Ferbose
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2004
- Posts
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After buying around 500 Cds, I should not longer feel too excited about any new discs. But I have to priase the couple of CDs I got today, from Alpha Productions.
ArkivMusic has a sale on Alpha Production CDs:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...4&page_size=75
I ordered two of them:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=89873
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=89817
Today I received them and can't be more impressed with the quality of their releases.
It is the first time that I feel a record label is treating every CD as a piece of art.
Alpha Productions specializes in Rennaisance and Baroque music, and it juts won the "Label of the Year" award in MIDEM Classical Awards in Cannes. The label is only six years old and intoduced into US in 2004.
The paper package itself is based on a great painting, with the full picture shown as well as enlarged details of parts of the painting. The CD is black with few printed words. Elegance is the only word I can use to describe their packaing.
The bilingual (French/English) booklet has a simplistic cover and contains many excellent photos. These B&W photos are highly artisitc, and they show the emotions of the performers while they are performing or preparing, as well as the recording venue and the instruments themselves. Looking at the photos, I feel being brought closer to the original performance. The booklet is super informative. The focus is on the origin of the pieces being performed, their history and artistic relations to other music or the society. This is not a run-of-the-mill assay copied off library books, but a product of serious scholarship put together for the CD. There is even a multi-page assay on the painting being used. Surprisingly, there is no writing about the musicians themselves, although through those excellent photos I feel like I already know them.
Alpha Productions is not an audiphile label, since it is does not mention their recording or mastering technology anywhere in the booklet. But the recording quality is breathtakingly beautiful. On the two CDs I received, the organ, clavicord, lute and choral voices are more natural than anything else I own. There are no spectacular effects, unlike some audiphile recordings. The focus is on transparency and tonal beauty. Nuances in the voicing of instruments or human singing are beautifully captured. The fact I randomly picked these two CDs out of their catalog makes me even more impressed with their recording standards.
As for the music, there is not much to say. Although I am not familiar with these pieces, they are uniformly beautiful. The performances are first-rate, and becuase the sound quality is so good, they may actually appear even better than they really are. The record lable explores beautiful new music and performances, and delivers them into my hands in a convenient package. This is what a record label is supposed to be.
Alpha Productions maintains highest artistic standards in every detail related to their CDs. To honor their dedication, I have no complaints about paying full price for their CDs. What Alpha is trying to do seems to go against the commercial rules of the record business. I don't know how long this label can afford to operate in such single-minded way, focsuing entirely on artistry, but I will definitely try to collect more of their excellent offerings.
ArkivMusic has a sale on Alpha Production CDs:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...4&page_size=75
I ordered two of them:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=89873
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=89817
Today I received them and can't be more impressed with the quality of their releases.
It is the first time that I feel a record label is treating every CD as a piece of art.
Alpha Productions specializes in Rennaisance and Baroque music, and it juts won the "Label of the Year" award in MIDEM Classical Awards in Cannes. The label is only six years old and intoduced into US in 2004.
The paper package itself is based on a great painting, with the full picture shown as well as enlarged details of parts of the painting. The CD is black with few printed words. Elegance is the only word I can use to describe their packaing.
The bilingual (French/English) booklet has a simplistic cover and contains many excellent photos. These B&W photos are highly artisitc, and they show the emotions of the performers while they are performing or preparing, as well as the recording venue and the instruments themselves. Looking at the photos, I feel being brought closer to the original performance. The booklet is super informative. The focus is on the origin of the pieces being performed, their history and artistic relations to other music or the society. This is not a run-of-the-mill assay copied off library books, but a product of serious scholarship put together for the CD. There is even a multi-page assay on the painting being used. Surprisingly, there is no writing about the musicians themselves, although through those excellent photos I feel like I already know them.
Alpha Productions is not an audiphile label, since it is does not mention their recording or mastering technology anywhere in the booklet. But the recording quality is breathtakingly beautiful. On the two CDs I received, the organ, clavicord, lute and choral voices are more natural than anything else I own. There are no spectacular effects, unlike some audiphile recordings. The focus is on transparency and tonal beauty. Nuances in the voicing of instruments or human singing are beautifully captured. The fact I randomly picked these two CDs out of their catalog makes me even more impressed with their recording standards.
As for the music, there is not much to say. Although I am not familiar with these pieces, they are uniformly beautiful. The performances are first-rate, and becuase the sound quality is so good, they may actually appear even better than they really are. The record lable explores beautiful new music and performances, and delivers them into my hands in a convenient package. This is what a record label is supposed to be.
Alpha Productions maintains highest artistic standards in every detail related to their CDs. To honor their dedication, I have no complaints about paying full price for their CDs. What Alpha is trying to do seems to go against the commercial rules of the record business. I don't know how long this label can afford to operate in such single-minded way, focsuing entirely on artistry, but I will definitely try to collect more of their excellent offerings.
