| These celebrated recordings of Tchaikovsky’s most popular ballet – a true festive favourite – and the popular Serenade for Strings are conducted by one of the conductors so closely linked with Mercury: Antal Dorati. The Nutcracker was recorded on 35mm magnetic film; 3-track half-inch tape was used for the Serenade.
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.
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