Andre Previn, London Symphony Orchestra & The Ambrosian Singers Holst The Planets XRCD24

TAS Rated 4/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics in the April 2013 Issue of The Absolute Sound!
Audiophile XRCD24 Mastered from the Original Analogue EMI Master Tapes!
Can Be Enjoyed On Any CD Player!
This classic recording from the golden era of André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra has been newly remastered from the original EMI master tapes.
Recorded at London's much missed Kingsway Hall on September 28 & 29, 1973. Produced and engineered by the legendary EMI team of Christopher Bishop and Christopher Parker.
This recording dates back to André Previn's golden age with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1973. The recording took place at the legendary Kingsway Hall on 28 and 29 September in both stereophonic and quadraphonic mixes. The size of Kingsway Hall was also decisive for the choice as a recording location, because it was also necessary to be able to represent the enormous dynamics of the orchestra and this would simply not have been possible in a studio. In terms of sound, the stereo version is considered to be better and its finer detail resolution also comes into play in the recording used for this arrangement.
The XRCD remastering took place in 2012 at JVC Mastering Studios in Yokohama. Old master Tohru Kotetszu sat at the controls and was supported by Kazuo Kiuchi and Shizuo Nomiyama. An excellent balance between dynamic grandeur and filigree nuances was achieved. If you've ever wondered what music John Williams might have inspired the Star Wars soundtrack, you should listen carefully to Mars in this recording.
"The solo violin part in "Venus" (and in "Mercury", for that matter) is beautifully played. "Mercury" is a wonder of virtuosity, especially in the strings, with great delicacy in both playing and recording." - Gramophone, July 1974. John Borwick, Audio editor of Gramophone added: "Instrumental timbre is excitingly realistic and the internal balance of the LSO would seem to have been captured with great fidelity."
"'Uranus, the Magician,' [is] the section of the disc I often use as a demo piece for friends. It has everything an audiophile loves, from deep bass to highest treble, from the softest notes to the loudest fortes; it exhibits a full demonstration of an orchestra's capabilities. What's more, Previn's interpretation is appropriately magical and not a little spooky... Hi-Q remastered the sound using JVC's XRCD24/K2 technology at JVC's Mastering Center in Japan... it is probably the most-precise, most-advanced method currently available of transferring material from a master tape to disc, and the results we find on the Hi-Q disc are extraordinarily good. The Hi-Q sound exhibits excellent depth, air, space, dynamic range, and impact... As always, the folks at Hi-Q provide a premium product with a premium package, a glossy, hard cardboard and plastic Digipak-type container, the booklet notes sewn book-like into the center, the disc fastened to the inside back cover." - John J. Puccio, Classical Candor
"Hi-Q Records made a good choice with this release. They have remastered the recording through JVC's XRCD24 bit process. The result is what used to be called a "hot" disc in LP terminology, meaning it is very loud. What this process has done to the sterling original by Recording Producer Christopher Bishop and Recording Engineer Christopher Parker is to widen the dynamic range and goose up the bass. The wonderful ambient sound of Kingsway Hall, London, where the recording was taped, still remains with the recording... [I]f you have the reproducing equipment that meets highest standards, this Hi-Q issue is really overwhelming." - Zan Furtwangler, www.audaud.com, 4 Stars!!
"[S]limmed-down glossy cardboard boxes... exude the perfectionist nature of the product... While Previn's later Planets for Telarc plays louder and lower, this one is no slouch sonically and it's preferable from a musical standpoint... There's great detail: you can actually hear the xylophone, correctly scaled, at the loudest point of the Magician's movement. In 'Neptune' the wordless women's voices sound positively intergalactic." - Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound, April 2013, 4/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics

Features:

• Mastered from the Original Analogue EMI Master Tapes!
• Superior Audiophile XRCD24
• XRCD24 is a standard "Red Book" CD and can be enjoyed on any CD player

Musicians:

• Andre Previn, conductor
• London Symphony Orchestra
• The Ambrosian Singers

Selections:

1. Mars, the Bringer of War
2. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
3. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
4. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
5. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
6. Uranus, the Magician
7. Neptune, the Mystic (The Ambrosian Singers)