Universal Music has released 5 new Super Audio CDs headlined by its second SACD by Sting. The SACD releases also included 4 classical titles, two of which are specially priced 2 disc Super Audio CD sets. Universal also announced 12 new Super Audio CD releases from their Deutsche Grammophon label – 5 of which are slated for release in August. And they hinted at some additional SACDs for summer release.
Brand New Day
Sting
SACD Surround Sound/SACD Stereo/CD Stereo
(A&M Records B0002428-36)
The Surround Sound SACD release of Sting’s album Brand New Day follows the label’s release of his Sacred Love album (A&M Records B0000872-36) which came out on SACD and Stereo CD last September and was followed by a DVD-A release in January.
Brand New Day features Sting performing with a host of guest musicians including Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Branford Marsalis and Chris Botti.
Brand New Day has a 5.1 Surround Sound Mix by well known producer and surround sound engineering specialist Elliot Scheiner. Scheiner’s surround mix of the album first appeared as a 5.1 DTS Music Disc in 1999, last September on DVD-A and now on Super Audio CD. The SACD was mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering in Portand, Maine and was supervised by Paul Bishow and Michel Etchart at Univeral Music’s eLabs.
Guest Musicians
- Stevie Wonder – Harmonica
- James Taylor – Vocals
- Cheb Mami – Vocals
- Branford Marsalis – Clarinet
- Chris Botti – Trumpet
- Ste – Vocals
Album Tracks
- A Thousand Years
- Desert Rose
- Big Lie, Small World
- After The Rain Has Fallen
- Perfect Love…Gone Wrong
- Tomorrow We’ll See
- Prelude To The End Of The Game
- Fill Her Up
- Ghost Story
- Brand New Day
4 New Classical Music Surround Sound SACD Releases
In addition to the new Surround Sound SACD by Sting, Universal Music has also released 4 new Classical Music SACDs. The new SACDs include albums by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Accademia Bizantina, Lang Lang and Mischa Maisky performing with Zubin Mehta conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
As with the Sting album, these 4 are also Surround Sound SACDs featuring SACD Surround, SACD Stereo and CD Stereo versions of the music on each album. Also worth noting is that while all 4 of these new SACDs carry a $18.98 list price, the new Lang Lang and Mischa Maisky discs are 2-SACD sets which retain the usual list price despite the extra disc in each album.
- Vladimir Ashkenazy – Shostakovich: Piano Works (Decca Classical)
- Ottavio Dantone, Accademia Bizantina – Scarlatti: Il Giardinodi Rose (Decca Classical)
- Lang Lang, Piano – Live At Carnegie Hall (2 SACD Set) (Deutsche Grammophon)
Availability
The new Surround Sound SACDs from Universal Music are now available at Tower Records as well as several web sites that carry Super Audio CD discs including Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc and Music Direct. The new SACD from Sting is also available at Best Buy stores for a price of $14.99.5
Classical Music Albums on Upcoming SACD List
In the first week of May, Universal’s Deutsche Grammophon label added two new Classical Music titles to their upcoming SACD release list. This week they follow that up with five more titles which are also due out on August 10th. The new titles include two more albums from the Berlin Philharmonic performances of the Beethoven Symphonies, a performance of Handel’s Messiah by the Gabrieli Consort and Players, a performance of Mahler’s 4th Symphony by Juliane Banse with Pierre Boulez conducting the Cleveland Orchestra and pianist Mikhail Pletnev accompanied by Mstislav Rostropovich conducting the Russian National Orchestra in performances of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
Also worth noting, the 5 new SACDs added to the August 10th release list this week carry a conventional CD price code, making one wonder if Universal Music is suggesting these will be Single Inventory SACD releases when they reach the stores. That will be something worth watching as August 10th draws closer.
- Juliane Banse, Pierre Boulez, Cleveland Orchestra – Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic – Beethoven: Symphonies No. 1 & 2 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic – Beethoven: Symphonies No. 5 & 6 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players – Handel: Messiah (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Mikhail Pletnev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian National Orchestra – Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 & Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Deutsche Gammophon)
More Pop and Country SACDs in July?
Moving to the Universal Music New Formats web site, it’s worth noting that this web site now shows the upcoming Surround Sound SACDs by Sheryl Crow, Marvin Gaye, Vince Gill and Diana Krall coming out on July 13th and the ones from Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominoes and Steely Dan arriving on July 20th. All of these SACDs are not yet on the Universal Music Upcoming Release List. I’m guessing that there appearance on the New Formats web site means they will be added to the release list with specific release dates shortly.
Also worth noting is that Steely Dan’s Aja Surround Sound SACD has been dropped from both lists. In the past, Aja has not been released in Surround Sound due to missing original session master tapes. Presumably this is the reason for the latest delay in the album’s appearance in Surround Sound.
7 More Classical Music SACDs on the Coming Soon List
In addition to the 5 Classical Music SACDs slated for August 10th, Deutsche Grammophon has listed 7 more on their “Coming Soon” list for release later in the year in the U.S. market. These new titles include a performance of Mahler’s 5th Symphony by Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre performing Gluck’s Orphee et Eurydice, the Berlin Philharmonic’s performance of Beethoven’s 7 and 8th Symphonies, Dream of the Orient by Concerto Koln & Saraband, Midnight at Notre Dame: Organ Transcriptions by Olivier Latry, Mikhail Pletnex Plays Schumann and Bryn Terfel with Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra Europe performing Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Official in-store release dates for these SACDs will be forthcoming.
- Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic – Mahler: Symphony No. 5 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Richard Croft, Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre – Gluck: Orphee et Eurydice (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic – Beethoven: Symphonies No. 7 & 8 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Concerto Koln & Saraband – Dream of the Orient (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Olivier Latry – Midnight at Notre Dame: Organ Transcriptions (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Mikhail Pletnev – Pletnev Plays Schumann (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Bryn Terfel, Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra Europe – Mozart: Don Giovanni (Deutsche Grammophon)
Upcoming Universal Music SACD Release List
Here’s an updated look at the Universal Music SACD Release List with these the new additions and date changes mentioned earlier.
May 25, 2004 SACD Releases
- Everlast – White Trash Beautiful (Island Records)
June 15, 2004 SACD Releases
- Joseph Calleja – Tenor Arias (Decca Classical)
- Riccardo Chailly, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Mahler: Symphony 3 (Decca Classics)
- Jamie Cullum – Twenty Something (Verve)
- Valery Gergiev, Kirov Opera – Shostakovich: Symphonies 5 & 8 (Philips)
- Christina Milian – It’s About Time (Island Records)
- Various Artists – Ultimate Audio Experience (Classics Sampler) (Deutsche Grammophon)
June 22, 2004 SACD Releases
- Lionel Ritchie – Just For You (Island)
July 13, 2004 SACD Releases
- Allman Brothers Band – Eat A Peach (Mercury)
- Allman Brothers Band – Live At Fillmore East (Mercury)
August 10, 2004 SACD Releases
- Juliane Banse, Pierre Boulez, Cleveland Orchestra – Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Pierre Boulez, Berlin Philharmonic – Ravel: Bolero (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic – Beethoven: Symphonies No. 1 & 2 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic – Beethoven: Symphonies No. 3 & 4 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic – Beethoven: Symphonies No. 5 & 6 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players – Handel: Messiah (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Mikhail Pletnev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian National Orchestra – Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 & Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Deutsche Grammophon)
SACD Releases Coming Soon
- Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic – Mahler: Symphony No. 5 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Count Basie & His Orchestra – April In Paris (Verve)
- Eric Clapton – 461 Ocean Blvd. (Polydor)
- Eric Clapton – Slow Hand (Polydor)
- John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman – John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (Impulse)
- Richard Croft, Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre – Gluck: Orphee et Eurydice (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Sheryl Crow – The Globe Sessions (A&M)
- Derek & the Dominoes – Layla (Polydor)
- Antal Dorati, Philharmonia Hugarica Orchestra – Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances for Lute (Decca Classics)
- Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra – Stravinsky: The Firebird (Complete);Tango; Scherzo à la Russe (Decca Classics)
- Marvin Gaye – The Marvin Gaye Collection (Motown)
- Vince Gill – High Lonesome Sound (MCA Nashville)
- Herbie Hancock – Gershwin’s World (Verve)
- Shirley Horn – Here’s to Live: Shirley Horn With Strings (Verve)
- Byron Janis, Antal Dorati, London Sympohny Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra – Rachmaninov: Piano Concerti 2 & 3; 2 Preludes (Decca Classics)
- Tonu Kaljuste – Te Deum (ECM)
- Eleni Karaindrou – Soundtrack: Ulysses’ Gaze (ECM)
- Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic – Beethoven: Symphonies No. 7 & 8 (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Killers – Hot Fuss (Island)
- Concerto Koln & Saraband – Dream of the Orient (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Diana Krall – Love Scenes (Verve)
- Olivier Latry – Midnight at Notre Dame: Organ Transcriptions (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Motley Crüe – Greatest Hits (Hip-O Records)
- Paul Paray, Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Suppé: Overtures (+Auber) (Decca Classics)
- Mikhail Pletnev – Pletnev Plays Schumann (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Janos Starker – Bach: Six Suites For Solo Cello (Philips)
- Steely Dan – Can’t Buy A Thrill (MCA)
- Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy (MCA)
- Steely Dan – Katy Lied (MCA)
- Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic (MCA)
- Steely Dan – The Royal Scam (MCA)
- Mischa Maisky, Violin; Mehta, Berlin Philharmonic – Dvorak: Cello Concerto & Strauss: Don Quixote (2 SACD Set) (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Bryn Terfel, Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra Europe – Mozart: Don Giovanni (Deutsche Grammophon)