STEREOPHILE RECORDINGS

POEM
Featuring works for flute and piano by Prokofiev, Reinecke and American composer Charles Griffes, this purist recording was made by Kavi Alexander of Water Lily Acoustics.  Available on both LP and CD, it was recorded
using all-tube microphones fed straight into a classic Ampex tube tape recorder with no signal processing whatsoever.  It accurately captures the tonal qualities and images of the flute and piano in a small Los Angeles hall.

INTERMEZZO
Again recorded in a purist manner by Kavi Alexander of Water Lily Acoustics using all tube equipment, this album (available on LP and CD) features Robert Silverman, one of Canada's leading Classical pianists, performing works by Brahms ranging from the powerful Sonata in F Minor to the Opus 118 set of gentle, lullaby-like intermezzos.  It accurately captures the sound of the big 9-foot Steinway piano in the Santa Barbara church where it was recorded.

CONCERT
Recorded live in concert in November 1992 using a purist "spaced omni" microphone technique and an analogue tape recorder, this 2-CD set features Robert Silverman performing solo works by Schumann, Chopin, and Bach.
There is no LP release planned; the CDs were mastered and edited using  a 20-bit analog/digital converter  with then a state-of-the-art mastering processor (the Meridian 618) used to convert the 20-bit digital data to the 16 bits required by the CD format.  This process preserves as much as possible of the sound quality of the analog original.

TEST CD 1
STEREOPHILES first test CD mixes tracks from the Poem album with music tracks recorded by the magazines editors and contributors -- J Gordon Holt, Robert Harley,  John Atkinson, Peter W Mitchell and Dick Olsher -- and
includes test signals intended to help the audiophile optimally set-up his or her loudspeakers.  One track switches between correct and inverted polarity, allowing the listener to hear which sounds better in his or her
system; another allows the listener to hear the difference between professional A/D converters.

TEST CD 2
As well as a completely new selection of music tracks recorded by the magazines editors and contributors -- there is no overlap with Test CD 1 --the expanded Test signal section on Test CD 2 helps audiophiles align
amplifiers, tape recorders and CD players, as well as optimally set-up loudspeakers.  Tutorial tracks allow user to learn how to hear different types of distortion.

TEST CD 3
While it repeats some of the test signals from Test CD 2, Test CD 3's features special tones to help set up a home-theatre system. signals to check out the new media like DCC and MD, as well as a track to "burn-in"
audio components.  The music samples are taken from audiophile record labels - Reference Recordings, AudioQuest, Analogue Productions, Chesky,
Turnipseed Music and Redstone, among others and represent what STEREOPHILE Editor John Atkinson regards as being some of the most natural-sounding recordings available today.  There is also a binaural track, recorded at the 1992 Montreal Formula 1 Grand Prix, as well as a demonstration of how
different microphone techniques affect the recorded soundstage.

FESTIVAL CD
A world premier recording of the renowned Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival performing works by Copland, Milhaud and the Japanese composer Tomiko Kohjiba, recorded live with time-aligned microphones and 20bit resolution.
Wait till you hear the string tones, transients, the ambience and the air.

SONATA CD and LP
Pianist Robert Silverman plays Liszt including the Sonata in B-Minor.  Recorded with 20 Bit resolution

SERENADE CD
Superlative performances of chamber music by Brahms, Mozart, Dvorak, recorded live with 20-bit resolution and U-R-There? transparency.

RHAPSODY CD
Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue, beautifully played by Hyperion Knight.
Arranged for Piano and chamber orchestra by Joe Cea - with marimba added for a touch of exotic sonority.  again with ?U-R-There? transparency.

ENCORE CD
Stereophile brings the best of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival to you.
Music by Mendelssohn and Brahms, featuring Christopher O'Riley, Piano, Nathaniel Rosen, Cello and other artists.

DUET CD
Violinist Ida Levin teams up with painist Diane Walsh to eprform the dynamic works of Eastern composers Janacek, Enescu and Schulhoff.  Recorded with 24-bit resolution.

Last updated on 2/9/99