LP-Box-Set (LDS-6164) mit Von Karajan unter der Leitung der Wiener Philharmoniker mit Leontyne Price. Abgesehen von der Wahl des Orchesters und des Sängers wirft die Aufnahme eines Orchesters D2D andere Kosten- und Logistikprobleme auf. Trotz alledem haben sich die Valentines entschlossen, dies zu tun (aus eigenen Mitteln). Vielen Dank! Sie wählten das National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) und die Sängerin Rosie Middleton. Das in den 1940er Jahren gegründete NSO ist heute das am meisten aufgenommene Orchester in den Abbey Road Studios und tourt regelmäßig durch Großbritannien. Die aufgenommenen Werke des Orchesters sind größtenteils Filmmusik. Es ist ein "freiberufliches" Orchester, dessen Mitglieder aufgrund der musikalischen Anforderungen für bestimmte Projekte ausgewählt werden. Hier können Sie über die junge Mezzosopranistin Rosie Middleton lesen. Die Dirigentin Debbie Wiseman (MBE) ist dem britischen Publikum sowohl als Dirigentin als auch als Filmkomponistin bekannt. Also ja, dies ist ein Qualitätsorchester, das von einem erfahrenen Dirigenten geleitet wird, und Frau Middleton ist auch eine etablierte Sängerin, aber erwarten Sie nicht Price, das LSO oder Ataulfo ​​Argenta (und ich bin mir nicht einmal sicher, ob diese Leute mit voller Geschwindigkeit auftreten könnten zu wissen, dass sie D2D aufgenommen haben), aber erwarten Sie eine außergewöhnliche Aufnahme und ein angenehmes Hörerlebnis. Bedenken Sie vor Beginn der Aufführungen auch, dass der Veranstaltungsort AIR Studios und kein Konzertsaal ist. Das heißt, die Klangperspektive wird etwas anders sein als bei einer Hallenaufnahme. AIR ist eine nicht geheiligte Kirche mit einem großen Hauptraum mit hohen Decken, der behandelt wurde, aber dennoch „höhlenartig“ klingen kann. Das Orchester ist in einem extremen Halbkreis etwas in den Raum gedrängt, und während dies für die Aufnahme von Filmmusik sehr gut funktionieren kann, ist die klangliche Perspektive hier etwas ungewöhnlich. Um eine kohärente Klangbühne und eine hervorragende Bildqualität zu erzielen, wurde eine Mikrofonkonfiguration „Decca Tree“ (auf den Fotos und im Video sichtbar) verwendet, die mit Spotmikrofonen im Raum ergänzt wurde. Für die Filmmusik ist es wahrscheinlicher, dass Multi-Miking verwendet wird. Wie in der ursprünglichen Geschichte berichtet, gab es auch einen „Dummy-Kopf“, der für eine hochauflösende binaurale Aufnahme mit digitaler und CD-Auflösung verwendet wurde. Musik und Sound Das Programm beginnt mit Frau Middletons "L’amour" von Carmen - eine vertraute Melodie, die sie ohne den Hintergrundchor singen muss. Sie macht einen guten Job und bringt mehr Lust und Lust in die Aufführung, als es schien, als hätte sie sie live singen lassen. Das ist der Unterschied zwischen Studio und Bühne, wo man es an das Publikum "verkaufen" muss. Sie musste es nur an das Mikrofon verkaufen! Sie tat. Vergessen Sie nicht, dass dies D2D ist. Als sie fertig war, trat sie vom Mikrofon zurück und in Echtzeit bereitete Frau Wiseman das Orchester vor und signalisierte den Downbeat für "España". Dies übt einen ernsthaften Druck auf alle Beteiligten aus, zumal das gesamte Programm, wie ich mich erinnere, dreimal wiederholt werden musste. Die Hauptmelodie wurde in den Pop-Hit „Hot Diggity, Dog Diggity“ verwandelt, der von Perry Como gesungen wurde, sodass einige von euch "Oldsters" damit gut vertraut sein werden. E. ********************************************************************************************** Rosie Middleton - mezzo-soprano The National Symphony Orchestra u. d. Ltg. v. Debbie Wiseman Aufnahmen in den Air Studios, UK. Aufnahmen über Gefell-, AKG- und Flea-Röhrenmikrofone direkt auf einer Neumann VMS 80 Schneidemaschine. Schnitt direkt auf Vinyl innerhalb eines einzigen Tages durch Mike Valentine, Eigentümer von Chasing The Dragon Records. wv Titel: Georges Bizet (1838-1875) - Carmen 1. Habanera 2. The Gypsy Song Concerto No. 1 in B flat Major, K. 207 Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894) 3. Espana Concerto No. 1 in B flat Major, K. 207 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) 4. Capriccio Espagnol ************************************************************************************************* Description Chasing the Dragon - VALDC004 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl AAA 100% Analogue - Direct To Disc D2D Live Direct Cut To Vinyl - Limited Edition - Pressed at Record Industry AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head If you want to hear just how good your system is I can think of few more effective demonstrations.- Jason Kennedy The Ear Stunning transparency and “there-ness.” There’s a convincing recreation of the studio’s ambience, the instruments breathe with notable air and “bloom,” dynamic shadings and textures are as natural as can be. Wayne Garcia The Absolute Sound 5/5 Sound Music 4/5 Espana a Tribute to Spain - Rosie Middleton : Debbie Wisemman : National Symphony - 180g D2D LP legendary Air Studios for yet another session, each more ambitious than the last. Entitled ‘A Tribute To Spain’ the programme included two pieces from Bizet, concert performances with mezzo-soprano Rosie Middleton, together with Rimsky Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol and Chabrier’s Espana, these classical showpieces. It was a large orchestra, filling the ‘large hall’ recording auditorium at AIR, this long established performing group is called the National Symphony Orchestra (which is freelance), here conducted by the noted Debbie Wiseman. Mike ambitiously masters in multiple formats to get many bites at the sonic cherry, including direct cut to vinyl lacquer, this done at the silent mastering suite high up in the building. More easily organised in the main control, the stereo signal also goes to a Studer A80 analogue tape recorder , and to a Nagra stereo digital recorder, plus the Air in-house facilities these including real time HD and DSD encodings. Decca tree elevated, centre right, tubed Neumann M50 By definition these were live takes, recorded in their entirely after some rehearsal and will not be subject to editing. In any case editing cannot be performed on a direct cut lacquer master disc. The sessions were in part chosen to fit successive sides of an LP master and in the event over 90% of the available space was used. Filling a disc up, as used to be done, makes no sense at all for an audiophile production where the intention is to maintain high quality sound to the end of the piece and not to use up the disc to the end of the physical record. The National Symphony Orchestra is well practiced in playing to order, and got on with the job in timely fashion helping the whole production to run quite smoothly. In addition to the multiple formats CD LP and High Res downloads, the recording was captured with several independent mic arrays including Mike’s own favourite Decca tree spaced array with vintage valve powered Neumann microphones and also a binaural head for an exclusive binaural headphone compatible replay format release. Rehearsed, mixed and cut directly to vinyl in one day by Mike Valentine, owner of Chasing The Dragon Records. "The audiophile world involves a staggering amount of minutia. Everything leads, however, to an emotional payoff, as you're constantly reminded while rubbing shoulders with people devoted to good sound. So while, if you study the literature on, say, speaker placement or multichannel audio, you might expect everyone who cares about such matters to walk around with a pencil protector in his shirt pocket, instead you're much more likely to encounter someone whose passion for audio can hardly be contained and who has a lively sense of humor. Those points were underscored when I began correspoding with Mike Valentine, the owner of the UK audiophile label Chasing the Dragon...He isn't afraid to say something controversial (certainly his statement, "The sound quality here...is better than sex!" could spark a heated debate), and because he's filmed underwater sequences for over 90 films, including five James Bond movies, you quicky understand that he knows how to pursue lofty professional goals and have fun." - Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound "The orchestra rehearses downstairs while upstairs the mastering room engineers record and play back a test lacquer. Finally, it's time for a recorded take of the "Carmen" excerpts with Mezzo-Soprano Rosie Middleton. The tension is palpable in both the control room and upstairs. It's quickly clear that the free-spirited rehearsal has given way to a darker, more constrained performance that satisfies no one, especially Ms. Middleton. The second take is better but is still missing the required "magic". Take three is "the one". Everyone is relieved and it's technically perfect." "Then, after a lunch break, it's on to the Chabrier "España". After a recorded rehearsal playback, it's time for a take. The first performance is spirited but an orchestral crescendo causes the cutting stylus to crash through the groove wall into an adjacent groove, requiring a second take. There's another great performance, but higher drama could be found in the mastering suite, all of which is captured on the video. Quick, decisive thinking and gutsy actions by mastering engineer John Webber saves the lacquer from disaster (as you'll see) but a third take (not shown) proves to be by far the best and it will be the one you'll hear on the final vinyl record. Please keep in mind the sound you hear on this video was captured by an Audio-Technica "shotgun" microphone attached to a camcorder and is not the actual recorded sound (given what it is, though, it's pretty good!)." - Michael Fremer, analogplanet.com "Using the legendary valve Neumann U47 microphone and plethora of microphones including DPA, plus the famous Decca-Tree set up of three omin-directional microphones, this was a well set up recording. What is very important in this new disc is that as well as producing it on Direct Cut Disc it will also be released on double DSD (5.6MHz), and for headphone lovers like myself as part of a binarual album using the excellent Neumann KU100 binaural microphone, carefully placed above the conductor. Listening on Sennheiser HP600 cans the "out of the head" effect of the dummy-head-stereo recording was like being on the conductor's rostrum... This was a brilliant day with great performances and great balancing." - HiFi Pig Magazine, February 2017Features: Earlier in the year Mike Valentine’s most ambitious recording project to date came to fruition when he brought the NSO together with conductor Debbie Wiseman and mezzo soprano Rosie Middleton at Air Studios in north London. This was the first orchestral direct cut vinyl recording he had done and as you can imagine it wasn’t cheap. But once he had explained to the musicians that it was essentially a live performance without an audience they came to terms with the unusual by recording standards approach that a direct cut requires. Because each side of the vinyl has to be cut in one go there is no opportunity for the performers to do multiple takes or to have much of a break between pieces. But this was a professional orchestra with a lot of experience and once the concept was clear it was plain sailing. Mike and his engineer Rupert Coulson combined Chasing the Dragon’s favoured Decca tree microphone arrangement with individual mics on most of the musicians and mixed a small amount of the latter with the more reverberant sound picked up by the three mics on the tree. For this recording they also used a binaural or dummy head, this is designed to pick up sound in the same manner as our ears and produces results that work particularly well with headphones. The feed from this was recorded on a two channel Nagra digital recorder and has been released as a download and a CD. I heard a sample of the change from the regular stereo feed to the dummy head through headphones and was very impressed with the way it projects the sound to give a loudspeaker like experience with acres of space and no sense of it being in your head. Mike was so impressed with the results that he has embarked on a series of binaural head recordings for the label. The music chosen for España was selected partly for its dynamic impact, this is a bit like the stereosound dem records of the late fifties when stereo was the latest thing. But none of those were cut direct to disc with modern equipment and none have the scale and depth of image that this does. I have heard a number of CtD’s direct cuts but this has to be the most impressive, largely because it’s the biggest ‘band’, and it has some serious tympani, so the low end is glorious while the mids and trebles project a huge soundstage. The performance is excellent as well, I’m not that familiar with these pieces: España by Chabrier, Bizet’s Carmen and Gypsy Song and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, so can’t tell you how they rank in the general scheme of things but it’s a dramatic and rousing experience to listen to nonetheless. If you want to hear just how good your system is I can think of few more effective demonstrations. Jason Kennedy The Ear l • Directly cut to vinyl • Gatefold jacket • • Recorded at Air Studios Musicians: Rosie Middleton - mezzo-soprano The National Symphony Orchestra Debbie Wiseman, conductor Selections: Side A: Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Carmen 1. Habanera 2. The Gypsy Song Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894) 3. Espana Side B: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) 4. Capriccio Espagnol *********************************************************************************************** Description Tracks 180-gram vinyl Live, cut direct-to-disc Mike Valentine's Chasing the Dragon record label brought in the National Symphony Orchestra to Air Studios to record a selection of pieces with a Spanish theme. These pieces were performed live without overdubs and cut direct-to-disc as per earlier recordings, but this time Valentine also captured the performance on a dummy head to produce binaural recordings of the work that is available here on 180-gram vinyl. The boom in headphone listening has prompted greater interest in a binaural approach, suggesting that Valentine is onto something. All he has to hope now is that today's headphone lovers appreciate classical music. There were a total of 63 mics used in the recording, however many of them were hardly faded up, so it's a "subtle" blend from those mics, Valentine says. "The main mics were Neumann M50s for the Decca tree and we try to go for very old ribbons in front of the brass, RCA mics from the '50s and '60s." Side A: Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Carmen 1. Habanera 2. The Gypsy Song Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894) 3. Espana Side B: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) 4. Capriccio Espagnol ************************************************************************************************** Does Chasing the Dragon's "España" "Jump the Shark"? Michael Fremer | Jul 18, 2017 España The National Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Debbie Wiseman with Mezzo-Soprano Rosie Middleton Chasing the Dragon VALDC004 180g LP Produced by: Mike and Francoise Valentine Engineered by: Rupert Coulson Mixed by: Rubert Coulson Mastered by: John Webber at Air Studio, London MUSIC SOUND España is Chasing the Dragon's latest and most ambitious Direct-to-Disc record. It's difficult enough to record Direct-to-Disc a string ensemble, or a big band or a big band with vocalist, all of which the label has done successfully managed. However, recording a full symphony orchestra produces a series of additional challenges, especially when you add excerpts from Bizet's "Carmen" that feature a vocalist. Yet Mike and Francoise Valentine who run Chasing the Dragon didn't let the potential problems stop them from trying. You can read here about the recording session—a single day-long event that included rehearsals and recordings that AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer attended. The first problem one runs into recording a "warhorse" like Chabrier's "España" coupled with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol” is that there are already many excellent available versions, of course including the legendary Decca release with Argenta conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Decca SXL2020/London CS6006) recorded in 1956/7 in stereo at Kingsway Hall (itself a legendary venue). That record, known for both the performance and sonics was reissued back in the 1990s by Speakers Corner and is still in print. Image of inside gatefold jacked The producers chose to include excepts from Bizet's "Carmen" and there again there are many great performances and recordings including from 1964 the RCA Soria 3 LP box set (LDS-6164) with Von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic featuring Leontyne Price. Leaving aside the orchestra and vocalist choices, recording an orchestra D2D poses other problems of both cost and logistics, yet despite all of this, the Valentines chose to go right ahead and do this (self-funded), thank you very much! They selected The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and for the vocalist Rosie Middleton. The NSO, founded in the 1940s, is today the most recorded orchestra at Abbey Road studios and regularly tours the U.K. The orchestra's recorded works are for the most part film scores. It is a "freelance" orchestra, with members chosen for particular projects based upon the musical requirements. You can read here about the young Mezzo-Soprano Rosie Middleton. Conductor Debbie Wiseman (MBE) is well-known to British audiences as both a conductor and film composer. So yes, this is a quality orchestra led by an experienced conductor and Ms. Middleton is also an established vocalist but don’t expect Price, the LSO or Ataulfo Argenta (and I’m not even sure those folks could have performed at full speed knowing they were recording D2D) but do expect an exceptional recording and a “molto” enjoyable listening experience. Before getting to the performances, also consider that the venue is AIR Studios, not a concert hall. That means the sonic perspective will be somewhat altered from that of a hall recording. AIR is a de-sanctified church featuring a large, high-ceilinged main room that’s been treated but can still sound “cavernous”. The orchestra is somewhat crammed into the space in an extreme semi-circle and while this can work very well for film score recording, the sonic perspective here is somewhat unusual. To the producers’ credit, in order to produce a coherent soundstage and excellent imaging they went with a “Decca tree” microphone configuration (visible in the photos and video) augmented with spot mics around the room. For film scoring it’s more likely that multi-miking would be used. As reported in the original story, there was also a “dummy head” used for a high resolution digital and CD resolution binaural recording. Music and Sound The program opens with Ms. Middleton’s “L’amour” from Carmen—a familiar melody that she must sing minus the backing chorus. She does a fine job, bringing more lust and zest to the performance than it seemed she had brought watching her sing it live. That’s the difference between studio and stage where you have to “sell” it to the audience. She just had to sell it to the microphone! She did. Don’t forget this is D2D so when she’d finished, she stepped away from the microphone and in real time Ms. Wiseman readied the orchestra and signaled the downbeat for “España”. This produces serious pressure on all involved, especially since the entire program had to be repeated three times as I remember it. The main melody was turned into the pop hit song “Hot Diggity, Dog Diggity” sung by Perry Como, so some of you "oldsters"will be well familiar with it even if you don’t know “España”. The performance here, not unexpectedly, doesn’t quite catch fire the way the Argenta/LSO’s does. It reminded me of a careening hot air balloon repeatedly bouncing off the ground instead of “sticking” the landing. The somewhat sluggish tempo added to that sensation as did the sonic perspective, which was more distant than the photo or the miking would suggest, and that’s because of the room’s “wet” reverb qualities. I stood in that room during a rehearsal close to the celli and double basses and what the microphones “heard” is what I heard live: “big” bass drums, warm overall sound. The room is “alive”. The only way to tame it would be to stick a microphone on everything, but that would defeat the “purist” purpose and certainly mess with soundstage coherence among other things. The orchestra more successfully performs the billowy “Capriccio Espagnol”, which opens with a dramatic flourish that the orchestra also handles well, though somewhat more tentatively than you’ll hear on recordings that can be edited and spliced. Again, the perspective is mostly deep and distant with a great deal of bass warmth as heard in the room but there’s a lovely bit of fiddling (sorry using that term) caught by I assume spot mikes on the violins to the conductor’s left. Overall Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestral suite based on Spanish folk melodies is pleasingly, though somewhat tentatively performed and richly recorded, though with a somewhat distant perspective. If your system already has a rich, bass heavy sonic perspective this recording might be too much for it. If yours lives in the tonal “neutral zone” you’ll find pleasing the recording’s overall warmth, though the tympani overwhelm at times on the recording as in the room. Yes the overall sound is somewhat distant and overly rich on bottom and the brass and woodwinds get at times smothered but the record is a more or less honest document of the sound I heard in the room. On the other hand, the Cinemascopic “dummy head” Binaural CD resolution WAV file I was sent (that’s for sale on the company's website along with hi-rez downloads) loses much of the D2D’s liquidity, transparency and enormous spatiality (especially in terms of stage depth). It is not nearly as much “fun” to listen to, but its overall tonal balance and detail resolution make it a more successful overall document of what went on that day at AIR Studios. That said, the D2D record’s transparency, three-dimensionality and dynamic “slam” will wow you in ways the CD resolution file won’t. While this is the Valentines’ most ambitious project yet, it’s not the couple’s finest (I’d reserve that for the Clare Teal Ella record) but neither is it a failure—not even a “glorious failure”. If you cut this one a bit of slack I think you’ll enjoy it because it does take you into AIR studios that day in ways no digital recording can and the music is well-performed and “user friendly” especially if classical music isn’t your “thing”. And keep in mind it was rehearsed, mixed and cut to lacquer all in a single day! **************************************************************************************************

Zustand121: OVP = ORIGINAL VERSIEGELT = FACTORY SEALED !! ----- PURE ANALOGUE-DIREKTSCHNITT (DIRECT-TO-DISC)-CLASSIC-LP/RECORD - MADE IN ENGLAND (U.K.) IN EIENN WERTIGEN KLAPPCOVER(GATEFOLD-JACKET) ----- CHASING THE DRAGON - BINAURAL RECORDINGS IN UK (DIRECT TO DISC) ----- 180GRAM AUDIOPHILE VIRGIN VINYL-PRESSING IN GERMANY ----- LIMITED EDITION ----- OUT OF PRINT ----- ( ..... EINZIGES EXEMPLAR IN MEINER PRIVATEN, GEPFLEGTEN, ANALOGEN & AUDIOPHILEN LP/RECORD-SAMMLUNG = ONLY ONE SAMPLE IN MY PERSONAL, WELL TENDED, ANALOGUE & AUDIOPHILE LP/RECORD-COLLECTION (ONE EXEMPLARY)!! ...... SIEHE XXL-FOTOS (LOOK THE XXL-PICTURES !!) ..... BITTE FOTOS ANKLICKEN (PLEASE CLICK ON THE XXL-PICTURES !!) ..... VERY-HARD-TO-FIND-WORLDWIDE IN THIS " FACTORY SEALED " QUALITY !! ..... )

Best.-Nr.: CHASING THE DRAGON VAL 004 - BINAURAL RECORDINGS (DIRECT TO DISC) ----- LIMITED EDITION ----- OUT OF PRINT ----- (PURE ANALOGUE-DIREKTSCHNITT-LP/RECORD / OVP = ORIGINAL VERSIEGELT = FACTORY

Preis: EUR 599,99 (minus 50% discount/rechnungsrabatt = 299,99 euro) ----- OVP = ORIGINAL VERSIEGELT = FACTORY SEALED !! ----- PURE ANALOGUE-DIREKTSCHNITT (DIRECT-TO-DISC)-CLASSIC-LP/RECORD - MADE IN ENGLAND (U.K.) IN EIENN WERTIGEN KLAPPCOVER(GATEFOLD-JACKET) ----- CHASING THE DRAGON - BINAURAL RECORDINGS IN UK (DIRECT TO DISC) ----- 180GRAM AUDIOPHILE VIRGIN VINYL-PRESSING IN GERMANY ----- LIMITED EDITION ----- OUT OF PRINT ----- ( ..... EINZIGES EXEMPLAR IN MEINER PRIVATEN, GEPFLEGTEN, ANALOGEN & AUDIOPHILEN LP/RECORD-SAMMLUNG = ONLY ONE SAMPLE IN MY PERSONAL, WELL TENDED, ANALOGUE & AUDIOPHILE LP/RECORD-COLLECTION (ONE EXEMPLARY)!! ...... SIEHE XXL-FOTOS (LOOK THE XXL-PICTURES !!) ..... BITTE FOTOS ANKLICKEN (PLEASE CLICK ON THE XXL-PICTURES !!) ..... VERY-HARD-TO-FIND-WORLDWIDE IN THIS " FACTORY SEALED " QUALITY !! ..... )