Rachel Podger Archives - NativeDSD Music

Thousand Shades of Blue: HRES Revisited

Sjoerd Staal — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 08:41:38 +0000

Thousand Shades of Blue: HRES Revisited is a new remixed and remastered edition of the first album from Carmen Gomes Inc. on the Sound Liaison label. The album features Carmen Gomes on Vocals, Folker Tettero on Guitar, Peter Bjornild on Double Bass and Marcel van Engelen on Drums. It is available at NativeDSD in Stereo DSD 512, DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64, DXD and PCM 768k from the Stereo PCM 768k Edit Master Source.

Remixing and remastering Thousand Shades of Blue, has been nothing short of transformative. Opening up those sessions felt like traveling back in time, yet with the knowledge and refined sensibilities we’ve gained. Looking back, we realized just how much our approach to mixing and mastering has evolved. At Sound Liaison, we now embrace a philosophy of minimalism, using fewer tools on individual tracks, preserving the raw beauty of the original performances.

When we first recorded Thousand Shades of Blue over 12 years ago, it marked a milestone for Sound Liaison, a bold step into the world of audiophile recording. The album went on to receive sudden praise, including a memorable review by Rad Bennett from SoundStage: “Her style is bluesy and intimate with a sexy voice that’s sweet as dark tupelo honey. The musicians play to her and each other, and the ensemble is so tight that the four musicians breathe and move as one….this intimate effort is one of the best and best-sounding jazz vocal albums to come along in many a day.”

The release immediately established us as serious contributors to the audiophile community, and revisiting this beloved album more than a decade later presented an extraordinary opportunity: to reimagine the original sessions using the insights and expertise we’ve cultivated at the forefront of high-fidelity audio.

One of the most striking revelations came when we processed the original tracks through our meticulously crafted analog mastering chain. This system, a labor of love honed over years, gave the music a newfound sense of depth and vibrancy. The spatial arrangement of the musicians on the soundstage became more precise, enhancing the listener’s sense of immersion, while the overall presence and authenticity of the sound reached new heights.

‘Thousand Shades of Blue’ is Carmen Gomes‘ tribute to the land of her ancestors, the sea surrounding it, and the power of impossible love. Dom Pedro, son of King Alfonso of Portugal, and heir to the throne, fell in love with Inés de Castro, a chambermaid. They became lovers and soul mates. The scandal was too much for the king who consequently ordered the killing of Ines in front of her and Pedro’s infant child. When Alfonso died, Pedro’s first act as King was to have Ines’ body exhumed from the grave, dressed in royal robes, and carried 50 miles along a candlelit route to Alcobacá where she was crowned as his Queen. He then forced the entire court to swear allegiance to their new queen by kissing the corpse’s hand.

Ines and Pedro are both buried at the Monastery of Alcobacá, where Pedro had arranged that their two tombs are placed with their feet towards each other, so that on the Day of Judgement when they rise from the grave, their very first act will be looking into each others eyes.

Carmen Gomes, Vocals
Folker Tettero, Guitar
Peter Bjørnild, Double Bass
Marcel van Engelen, Drums

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Feldman: Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello Live

Sjoerd Staal — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:00:35 +0000

Feldman: Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello Live features Nieuw Amsterdams Peil in Stereo and 5.1 Channel Surround Sound DSD from TRPTK. This album was recorded live at the Sounds of Music Festival in Groningen, Nethelands.

Nieuw Amsterdams Peil (NAP) is a fearless band that does not shy away from any genre or style. It was founded in 2005 by violinist Heleen Hulst and pianist Gerard Bouwhuis . As a collective, they focus on a broad repertoire of chamber music and music theater in a flexible line-up. Their focus is on the music of today. Musicians of Nieuw Amsterdams Peil feel more like a ‘band’ than an ‘ensemble’. Little hierarchy and a lot of personal input by each player individually.

An hour and fifteen minutes is long for a piano quartet, but it pales in comparison to the nearly five hours of Crippled Symmetry and the six hours of the Second String Quartet. Morton Feldman (1926-1987) is renowned for compositions that are simultaneously the longest, softest, and slowest. Feldman completed his piano quartet, which is not actually titled as such but rather Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, on May 28, 1987. He could not have foreseen that this would be his last work.

Nieuw Amsterdams Peil
Emma Breedveld, Violin
Heleen Hulst, viola
Mick Stirling, Cello
Gerard Bouwhuis, Piano

The post Feldman: Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello Live appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Les Hautbois à la Chambre du Roi (The Oboes In The King’s Chamber)

Sjoerd Staal — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:00:09 +0000

The Oboes In The King’s Chamber features Syntagma Amici directed by Jérémie Papasergio & Elsa Frank on Racercar. Exclusively Available in Stereo DSD 512, DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64 and DXD at NativeDSD.

Whilst flutes, oboes and bassoons were often employed in music performed in the open air, as we have already documented in Les Fastes de la Grande Écurie, they also made contributed greatly to the introduction of wind instruments into the other musical institutions of Louis XIV’s court.

This, however, was only possible thanks to the many changes and alterations made to these instruments so that they might better blend with the violins and viols. Here they appear in the Chambre du Roi.

Syntagma Amici
Elsa Frank: hautbois, taille de hautbois, flûtes à bec
Sophie Rebreyend: hautbois, flûtes à bec
Anaïs Ramage: basson, flûtes à bec
Jérémie Papasergio: basson, basse de cromorne, flûtes à bec, flageolet d’oiseau
Hélène Houzel: violon, taille de violon
Manon Papasergio: basse de viole, dessus de viole, petite basse de violon
Gabriel Rignol: théorbe, guitare, chapeau chinois
Brice Sailly: clavecin, orgue
Romain Bockler: basse-taille
Direction: Jérémie Papasergio & Elsa Frank

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