Hot Stamper Pressings of Mercury Classical Recordings Available Now
The notes you see below are for our Shootout Winner, which earned our top grade of at least 3+ on side one with its Hard to Fault (HTF) sound.
If you are interested in a record with the kind of sound described below, please contact us and we will be happy to put you on the waiting list for the next killer copy that comes along and blows our minds.
As you may well imagine, shootouts for this album are exceedingly rare. For a sought-after TAS List title such as this, we’re lucky to be able to do one every five years or so. Until the next one comes around, please consider trying some of our other classical and orchestral Hot Stamper pressings.
Robert Fine’s recordings for Mercury are some of the most amazing sounding we have ever played. To see what might be available, please click here.
Side One
Cello Concerto – Dvorak
Allegro
Adagio Ma Non Troppo
Side Two
Cello Concerto – Dvorak
Finale (Allegro Moderato)
Kol Nidrei – Bruch
The Cello Concerto was one of only two works Dvořák composed during his last year in New York. Cellist and composer Victor Herbert was Dvořák’s unwitting muse after Dvořák attended a performance of Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto. After the performance, Dvořák is said to have gone backstage, thrown his arms around Herbert, and exclaimed, “Splendid! Splendid!”
Dvořák especially liked Herbert’s brilliant use of the cello’s upper registers, which until then Dvořák had regarded as weak and limited. He also observed the three trombones used to accompany the soloist in the slow movement. Dvořák would abandon conventional instrumentation in his own Concerto by adding three trombones, as well as tuba, piccolo, and triangle.
—J. Anthony McAlister, LAPhil.com