This updated version of the classic performance really takes the recording to a whole new level. The Church of St.-Etienne-du-Mont, where the recording took place, has amazing acoustics that really bring out the romantic spirit of the music.
Title: Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3
Artist(s): Georges Prêtre & The Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
Maurice Durufle (Organ)
Recording Info: Sourced from a 2-track tape
Recorded in the Church of St.-Etienne-du-Mont.
Analog: Transferred using a modified Nagra 4SJ tape deck feeding a Merrill Tape Preamp
Digital: Merging Hapi Analog to Digital Converter clocked by an Antelope Audio 10MX Atomic Clock
Power Conditioning: Shunyata Research Everest 8000 for all components
All components grounded to Shunyata ALTAIRA Hubs
1 Adagio 20:26
2 Allegro Moderato 16:38
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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A performance with that very special French sound and a great improvement over the original release
This performance by Georges Prêtre and Maurice Duruflé has long been one of my favorite traversals of this great war horse. There is a very French piquancy to the music that is not captured by other performances. Prêtre provides a characterful presentation while maintaining an excellent balance of orchestra and organ. The challenge of recording on location in the church is evident by some loss of orchestral detail, which just gets swamped by the reverberation. But the glory of the Cavaillé-Coll organ is not be denied and is worth the price of admission. This Redux release is much improved over the original HDTT release from years ago. The new 2-track tape source makes for a definitively better, and more rewarding, release of this album.

Remarkable but Troublesome
First, the recording is remarkable—this Redux version is crystal clear, definitely up to HDTT’s highest standards. However, this extraordinary clarity is troublesome, since this recording was made in a cathedral whose ambience includes a pronounced echo. Massed strings soon become ‘swimmy’ in the face of this ambient feedback, to some extent negating the wonderful clarity of the recording itself. This isn’t all bad. The pizz strings leading up to the breathy first organ notes in Part I are wonderful, and the following quiet chorale with winds and strings is strikingly beautiful (as are the haunting last notes of Part I for organ and strings). And the recording well-captures the sense of a large space. In Part II the hair-raising section for organ, pianos, and strings is extremely well captured, but then the textures become a bit blurred with echos. So for me this beautiful performance was love hate, but I’m very glad to have heard it so well presented.
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24bit 352.8kHz PCM Flac (DXD) DXD is only playable on compatible hardware and software.
24bit 192khz PCM Flac is playable on most all playback devices
24bit 96khz PCM Flac is playable on most all playback devices
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