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Remastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound!RCA Living Stereo — the gold standard for top quality orchestral performance and sound!
Reviewer Anthony Kershaw calls Iberia "one of the few records that transcends engineering, and simply allows Debussy, Ravel, Reiner and his orchestra to make our souls a richer place." This RCA is a "perfect" synthesis of interpretation, playing and sound.
The recording is rich in timbre and detail, and is beautifully transparent, identifying the accurate placement of instruments and the boundaries of Orchestra Hall's stage. The soundfield is complete (depth and width) with the center boasting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's fabulous woodwind section.
As it seems to be on many great orchestral recordings, the percussion section steals the "audiophile" show. The percussionists' playing in Iberia will amaze you with their crack ensemble and the way they accomplish quick changes in dynamics, these ranging from quiet delicacy to raw power. Conductor Fritz Reiner must have reveled in the sound of the castanets clicking merrily on his left and the different styles of tambourine technique employed by the section player on his right. From the softest stroke of a soft mallet on suspended cymbal to the superb timpani sound, Iberia is all that recorded percussion should be.
"...I'd have to say that the usual stumbling blocks have been sidestepped. Great care has been taken to do the right things, starting with the way the decision to remaster these RCAs was made." - Jonathan Valin, The Absolute Sound.com, June 11, 2013
Features:
• Super Audio CD
• SACD Stereo SACD Layer
• This Hybrid SACD contains a 'Red Book' Stereo CD Layer which is playable on most conventional CD Players!
• Mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound
Musicians:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Fritz Reiner, conductor
Selections:
Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)
Iberia
"Images" pour Orchestra No. 2
1. Band 1 - Par les rues et par les chemins
2. Band 2 - Les Parfums de la nuit
3. Le matin d'un jour de fete
Joseph-Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
Alborado Del Gracioso
1. Band 1 - Valses Nobels Et Sentimentales
2. Band 2 - Alborada Del Graciosa
