Alice Sara Ott / Karina Canellakis & Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra – Beethoven (UHQCD)

Together with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and its chief conductor Karina Canellakis, pianist Alice Sara Ott recorded Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 15″, which attracted worldwide attention thanks to her presence in the introductory video of the „Apple Music Classical App”. To complement the Deutsche Grammophon release, Ott has selected a number of solo pieces, including ‘Für Elise’ and the ‘Moonlight Sonata’, which can now be enjoyed in an audiophile edition from Universal Japan.

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. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes 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 own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

Ludwig van Beethoven

1.-3. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in C major, op. 15

4.-6. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, „Moonlight”, Op. 27/2

7. Bagatelle in A minor, “Für Elise“, WoO 59

8. Bagatelle in G minor, Op. 119/1

9. Piano Piece in C major / C minor, „Lustig und Traurig”, WoO 54

10. Piano Piece in B minor, WoO 61