Reference Recordings said they would make a couple of samplers in the SACD format. This one is made in Japan and distributed in China and Hong Kong by Naxos International. Inside the back cover it says "Reference Recordings is very grateful to Naxos Far East for making this SACD possible." I did a google search and it appears that International Records of Hong Kong is the only place to purchase it, they have a store on eBay.
This is 2 channel Stereo only SACD as Reference Recordings wasn't recording multi-channel back then, if you remember Telarc's DSD recordings from the late 1990's were also 2 channel.
I enjoyed the entire SACD but the final two tracks are thrilling extremely realistic music that will make this one of my favorite demo discs. Mussorgsky's Hut of Baba Yaga and the Great Gate of Kiev from Pictures At An Exhibition with Eiji Oue conducting the Minnesota Orchestra.
I don't currently have an HDCD decoder, maybe someone who has a decoder can compare the SACD and HDCD layers.
Note; the shiny aluminum outer box is hard to photograph, it actually looks perfect, the threads are an artifact of my camera. I tired several pictures and this is the best I could do. It really is a nice looking outer box. In the picture from International Records ad on eBay the shrink wrap makes the box look scratched, it is not.
TUTTI!: An Orchestral Sampler
Reference Recordings RR-906SACD
1 Rimsky-Korsakov: Dance of the Tumblers
Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra
2 Chadwick: Intermezzo e Humoreske from Suite symphonique
Jose Serebrier/Czech State Philharmonic
3 Ron Nelson: Rocky Point Holiday
Jerry Junkin/Dallas Wind Symphony
4-5 Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird—Berceuse and Finale
Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra
6 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21—Andante
Eugene Istomin, piano, Gerard Schwarz/Seattle Symphony
7 Paul Paray: Symphony No. 1 (excerpt)
James Paul/Royal Scottish National. Orchestra
8 Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9—Scherzo
Skrowaczewski/Minnesota Orchestra;
9 Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in F, RV 569—Allegro
Nicholas McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque
10 Malcolm Arnold: The Padstow Lifeboat
Jerry Junkin/Dallas Wind Symphony
11 Jacques Ibert: Escales—animé (Valencia)
Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra
12 R. Strauss: The Times of Day—Der Morgen
Timothy Seelig/Turtle Creek Chorale, Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra;
13 Leos Janácek: The Makropulos Case, Symphonic Synthesis, Act II
José Serebrier/Czech State Philharmonic;
14 Eiji Oue, E.C.F., from Presque Isle
Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra (World Premiere)
15-16 Mussorgsky-Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition(excerpts)
Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra.
I will listen a few more times a write a complete review on PFO but before I do I want to hear back from others especially someone who has compared SACD and HDCD layers.
Music is love,
Teresa
