Christmas Joy - George Melachrino and His Orchestra
In the years when high fidelity sound was still a new wonder, few names were as closely associated with lush, symphonic easy listening as George Melachrino. Born in London in 1909, Melachrino was a violin prodigy who went on to master clarinet, saxophone, and viola before turning to conducting and arranging. After wartime service leading entertainment units for British forces, he became one of the great post-war maestros of mood music, RCA’s elegant answer to Mantovani, with a string of popular orchestral albums that wrapped everyday life in velvet sound.
By the time Christmas Joy was recorded for RCA’s Living Stereo series Melachrino had already proven that Christmas music and high fidelity were made for one another. His earlier Christmas in High Fidelity showcased his gift for turning traditional carols into sweeping tone poems; here, he widens the palette to embrace both sacred favorites and mid-century holiday pop. What sets Melachrino apart isn’t just the size of the orchestra but the way he writes for it. Strings sing in long, arching phrases; woodwinds add gentle curls of counter-melody; brass and percussion provide just enough sparkle to remind you this is a celebration, not a sermon. Throughout, the famous RCA “Living Stereo” sound, wide, spacious, and detailed, lets you hear the orchestra laid out almost like a theatre stage, with choirs of instruments answering each other across the stereo picture.
Artist(s): George Melachrino and His Orchestra
Recording Info: Recorded in England
Released 1960
Sourced from a 4-track tape
Components used for Transfer: Analog: Transport - Studer A810 modified with Flux Heads
Preamp - Custom Tape Pre-amp designed by Victor Khomenko of Balanced Audio Technology
Digital: Merging Hapi Analog to Digital Converter clocked by an Antelope Audio 10MX Atomic Clock
Software: Merging Pyramix v15
Power Conditioning: Shunyata Research Everest 8000 for all components with Shunyata Sigma-X Power Cords.
All components are grounded to Shunyata ALTAIRA Hubs
1 Jingle Bells 2:43
2 The First Noël 3:02
3 White Christmas 3:34
4 Good King Wenceslas 2:52
5 Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer 1:31
6 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen 2:59
7 Christmas Alphabet 2:04
8 Joy To The World 3:46
9 Winter Wonderland 2:51
10 Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful) 2:51
11 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 2:11
12 Fairy On The Christmas Tree 1:57
13 Sleigh Ride 3:09
14 Silent Night 2:52
15 Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town 2:25
16 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 2:28
Please Note: This release was edited in DXD PCM from a DSD256 Master
then the DXD edited master was used to generate the final DSD files using
Merging Technologies Album Publishing.
DXD (352.8KHz 24/32 bit PCM) is one of the best and least destructive formats for post-processing DSD originated digital recordings
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