Andris Nelsons & Gewandhausorchester Bruckner: Symphonies Nos.2 & 8 / Wagner: Meistersinger Prelude (2 UHQCD)

Numbered, Limited Edition Double UHQCD!
Playable on any CD player, the Ultimate High Quality CD greatly surpasses all previous CDs before it!
With this recording, the Latvian conductor and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra continue their celebrated Bruckner cycle. "In this symphony, Bruckner formulated everything with extreme clarity: the wonderful themes are clearly separated from each other by general pauses, and yet a great whole emerges. It is astonishing that this work is played so rarely – it is actually an ideal introduction to the cosmos of Bruckner's Symphony,” says Gewandhaus Kapellmeister Andris Nelsons about the Second Symphony. After the “perky” First (also in C minor) and the finally “cancelled” D minor Symphony, he composed his Second Symphony between autumn 1871 and 1872-which is actually his third.
Bruckner himself called his Eighth, a “mystery”. Andris Nelsons has much to gain from this: "Bruckner penetrated here, especially in the slow movement, into regions that remained unattainable for other composers. The unity of the huge work is also like a miracle. Above all, the grandiose final movement contributes to this – the last one Bruckner was able to complete."
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. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but are cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to protect the softer photopolymer against scratches. The combination results in a significantly reduced reflection of the laser light inside the CD and an incomparably precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with normal CD players. Musically, this results in a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.
The discs offered by Universal Japan are additionally coded MQA (Master Quality Authenticated). If you output the digital signal from the digital output of your CD player or the previously ribbed data stream of your music server to a corresponding MQA-DA converter, you can generate a 24 bit signal with up to 352 Khz sampling frequency from the CD data.
The current UHQCD series is based on the DSD data of the Single Layer SHM-SACDs released by Universal Music Japan in the years before. Thus, the UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close to the sound of the recording as possible, but do not have a SACD player.

Features:

• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Made in Japan
• Superior Crystal Sound
• Double Ultimate High Quality CD
• XRCD-Like Luxury Digipak
• Playable on conventional CD players

Musicians:

• Gewandhausorchester
• Andris Nelsons, conductor

Selections:

CD 1
Richard Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
1. Prélude
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 2 in C minor
2. I. Moderato
3. II. Andante. Feierlich, etwas bewegt
4. III. Scherzo. Mäßig schnell – Trio. Gleiches Tempo
5. IV. Finale. Mehr schnell
CD 2
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 8 in C minor
1. I. Allegro moderato
2. II. Scherzo. Allegro moderato – Trio. Langsam
3. III. Adagio. Feierlich langsam; doch nicht schleppend
4. IV. Finale. Feierlich, nicht schnell