High Times July 2017

No matter how many times you’ve heard these classic Fifties hits, you’ve never heard them like this – unless you were in the studio when they were recorded! Why? Because every one of these 31 original hits appears in jaw-dropping new or rare STEREO, most for the first time ever. Hearing the original hit versions of these all-time classics in crystal-clear stereo is like hearing them for the first time. Believe it or not, 24 of these famous hits have never appeared in stereo in their correct hit-single versions until now. And these are really huge hits, like Bill Haley’s “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock,” Gogi Grant’s “The Wayward Wind,” Paul Anka’s “Diana,” and “My Prayer” by The Platters. And those are only four of the thirteen #1 hits on this CD.

Lars Vogt continues his Ondine recordings with a new cycle of Beethovens Piano Concertos. Conducting the Royal Nothern Sinfonia from the keyboard Lars Vogt shows the brilliance and the beauty of these two majestic works of the classic piano concerto literature. Beethoven made an early reputation for himself as a keyboard player. Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 5 feature two opposite sides in Beethovens career: the 1st concerto is a masterpiece by a young composer in his 20s who is already looking into new dimensions of musical expression.

ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. (ABKCO acronym of Allen & Betty Klein and COmpany) is a major American independent record label, music publisher, and film and video production company. The label had been heavily criticized by many fans for keeping the Cameo-Parkway material unavailable until 2005. ABKCO is active in the release of compilations and reissues from its catalogs, film and commercial placement of its master recordings and music publishing properties.

On the eve of his centenary in 2018, Sony Classical releases the most important collection, Leonard Bernstein’s classic American Columbia recordings, remastered from their original 2- and multi-track analogue tapes. This has allowed for the creation of a natural balance (for example, between the orchestra and solo instruments) that brings the quality of these half-century-old recordings, excellent for their time, up to the standards of today’s audiophiles. In addition, there has been a meticulous restoration of some earlier masterings in which LP surface noise was too rigorously eliminated at the expense of the original brilliance.

Stephen Rice and The Brabant Ensemble uncover more Renaissance treasures: Jacob Obrecht’s name may now be less familiar than those of some of his Flemish contemporaries, yet in his lifetime he was considered second only to Josquin.