Julius Asal Scriabin & Scarlatti UHQCD

The up-and-coming pianist Julius Asal, highly praised by Menahem Pressler, signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 2023. Universal Music Japan is now releasing its debut as UHQCD for the highest sound quality.
The recording includes works by the Russian composer Scriabin, with his mystical themes, and the Italian composer Scarlatti, known for his 555 piano sonatas; both are presented as travelers through time and space, past, present and future. Two of Asal's own compositions connect the pieces as interludes.
UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. UHQCDs, unlike conventional CDs, are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. To protect the softer photopolymer from scratching, another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied. The combination results in a significantly reduced reflection of the laser light inside the CD and an unrivalled precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with normal CD players. Musically, the result is a sound that is strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.
The discs offered by Universal Japan are additionally MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) encoded. If you output the digital signal from the digital output of your CD player or the previously ripped data stream of your music server to a corresponding MQA-DA converter, you can generate a 24-bit signal with a sampling frequency of up to 352 kHz from the CD data.
While Universal Music Japan's first UHQCD series relied on DSD data from previous SHM-SACD releases, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now being released with increasing popularity. Typically, the master tapes of the Universal Archive are re-converted to DSD and then post-processed with the appropriate MQA encoder. Thus, the UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not have a SACD player.

Musicians:

• Julius Asal, piano

Selections:

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Prologue
1. Piano Sonata No.1 in F Minor, Op.6, Quasi niente (from 4th mvt)
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
2. Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, K.466 (L.118), Andante moderato
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
3. Prelude in C minor, Op.11/20, Appassionato
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
4. Keyboard Sonata in C Minor, K.56 (L.356) Con spirito
5. Keyboard Sonata in C Minor, K.58 (L.158) Fugue
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Piano Sonata No.1 in F Minor, Op.6
6. I. Allegro con fuoco
7. II. Adagio
8. III. Presto
9. IV. Funeral
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
10. Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, K.283 (L.27) Andante
Julius Asal (1997-)
11. Transition I
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
12. Étude in B Flat Minor, Op.8/11, Andante cantabile
13. Prélude in B Flat Minor, Op.11/21 Andante
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
14. Keyboard Sonata in B Flat Minor
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
15. Prélude in E Flat Minor
Julius Asal (1997-)
16. Transition II
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
17. Prélude in E Flat Minor, Op.11/14, Presto
18. Prélude in B Flat Major, Op.16/1 Andante
19. Prélude in B Flat Minor, Op. 11/6 Allegro
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
20. Keyboard Sonata in B Minor, K.87 (L.33)
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Epilogue
21. Piano Sonata No.1 in F Minor, Op.6, Quasi niente (from 4th mvt)