Lorin Maazel – R. Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra (180g LP)

Out Of Print! Only a few copies left!

Great Sounding Classical Title from EMI!

180g Audiophile Vinyl Cut from the Original EMI Stereo Analogue Master Tapes at Abbey Road Studios!

Of all the famous recordings of this celebrated work, Maazel’s 1962 Philharmonia recording must be the best kept secret. Passed over by comparative reviews by journalists and broadcasters (Gramophone’s survey of recordings of the work in November 2014 fails to mention it at all) it is actually a stunner, both musically and sonically and is another fitting testament to the late Lorin Maazel’s long and distinguished career as one of the world’s greatest conductors.

In the original review in The Gramophone of August 1963, M.M enthused: “If beauty of playing, whether on the part of strings, woodwind, or brass, can win the day, then for Also Sprach the day is here won; there can hardly be on disc more polished playing, even from the Philharmonia, than there is here. Lorin Maazel, gives, too, a polished reading of the piece… The orchestral playing is matched very closely by the recording. This… never puts a foot wrong. Every section of the orchestra is given a silky sound, and the biggest climaxes – of which Also Sprach is not exactly short – are handled without any flinching whatever…””The balance, too, is throughout ideal…”

Cut at Abbey Road Studios from the original stereo analogue master tapes with the Neumann VMS82 lathe fed an analogue pre-cut signal from a specially adapted Studer A80 tape deck with additional ‘advance’ playback head, making the cut a totally analogue process.

Pressed on 180g vinyl to audiophile standards using the original EMI presses by The Vinyl Factory in Hayes, England.