Nodoka Okisawa & Saito Kinen Orchestra Brahms Symphonies 1 & 2, Strauss Don Juan Symphonic Poem, Op.20 (2 UHQCD)

In 2024, the renowned Saito Kinen Orchestra celebrated its 40th anniversary – with the release of "Brahms: Symphony No. 1 and No. 2 & Strauss: Don Juan". This live recording under the baton of Nodoka Okisawa at the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival 2024 is something very special: on the one hand, because Okisawa was appointed by director Seiji Ozawa as the first principal guest conductor in the history of the festival, and on the other hand, because Brahms' symphonies are a central part of the SKA. These were performed in their entirety during the orchestra's early international tours and shaped the orchestra's artistic direction in the founding years. The debut performance of Brahms and Richard Strauss' symphonic poem "Don Juan" with Nodoka Okisawa as Principal Guest Conductor was frenetically celebrated and also met with great international acclaim.
Seiji Ozawa and the SKO have an extensive recording history, crowned by the 2016 recording of Ravel's "L'enfant Et Les Sortilèges" on Decca Classics, which won the 58th Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. The Saito Kinen Orchestra's most recent release was a live recording of Deutsche Grammophon's 125th anniversary special gala concert conducted by Ozawa's longtime friend, conductor and composer John Williams, released by Deutsche Grammophon in May 2024.
UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. UHQCDs, unlike conventional CDs, are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. To protect the softer photopolymer from scratching, another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied. The combination results in a significantly reduced reflection of the laser light inside the CD and an unrivalled precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with normal CD players. Musically, the result is a sound that is strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.
While Universal Music Japan's first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now being released with increasing popularity. Typically, the master tapes of the Universal Archive are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not have a SACD player.

Selections:

UHQCD 1
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.68
1. 1st movement (Un Poco Sostenuto - Allegro)
2. 2nd movement (Andante Sostenuto)
3. 3rd movement (Un poco allegretto e grazioso)
4. 4th movement (Adagio-Piu Andante-Allegro Non Troppo, Ma con Brio)
Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949)
Don Juan Symphonic Poem, Op.20
5. Don Juan
UHQCD 2
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No.2 in D Major, Op.73
1. 1st movement (Allegro Non Troppo)
2. 2nd movement (Adagio Non Troppo)
3. 3rd movement (Allegretto Grazioso, Quasi Andantino)
4. 4th movement (Allegro Con Spirito)