Slatkin Semkow PROKOFIEV Alexander Nevsky, Scheherazade DVD-Audio NOT CD 24/96

Description

Only playable on DVD hardware. This disc is not compatible with CD hardware.
Leonard Slatkin and Jerzy Semkow - Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky / Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (Classic Records DAD-1021)
In a press conference held January 9 at the 1998 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Classic Records announced the debut of the Classic 24/96 digital audio disc "DAD" series of audio-only DVD-Videos. (Video information is included on the disc but represents only a tiny fraction of the data space.)
The original analog master tapes are converted to 24-bit/96kHz digital data through a Muse Model Seven A/D converter and a proprietary hard-disk recording system developed by Muse's Kevin Halverson. After the analog signal is encoded and the data stored on the hard drive, post-production "authoring" creates a digital tape called a "DLT," which is then used to produce a glass master, which in turn produces stampers that mold the DADs.
Classic refers to their DVD-Video discs as "DAD" because the standard for DVD-Audio was still to be decided upon. A standard for a high-quality music carrier based on the DVD platform was expected to be announced at this week's WCES, but Michael Hobson, Classic's President, thinks that there is a good chance this may never materialize as a commercial product. Classic's DAD designation is intended to avoid confusion in the marketplace.
The Classic 24/96 Digital Audio Disc (DAD) is designed to be an audiophile musical reference. The process starts with the encoding of an analog signal from a live microphone feed or more commonly from an analog master tape. The highly sophisticated Analog to Digital converter (A to D) samples the analog signal 96,000 times per second (96kHz) and assigns a numerical value to each sample point. The 96kHz sampling rate is more than twice the 44,100 (44.1kHz) sampling rate used on standard CDs. The numerical value assigned at 96kHz - about every 10.4 microseconds - is stored as a 24 bit digital word. The significance of a 24 bit digital word is that there are 16.8 million different potential values for each 24 bit word! By contrast there are only 65,536 different potential values for a 16 bit word on a normal CD. The additional 8 bits on a DAD allow for over 16 million additional voltage values to represent the original analog signal. Further, 24 bit resolution offers 144 dB of dynamic range from the softest to the loudest musical note. At 144 dB of dynamic range we greatly exceed even the dynamic range available on the world's finest analog tape machines. For the first time in the history of digital audio we can provide Master Tape Sound (MTS).
Produced and recorded to 4-track by the Grammy winning team Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz for Vox. This stunning performance was mixed to two track and transferred directly from the original 4-track tapes to 24/96 by Marc Aubort at Elite Recording in New York City. Don't turn the volume control up too much or you may shake the entire house. Not to be missed.
Musicians:
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, condoctor
Saint Louis Symphony Chorus
Jersy Semkow, conductor
Claudine Carlson, mezzo-soprano
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky, op. 78
1. Russia Under the Mongolian Yoke
2. Song About Alexander Nevsky
3. The Crusaders in Pskov
4. Arise Ye Russian People
5. The Battle On The Ice
6. Field Of The Dead
7. Alexander's Entry Into Pskov
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35
8. Large e maestoso-Allegro non tropo
9. Kebti-Andantino-Allegro molto
10. Andantino quasi allegretto
11. Allegro molto