Cavalleria Rusticana

James Last was a German big-band leader with a large fan base in Europe, although he never had a comparable following in the United States. Last's trademark was arranging pop hits in a big-band style; his series of "party albums" became equally well-known. Over the course of his career, he sold well over 50 million albums…

The Karajan Official Remastered Edition comprises 13 box sets containing official remasterings of the finest recordings the Austrian conductor made for EMI between 1946 and 1984, which are now a jewel of the Warner Classics catalog. This 10-CD box unites orchestral, choral, and operatic performances recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic in the immediate aftermath of World War II, when Karajan's talent was first nurtured by EMI's legendary producer Walter Legge. Gramophone has said that these recordings 'vividly capture their troubled times and transcend them.'

I have never been much of a classical music fan (on recorded music anyway) but hearing this Fone recording it actually makes sense for the 1st time! Listening to the SACD layer the music has striking 3-dimentional naturality but more importantly, PASSION! I have never felt that classical music had passion in a CD recording, & I always felt vinyl had too low SNR for classical music. The difference between the SACD & CD layer is quite obvious, & not subtle like on some discs. Listening to the CD layer (which is very good for a CD) results in a massive loss of coherence & passion – just the reason I never enjoyed classical on CD.

Enrico Caruso - The Complete Electrical Re-Creations (1993) {2CD Set, Pearl GEMM CDS 9030}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 388 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 314 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1993 Pearl | GEMM CDS 9030
Classical / Opera / Historical

This is an interesting and often enjoyable re-recording set of which possibly the most convincing example is the Inspirez-moi from Gounod's La Reine de Saba originally recorded in 1916. The process of replacing the acoustically recorded accompaniments with electrically recorded ones to provide a more "modern" sound must have been a labour of great painstaking; the generally good results are tributes to the care and perseverance of musicians and engineers alike. It is most fascinating to compare these recordings from 1927 through 1939 with the digitally recorded ones of the past few years. Perhaps surprisingly, the later recordings are not always the most convincing when there are duplications.