Klaus Mäkelä & Oslo Philharmonic – Sibelius: Symphonies 2 & 5 (UHQCD)

As a native of Helsinki, conductor and violoncellist Klaus Mäkelä knows the essence of the works of his compatriot Jean Sibelius, Finland’s most important composer. Mäkelä, who was appointed chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of only 22, interprets Sibelius’ 2nd and 5th symphonies together with the same orchestra. The recordings took place on February 4 and 5 and February 11 and 12, 2021 at Concerthus, Oslo.

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

Sinfonie Nr. 2 D-Dur op. 43

1. Allegretto – Poco allegro – Tranquillo, ma poco a poco ravvivando il tempo al allegro (Original Version)

2. Tempo Andante, ma rubato (Original Version)

3. Vivacissimo – attacca (Original Version)

4. Finale Allegro moderato (Original Version)

Sinfonie Nr. 5 Es-Dur op. 82

5. Tempo molto moderato – Allegro moderato

6. Andante mosso, quasi allegretto

7. Allegro molto – Largamente assai