BALALAIKA FAVORITES Classic/Mercury LIVING PRESENCE 200g AUDIOPHILE TAS Sealed

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BALALAIKA FAVORITES
The Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra conducted by Vitaly Gnutov
New & Sealed Audiophile Vinyl Record

Record label/brand: Classic Records/Mercury living Presence SR90310

QUIEX Supervinyl Profile 200 Gram

This is the original legendary Mercury Living Presence release, SR90310. HIGH QUALITY vinyl and sleeve... PLUS state of the art mastering, make this a must have for audiophiles. Features works by Andreyev, Budashkin, Gorodovskayay, Kulikov, Mikhailov-Shalayev, Mossolov, Osipov, Poponov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shishakov, Soloviev-Sedoy, and Tchaikovsky.

Highly collectable release from audiophile label, Classic Records. This title was mastered by Classic Records at Half Speed from the original source master tapes. An all-analog, tube amplification process was used at every step. Classic Records used a proprietary vinyl that guaranteed virtually no surface noise and sonically superior dynamics.

Classic Records pride themselves for releasing each album with the original artwork, LP labels and any other materials which were included with original pressings.

Record is new and sealed in it's original plastic sleeve. Perforation is completely intact. Corners are sharp, spine is straight and colors are vibrant.

Review: The balalaika is not a difficult instrument to describe: it has a triangular body, three strings and a fretted neck. It is far more difficult to describe the inherent values of this national instrument, of which there is a whole family with sizes ranging from the piccolo and alto to the bass and double bass. Accordingly a wide variety of timbral colouring can be achieved, which – together with a broad repertoire – is exploited to the full by a traditional ensemble such as the Osipov Orchestra.

With their performances of arrangements of well-known, romantic Russian pieces, popular adaptations and waltzes, this professional orchestra gives us an insight into the spirited and highly entertaining world of a living musical culture. No different from a classical orchestra, the arrangements are rich in soloistic interludes. Alongside the domra, an instrument with three or four strings, we hear a xylophone, ancient wind instruments and the sonorous, rippling bajan (button accordion). This recording goes back to the roots of Russian music and rightly occupies an important position in our Russian Edition.

Mercury Living Presence: In 1951, under the direction of recording engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine and recording director David Hall, Mercury Records initiated a recording technique using a single microphone to record symphony orchestras.

In 1951, when the company was a Chicago-based independent, its "Olympian Series" was launched with the now classic monophonic LP of the Mussorgsky-Ravel 'Pictures at an Exhibition" played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Rafael Kubelik. In reviewing that disk in The New York Times, Howard Taubman wrote that the effect was "like being in the living presence of the orchestra"; Mercury took his phrase "Living Presence" as the rubric for its subsequent releases, well into the stereophonic era.

The series' special status among discophiles was built on a strong mix of imaginative repertory, authoritative performances and a dramatically straightforward approach in recording them that insured a vividness that would not fade with time. Over the years, as LP's disappeared or were reissued in sound-altered editions, the original pressings acquired legendary status, and collectors offered up to $300 for certain items.

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