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SACD

Ennio Morricone – The Very Best Of Ennio Morricone (2000) [Reissue 2015] [SACD / Universal Music Hong Kong – 5366546]

adminNovember 24, 2025 45 Views

Title: Ennio Morricone – The Very Best Of Ennio Morricone (2000) [Reissue 2015]
Genre: Classical, Soundtrack
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Ennio Morricone anthologies come and go, and there are always several to choose from. But as so many recycle the same tracks, one might be forgiven for thinking Morricone had only scored a dozen or so movies rather than something over 300. This makes picking a collection difficult, but this disc can be recommended for particularly polished remastered sound. Eight cues come from the Sergio Leone movies with which Morricone is indelibly associated, including the movies with Clint Eastwood and Once Upon a Time in the West. With their eclectic orchestrations and infectious melodies these landmark scores set film music in an entirely new direction. The more recent music concentrates on the hauntingly romantic side of Morricone’s talent, ranging from the fatalistic “Chi Mai” to two cues from the lushly exotic The Mission and the lovely theme from Cinema Paradiso. Leone’s final film, Once Upon a Time in America enabled Morricone to pen some of the most heartbreakingly nostalgic music in all cinema, while a selection from Mission to Mars reveals that after four decades the Italian master is still writing some of Hollywood’s most imaginative and heartfelt music.

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2 min read

SACD

Enigma – MCMXC A.D. (1990) [Reissue 2016] [SACD / Universal Music Hong Kong – 5367192]

adminNovember 24, 2025 38 Views

Title: Enigma – MCMXC A.D. (1990) [Reissue 2016]
Genre: New Age
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

MCMXC a.D. is the first studio album by the German music project Enigma, headed by Romanian-German musician Michael Cretu. It was released on 10 December 1990 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom, and on 28 January 1991 by Charisma Records in the United States. Before he founded Enigma, Cretu had released several solo records, collaborated with various artists, and produced albums for his then wife, German pop singer Sandra. Following their marriage in 1988, Cretu developed an idea for a New-age music project and recorded MCMXC a.D. in eight months at A.R.T. Studios, his home studio in Ibiza, Spain. It is one of the first albums recorded onto a hard disk. Cretu makes extensive use of Gregorian chants, dance beats, and flute sounds.
Michael Crétu’s attempt at fusing everything from easy listening sex music and hip-hop rhythms to centuries-old Gregorian chants couldn’t have been more designed to tweak the nose of high art, a joyously crass stab straight at a mainstream, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. The result is something that shouldn’t exist, but in its own way results in as much of a cultural scramble and explosion as anything Public Enemy were doing around the same time, crossing over the Euro-disco and new age spheres with style. Credit Crétu for an open ear for whatever works, which is precisely why “Sadeness,” the first part of a longer track called “Principles of Lust,” turned into a fluke worldwide hit. Snippets of monks invoking the Almighty effortlessly glide in and out of a polite but still strong breakbeat, shimmering, atmospheric synth and flute lines and a Frenchwoman whispering in a way that sounds distinctly more carnal than spiritual (as her gasps for breath elsewhere make clear). Guitar and male vocals add to the album version’s try-anything-that-works approach, as do attempts at shuffling jazz beats and horns. If nothing quite equals that prime moment elsewhere on the album, MCMXC A.D. still trips out on the possibilities as it can, right from the opening “Voice of Enigma,” inviting all listeners to sit back, relax, and take a gentle trip. Crétu certainly isn’t trying to hide anything – “Callas Went Away” goes right ahead and adds a sample of Maria Callas herself to the chirping birds and soft beats, while elsewhere the flutes, beats, monks, and French voices merrily go about their glossy business. About the only thing missing is the kitchen sink, making the entire album the “MacArthur Park” of its day.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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3 min read

SACD

English Baroque Soloists – Handel: Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks (2021) [SACD / Esoteric Company – ESSD-90242]

adminNovember 24, 2025 54 Views

Title: English Baroque Soloists – Handel: Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks (2021)
Genre: Classical
Format: DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

hraudio | discogs

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1 min read

SACD

E Nomine – Die Prophezeiung (2003) [SACD / Polydor – 076 231-2]

adminNovember 24, 2025 59 Views

Title: E Nomine – Die Prophezeiung (2003)
Genre: Electronic, Modern Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

E Nomine (from the Latin In Nomine, “In The Name Of”) is a German musical project, formed in 1999, by producers Christian Weller and Friedrich “Fritz” Graner. Their music, which they call monumental dance, is an unusual combination of trance, techno, and vocals which closely resemble Gregorian singing and chanting. Other vocals are performed by German voice actors such as long-time collaborators Christian Brückner and Rolf Schult. The primary languages in the songs are German and Latin.

hraudio | discogs

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1 min read

SACD

Enoch Light – Persuasive Percussion (2011) [SACD / Top Music International Ltd. – TM-SACD9013.2]

adminNovember 24, 2025 47 Views

Title: Enoch Light – Persuasive Percussion (2011)
Genre: Pop, Instrumental
Format: SACD ISO

Enoch Light was a classical violinist, bandleader, and recording engineer. He is credited with being one of the first musicians to go to extreme lengths to create high-quality recordings that took full advantage of the technical capabilities of home audio equipment of the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly stereo effects that bounced the sounds between the right and left channels (often described as “ping-pong”). He arranged his musicians in ways to produce the kinds of recorded sounds he wished to achieve, the first to do so. The first of the albums produced on his record label, Command Records, Persuasive Percussion, became the first huge hit based solely on retail sales. His songs received little or no airplay on the radio, because AM radio, the standard of the day, was monaural.

“What sets … Persuasive Percussion (1959)… apart from the plethora of other easy listening combos was Light’s innovative use of technology. Most notably, experiments in extreme stereo mixing that took advantage of what was then considered an audiophile-only novelty. He also became one of the pioneers to document audio on 35 millimeter film rather than magnetic-based audio tape. Not only did this allow for a broader range of frequencies to be captured, it greatly increased the stability of the playback. Undoubtedly, that is one reason the fidelity of his analog masters sound better and more animated than those made nearly a half-century later. This title, Persuasive Percussion (1959), was the first in the series and is often cited with helping usher in the ultra-cool space-age pop genre.” – Lindsay Planer, allmusic.com

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2 min read

SACD

Emi Fujita – Kokoro no Shokutaku ~Okaeri Itoshiki Utatachi~ (2008) [SACD / Pony Canyon – PCCA-60022]

adminNovember 20, 2025 86 Views

Title: Emi Fujita – Kokoro no Shokutaku ~Okaeri Itoshiki Utatachi~ (2008)
Genre: J-Pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Emi Fujita is a big star in Asia with several of her albums, especially the Camomile series, reaching #1. This is a collection of old songs, many her mother & father loved. Kokoro (in the title) means ‘heart’ or ‘feelings’ or ‘the heart of things’. Her voice was always warm, soft, reassuring, just listening to her songs, you seem to be able to forget all the pain.

hraudio | allmusic

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1 min read

SACD

Elvis Presley – King Creole (1958) [Audio Fidelity 2013] [SACD / Audio Fidelity – AFZ 160]

adminNovember 20, 2025 91 Views

Title: Elvis Presley – King Creole (1958) [Audio Fidelity 2013]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

King Creole was the last movie that Elvis Presley made before he entered the army in the spring of 1958 — it was also his last film in black-and-white, as well as his final effort directed by a serious old-time filmmaker (Michael Curtiz); and, apart from a few isolated, quirky efforts like Flaming Star, Change of Habit, and Charro, this was the last of his serious movies, in which Presley was trying hard, pushing himself as an actor and, really, all through the score, as a musician. This is reflected in the soundtrack, which is one of the stronger film-related releases of his career. The original 11 songs included a hot title track by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that was a dazzling showcase for Scotty Moore’s and Tiny Timbrell’s guitars as well as Elvis’ intense, exciting lead vocal. Leiber and Stoller’s “Trouble” and Claude Demetrius’ “Hard Headed Woman” have Moore’s and Timbrell’s electric guitars competing successfully with a five-man brass and reed section. Even “Dixieland Rock,” if not up to the level of those other two numbers, features good playing and a strong performance by Presley, and “Young Dreams” is a decent midtempo number. The slow ballads are where the soundtrack falls flat, “As Long As I Have You” coming up to standard but “Lover Doll” and “Don’t Ask Me Why” failing to excite or maintain interest; “Crawfish” can only have been included to bring the album up to the minimum acceptable length for an LP.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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2 min read

SACD

Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach – Painted From Memory (1998) [MFSL 2017] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2193]

adminNovember 20, 2025 59 Views

Title: Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach – Painted From Memory (1998) [MFSL 2017]
Genre: Jazz, Easy Listening
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Painted from Memory is a collaboration between Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. The collaboration commenced with “God Give Me Strength”, a commission for the 1996 film “Grace of My Heart”. Apparently pleased with the result, the pair expanded the project to this full album, the first for Costello after an absence of two years, and for Bacharach after an absence of 21 years. Lyrics and music are co-credited to both Bacharach and Costello. “I Still Have That Other Girl” won a Grammy Award in 1998 for “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals” for Bacharach and Costello.

Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach first collaborated on “God Give Me Strength,” a sweeping ballad that functioned as the centerpiece in Allison Anders’ Grace of My Heart. It was a stunning song in the tradition of Bacharach’s classic ’60s work and it was successful enough that the composers decided to collaborate on a full album, Painted from Memory. Wisely, they chose to work within the stylistic parameters of Bacharach’s ’60s material, but Painted from Memory never sounds like a stylistic exercise. Instead, it’s a return to form for both artists. Bacharach hasn’t written such graceful, powerful melodies since his glory days, and Costello hasn’t crafted such a fully realized album since King of America. It’s a testament to both that even if the album is clearly in Bacharach’s territory, it feels like a genuine collaboration. Often, the music not only evokes the spirit of Dionne Warwick, it’s reminiscent of Elvis’ torching ballads for Trust. Costello keeps Bacharach from his schmaltzier tendencies, and Bacharach keeps Costello from overwriting. With its lush arrangements, sighing brass and strings, gentle pianos, and backing vocals, it’s clearly a classicist album, yet it sounds utterly timeless. Its melodies are immediate, its emotions subtle, its impact lasting – and, with that timeless sound, Painted from Memory illustrates that craft cannot only be its own reward, it can be genuinely moving.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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2 min read

SACD

Emma Kirkby, Daniel Taylor, Theatre Of Early Music – Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Bach: Stabat Mater (2009) [SACD / BIS – BIS-SACD-1546]

adminNovember 20, 2025 73 Views

Title: Emma Kirkby, Daniel Taylor, Theatre Of Early Music – Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Bach: Stabat Mater (2009)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

With a disc entitled Stabat Mater and featuring Pergolesi among the composers, it would be natural to expect his setting of this heartfelt meditation on the grief of the Virgin Mary to be included in the programme. Well, it isn’t – and it is! Only a few years after Pergolesi in 1736 had composed his Stabat Mater, JS Bach made an adaptation of it using a contemporary German version of the biblical Psalm 51. To suit the requirements of the new text Bach made certain alterations to Pergolesi’s vocal parts, but retained the scheme of solo arias and duets between a soprano and an alto voice. He also added a new, independent viola part to the score and rewrote the basso continuo, giving the work a new harmonic vitality.

Young Canadian countertenor Daniel Taylor combines a deliciously creamy voice with a keen dramatic sense, and his reputation in this small but nevertheless star-oriented field has been steadily growing. This beautifully recorded release from Sweden’s BIS label seems certain to add to that reputation. Veteran British early music soprano Emma Kirkby gets top billing, but she appears only in the final work on the album, Bach’s Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, BWV 1083, a transcription and fairly detailed revision of Giovanni Batista Pergolesi’s somber Stabat Mater. This work might be worth the purchase price by itself; it’s less often heard than Bach’s more faithful Vivaldi transcriptions, and the process of remaking the Stabat Mater into a German cantata is interesting before one even gets to the marvelous interplay between Kirkby’s now sharp-edged voice and Taylor’s supple instrument. Pergolesi himself is represented by the Salve Regina, which offers several fine examples of Taylor’s flair for catching hearers’ attention with his text readings. Sample his way of entering with a striking vibrato-free tone in texts of supplication, and then broadening out into a warmer sound as the prayer gains strength. The opening Stabat Mater, RV 621, of Vivaldi, preceded by a short instrumental sonata, is a marvelous example of the dark but lush colors associated with this text in the Baroque, and Taylor’s performances, not overwhelmingly powerful but operatic in their beauty, hang in the mind. Taylor’s period-instrument Theatre of Early Music backs him quietly, with perfect sensitivity. A compelling program, in top-notch renderings. Booklet notes are in English, French, and German.

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3 min read

SACD

Emily Beynon, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy – F.J. Berg: Flute Mystery (2009) [SACD / 2L – 2L-058-SABD]

adminNovember 20, 2025 70 Views

Title: Emily Beynon, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy – F.J. Berg: Flute Mystery (2009)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Only the full symphony orchestra can impose the true emotional dynamics of the arctic nature. FLUTE MYSTERY is a collection of five orchestral works by Norwegian composer Fred Jonny Berg. In this distinctive and dynamic surround sound recording, the Philharmonia Orchestra with Emily & Catherine Beynon as soloists on flute & harp are conducted by the legendary Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Berg’s music is often described as melodious, accessible and dramatic, yet with a highly original quality. Berg himself tries to explain: It is really as simple as it is complicated – I breathe in what life has to offer, and breathe out what I have to offer life. I have given up trying to grasp what actually happens in the process from impression to expression. In his music Fred Jonny Berg reveals himself as a person who has experienced that life consists of light and dark, but unlike the majority of us he approaches both with a similar undaunted decisiveness; it adds an extra quality to his music: the conviction of an eyewitness. Vladimir Ashkenazy: “I am very fond of Scandinavian mentality, the way people express themselves and their spiritual world. It has always been a very special treat for me to conduct and play Scandinavian music and it is a particular pleasure to introduce to the world a very talented Norwegian composer Fred Jonny Berg whose music in its own way is a genuine reflection of his world”.

hraudio

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2 min read