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AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

Speakers Corner / Decca  - SXL 2064/5 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue

Limited Edition - Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering - Pressed  at Pallas Germany

Speakers Corner  25 Years pure Analogue

To hear what I mean, try the magnificent 1958 recording of Smetana's M· Vlast with Rafael Kubelik and the Vienna Philharmonic, still available on vinyl in a fine reissue (LP, Decca/Speakers Corner SXL 2064/5). This recording is a bit drier and more immediate than most Deccas of the period, yet with really luscious string color and texture, and a fine, tactile way with such transient sounds as in the many harp arpeggios. (It's also a brilliant reading by world-class musiciansthe sort of thing Decca could boast with greater consistency than any other classical label  - Stereophile

Smetana’s symphonic poem “Má Vlast“ consists of several individual compositions which the composer put together at a later date to form a cycle and is one of the greatest testimonies to Czech national music. The Bohemian countryside and sagas are reflected in the tone poem From “Bohemia’s Woods and Fields“, while the programmatic “Moldau“ occupies a rightful place among the most outstanding works to have been written in the late 19th century. Thanks to its popular folk melodies, its clearly structured and recognizable “programme“, and brilliant orchestration, the work has never failed to arouse the enthusiasm of a wide public.

Rafael Kubelik conducted numerous first-class orchestras both in the concert hall and in the recording studio, and won a deserved reputation as the Smetana connoisseur. He is to be congratulated on his choice of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for this recording: gentle and transparent in the gossamer-light orchestral passages, powerful and smooth when playing as a full tutti. This thoroughly satisfying performance is further enhanced by its excellent recording technique and is to be recommended to all collectors.

"Here is a composer with genuine Czech heart, an artist by the grace of God." - Franz List on Bedrich Smetana 

Musicians:

• The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Rafael Kubelik (conductor)

Recording: April 1958 at Sofiensaal, Vienna by Gordon Parry
Production: Eric Smith