Telarc Wraps Up Year With New Classical and Jazz Surround Sound SACDs

Audiophile labels Telarc and Heads Up wrapped up 2005 with releases of three Surround Sound Super Audio CDs. The new Telarc SACDs include releases of albums featuring performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Del Tredici’s composition “Paul Revere’s Ride”. Also included in the Surround Sound SACD releases was the Heads Up debut album by Jazz saxophone player Najee. The label also prepared for the new year by announcing plans to release five Surround Sound Super Audio CDs in January 2006. Here’s more information on these new Telarc and Heads Up SACD releases.

My Point of View
Najee
Super Audio CD Surround Sound/Super Audio CD Stereo/CD Audio

(Heads Up HUSA-9104)

My Point of View is jazz saxophonist Najee’s debut album on Heads Up International, Telarc’s Jazz label. The album features 10 tracks – 7 are purely instrumental with the other three featuring guest vocalists Will Downing, Lomon Andrews and Sisaundra Lewis. The songs on My Point of View are definitely from the “smooth jazz” style of music with some critics comparing Najee’s playing to famed saxophonist Grover Washington Jr.

The Surround Sound SACD features a 5.1 Surround Sound mix that was done by Martin Walters at Big Time Audio in Dallas, Texas and mastered by well known SACD specialist David Glasser at Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colorado. The SACD was replicated by Sony DADC at their Terre Haute, Indiana plant. My Point of View’s 5.1 Surround Sound mix makes good use of the surround sound possibilities with backing instruments and background vocals in the surround channels while the lead vocals and instruments are featured in the front channels.

Album Tracks
1. Sidewayz
2. 3 AM
3. Fallin’ In Love (with Will Downing)
4. Back In the Day (with Lomon Andrews)
5. Charm
6. My Point of View
7. 2nd 2 None
8. Emotional (with Sisaundra Lewis)
9. How Lovely You Are
10. Miyuki

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 & Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of A Wayfarer) (2 Disc Set)
Benjamin Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra with Christopher Maltman – Baritone (Songs of A Wayfarer)
Super Audio CD Surround Sound/Super Audio CD Stereo/CD Audio (Disc 1) and CD Audio (Disc 2)

(Telarc 2SACD-60628)

This new Surround Sound SACD is the latest in the Mahler series on Telarc performed by conductor Benjamin Zander and the Philharmonia Orchestra. It features a 2-disc set for a $1 premium over the price of a regular SACD ($19.99 list price). The first disc in the set is a Hybrid Surround Sound SACD with performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of A Wayfarer). It is accompanied by a “bonus CD” that features Zander’s discussion of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Songs of A Wayfarer.

The SACD is one of Telarc’s “Pure DSD” recordings that “is produced exclusively from Direct Stream Digital (DSD) masters made during the recording sessions” according to the record label. It was produced by Elaine Martone and David St. George, engineered by Jack Renner with assistance from Everett Porter and Roger de Schot from Polyhymnia and Roland Heap from EMI and mixed by Paul Blakemore. The SACD was replicated by Sony DADC at their Terre Haute, Indiana plant.

Telarc notes that “Zander began working regularly with the Philharmonic Orchestra in 1995, conducting a series of Mahler symphonies to extraordinary critical acclaim. Zander’s recordings with the Philharmonia on Telarc include Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 9, and the Fifth and Seventh symphonies of Beethoven. As with his other Mahler symphonies recorded on Telarc, this new recording includes a second disc wherein Zander discusses some of the background behind Songs of a Wayfarer and Symphony No. 1.”

Album Selections – Disc 1
Mahler: Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of A Wayfarer)
1. I. Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht
2. II. Ging heut’ Morgen uber’s Feld
3. III. Ich hab’ ein gluhend Messer
4. IV. Die zwei blauen Augen

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan”
5. I. Langsam. Schleppend
6. II. Kraftig bewegt
7. III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen
8. IV. Stumisch bewegt

Album Selections – Disc 2
1. Benjamin Zander Discusses Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Symphony No. 1

Del Tredici/Theofandis/Bernstein
Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Super Audio CD Surround Sound/Super Audio CD Stereo/CD Audio

(Telarc SACD-60638)

This Surround Sound SACD features Robert Spano conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, It is highlighted the orchestra’s performance of two World Premiere Recordings – Christopher Theofanidis’ “The Here And Now” and David Del Tredici’s “Paul Revere’s Ride”. The album also includes Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah).

Telarc says that “Audiences of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concerts enjoyed a rare event on May 2005: world premieres on the same evening of two thrilling new works. Neither of the creators is particularly known for choral music, but both of these new works seemed destined to become important additions to the choral repertoire.”

The new album is a new “Pure DSD” recording. It was produced by Elaine Martone and Thomas C. Moore, engineered by Jack Renner and Michael Bishop and mixed and mastered by Michael Bishop. The SACD was made by Sony DADC at their Terre Haute, Indiana plant.

Album Selections
Christopher Theofanidis: The Here And Now (World Premiere Recording)
1. Inside this new love, die
2. Is the one I love everywhere?
3. The sound of the resurrection
4. All day and night, music
5. Narrative I: The value of our souls
6. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you
7. The one who pours is wilder than we
8. Narrative II: Three kinds of women
9. Drumsound rises
10. Spreading radiance
11. Narrative III: Insomnia
12. The urgency of love
13. The music of our final meeting

Leonard Bernstein: “Lamentation” Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah)
14. Symphony No. 1 (text from the Lamentations of Jeremiah)

David Del Tredici: Paul Revere’s Ride (World Premiere Recording)
15. Part I: The Call
16. Part II: The Wait
17. Part III: The Ride
18. Finale: Fugue
19. Finale: Chorale
20. Finale: Epilogue

5 New Surround Sound SACD Releases in January
Telarc and Heads Up have also announced that they will be ringing in the New Year by releasing 3 new Surround Sound Super Audio CDs and 2 new Telarc SACD samplers in January. The new SACDs will be “day and date” releases with their CD counterparts and will feature Jazz pianist Hiromi, South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria and Bach’s Magnificat by Martin Pearlman and the Boston Baroque. (We previewed the Hiromi SACD as part of our pre-CES 2006 story on the new 32 Track Sonoma DSD Recorder from the Super Audio Center and Ed Meitner’s EMM Labs – see web link below).

The new SACD samplers from Telarc will feature highlights from the Telarc SACD Classical catalog selected by Harry Pearson, founder of The Absolute Sound and selections from the Telarc and Heads Up SACD catalogs selected by Sound & Vision Magazine’s Entertainment Editor Ken Richardson.

Telarc Surround Sound SACD Release – In Music Stores on January 17, 2005

  • Spiral – Hiromi (Telarc SACD-63631)

    Heads Up Surround Sound SACD Release – In Music Stores on January 24, 2005

  • Long Walk To Freedom – Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Heads Up HUSA-9109)

    Telarc Surround Sound SACD Release – In Music Stores on January 24, 2005

  • The Absolute Sound – Telarc SACD Classical Music Sampler (Telarc SACD-60011)
  • Sound & Vision – Telarc & Heads Up SACD Sampler (Telarc SACD-60012)
  • Vivaldi: Gloria & Bach: Magnificat – Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque (Telarc SACD-60651)

    Availability
    The new Telarc Surround Sound SACDs by Benjamin Zander conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, Robert Spano conducting the Atlantia Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Saxophone player Najee are now available in music stores including Tower Records. At Tower Records, you’ll find them mixed in with the regular Stereo CD editions of these albums. They are also available from web stores that carry Super Audio CDs including Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc and Music Direct.