Stravinsky Petrushka - Ernest Ansermet & L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande - Pure DSD

Excellent transfer.

I have three or four CD transfers of this recording, but this copy sounds far better than them. Now I can enjoy the Ansermet's performance fully for the first time.

There are better Stravinskys

Despite the sound quality, wich is as good as the technology of its time gets (truthful mastering from HDTT, as always), I think, to my surprise, that Ansermet and his Suisse Romande orchestra don't extract all the subleties hidden in this extraordinary work (it's my favourite from the three famous ballets). I take, as a reference, the performance registered by Bernard Haitink for Philips. To be true, this one is hard to beat. But Ansermet seems a bit lost in the "atmosphere" this score deserves, specifically in capturing the all-present background "noises" from the circus, too obscured by the main action, for my taste. Being an Ansermet's fan, as I am, this recording has been a little delusional. For those who loves true tape sound, recommended.

Legendary sound

This recording has always been noted for its legendary sonics, and this magnificent transfer demonstrates why, in no uncertain terms. Imagine air, stage, transparency, resolution and sheer vivid presence all turned up to 11 (on a scale of 1-10), and you get some impression of what's going on here. Sometimes, you can even here the individual molecules waft around the stage... OK, I'm kidding, now. But if you hear this recording on a good high-end system, you will inevitably conclude that the SQ of most recordings has been in decline for the past 60 years. And, in many ways, you'd be right. OK, the string sound can be a bit fierce in tutti, and Ansermet/OSR was never a 'perfektion orkester', but you can forgive all for this for the stunning sound. To my knowledge, Roy Wallace never made a better sounding recording than this. And, as a legendary pioneer of early Decca stereophonic sound, that's really saying something. You owe it to yourself to hear this one. Go on, why are you waiting