| The Hungarian
cellist Janos Starker (born 1924) has long been regarded as one of
the greatest cello virtuosos of the twentieth century, spending most
of his professional life in America and starting out as principal
cellist of the Metropolitan Opera, Dallas and Chicago Symphonies,
before embarking on a worldwide solo career. At the height of his
recording career (for many labels), he made some celebrated recordings
for the American audiophile classical label, Mercury Living Presence,
including the Dvorák Cello Concerto. These new Mercury SACD
reissues present Starker scaling the Everest of the cello repertoire
-- the six solo Cello Suites by Bach. Recorded in 1963 and 1965, the
performances were quickly recognised as classic interpretations, and
their subsequent CD reissue in 1991 immediately went into the top
10 classical bestsellers in the USA. Included in this new 2-SACD set
are both the G major (BWV 1027) and D major (BWV 1028) Sonatas, in
which Starker is accompanied by Gyorgy Sebok.
As with the great majority of MLP's stereo releases,
the actual recordings were 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 recordings as they were originally taped
(and as they were 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 recordings, 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.
|
