Venice - Georg Solti conducts the Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
In June 1958, Georg Solti was on the cusp of his legendary tenure as Music Director of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Known as a "human dynamo," Solti brought a characteristic intensity and rhythmic precision to the podium that perfectly suited the dramatic sweep of Italian and French opera. By pairing him with the Covent Garden orchestra, RCA and Decca captured a specialized ensemble that lived and breathed this repertoire nightly in the theater. Unlike a symphony orchestra playing opera on the side, this was an "at home" performance by a group uniquely attuned to the dramatic pauses, vocal lines, and theatrical pacing of the stage.
Though released to the public in 1959, the sessions for Venice took place in June 1958. This album remains one of the crown jewels of the RCA Victor Red Seal Living Stereo era. Recorded by the legendary Decca engineer Kenneth Wilkinson in London’s Kingsway Hall, the album is celebrated for its immense soundstage and three-dimensional imaging. Wilkinson’s setup captured the lush acoustics of the hall while preserving the bite of the brass and the shimmering detail of the strings.
Artist(s): Conductor - Georg Solti
Orchestra - Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Recording Info: Producer: James Walker
Engineer: Kenneth Wilkinson
Recorded by Decca / RCA 18-21 June 1958, Kingsway Hall
Sourced from RCA Living Stereo 1/S 1/S original pressing
Components used for this transfer: Analog: Transferred using a VPI - HW-40 Anniversary Direct Drive Turntable - Cartridge used Ortofon MC Anna - Merrill Jens Phono Preamp
Digital: Merging Anubis Analog to Digital Converter powered by Teddy Pardo Linear Power Supply, clocked by an Antelope Audio 10MX Atomic Clock
Power Conditioning: Shunyata Research Everest 8000 for all components with Shunyata Sigma-X Power Cords. All components are grounded to Shunyata ALTAIRA Hubs
1 Verdi La Traviata: Prelude To Act I 3:27
2 Rossini L'Italiana In Algeri: Overture 7:20
3 Verdi La Traviata: Prelude To Act III 3:30
4 Offenbach The Tales Of Hoffmann: Barcarolle 4:03
5 Rossini Semiramide: Overture 11:22
6 Ponchielli La Gioconda: Dance Of The Hours 8:43
This Title is in the Vinyl Record Restoration Series. You can find information about the series in this Blog Post HERE
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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