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RELEASES - DETAILS
| Title: |
Balalaika Favourites
|
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| Composer: |
see below |
| Works: |
1 Fantasy on Two Folk Songs (Budashkin)
2 At Sunrise (arr. Gorodovskaya)
3 The Linden Tree (Kulikov)
4 Kamarinskaya (Osipov)
5 Fantasy on Volga Melodies (Mikhailov-Shalayev)
6 In the Moonlight (Andreyev)
7 Midnight in Moscow (Soloviev-Sedoy)
8 Under the Apple Tree (Andreyev)
9 Dance of the Comedians (Tchaikovsky)
10 The Living Room (Shishakov)
11 Evening Bells (arr. Mossolov)
12 My Dear Old Friend, Please Vosot Me (arr. Poponov)
13 Waltz of the Faun (Andreyev)
14 Flight of the Bumble-Bee (Rimsky-Korsakov) |
| Artists: |
Osipov Folk Orchestra |
| Duration: |
49:30
|
| SACD #: |
475 6610 6 MSA |
 |
|
This sonic sensation is one of the
first-ever Mercury recordings made in the Soviet Union by non-Soviet
technicians and staff and it is highly appropriate that it features
music played on the "father" of Russian folk instruments
- the balalaika. Vasily Andreyev (1861-1918) was the founding figure
of a balalaika orchestra in 1888 and his ensemble toured extensively
in France, Germany, Great Britain and America. After Andreyev's death
Nikolai Osipov continued what was already established and built on
this tradition. At the time of this recording Vitaly Gnutov had been
conducting the ensemble for ten years and this programme persents
a variety of pieces in a stunning display of virtuosity and musicianship.
As with the great majority of MLP’s stereo releases, the actual
recording was made using three microphones – a stereo pair, plus
a central microphone. The LP (and subsequent CD) stereo releases mixed
the centre channel into the two outer channels. Now – and for
the first time -- SACD’s multi-channel capability enables all
three discrete channels to be present on the disc, allowing the listener
to hear the recording as it was originally taped (and as it was always
intended to be heard, when future technology permitted). Enhancing
this new opportunity is the significant additional fidelity gained
through direct-to-DSD transfers from the original half-inch analogue
masters, via DSD’s much greater resolution, frequency response
and dynamic range.
In addition to this first-time presentation of the three-track original
recording, the SACD also contains a high-resolution DSD stereo soundtrack,
mixed to match as closely as possible the original LP stereo mix.
Finally, as all Mercury Living Presence SACDs will be ‘hybrid’
releases, the SACD also includes a CD stereo soundtrack (Wilma Cozart
Fine's original CD transfer), thus making the disc compatible with
all CD players.
The covers and packaging have been kept within the famous Mercury
Living Presence tradition, maintaining the logo banner, cover art
and, where possible, original liner notes.
The pieces on this disc were originally recorded on 35mm film. |
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