Laszlo Gaal of Tone-Pearls Records in France dropped us a line to share news of a new recording on master tape.
Tone-Pearls Records is a really interesting sounding venture. It’s a non-profit collective of music researchers and music lovers devoted to recreating the original experience of live concerts. They produce ‘true analogue recordings’ on master tape, vinyl and in high-resolution digital formats – at close to cost price.
The team has developed its own all-analogue recording processes “derived from our scientific research of music, tone and hearing”; their recordings are specifically aimed at including the authentic atmosphere and sound of the performance venue.
This particular recording was made in a Louis XV salon in a French chateau.
It was captured using a single pair of AKG C 414 limited edition microphones (ORTF stereo), directly connected to a Nagra IVS reel-to-reel tape deck with Vovox cables. The Nagra served as a microphone preamp only; its output was connected (via Nagra cable) to a Lyrec PTR-1 Frida tape recorder. As with all Tone-Pearls recordings, no editing and or post-processing was used.
Called ‘Hungarian Songs in a Chateau’, the album contains some previously unreleased contemporary Hungarian songs by composers Bartók, Dohnányi and Ligeti.
It features soprano Anne Sophie Petit and pianist Marcell Vigh, who met during masterclasses in contemporary music at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne, Switzerland. They’ve been playing together for several years now and share a mutual interest in 20th-century composers.
“I was fascinated by the inner beauty of these songs. I wonder why these works are almost forgotten and unreleased,” says Anne Sophie.
Tone-Pearls adds, “All the songs here create a dialogue between Hungarian vernacular songs and innovative sounds and harmonies that have pervaded all of Europe during the first part of the 20th century. Each piece invites us to travel to the Hungarian homeland… some invoke dreamlike images with thoughts on time and nature, while others are odes to wine-drinking and intoxication, or summon the devil to take away the financiers of the world! All in all, an invitation to discover a musical world full of both folklore and modernity.”
Find out more and listen to samples of the tracks online at /www.tonepearls.com/tpr2.html
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