The Tube is a collection of excellently played baroque music using Tubes though out the entire recording process. On the back of the SACD it says No conductor - no semiconductor - I beg your pardon." The players on this SACD are the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and they have no conductor. The booklet explains how semiconductors were avoided in making this SACD. From the 2 Neumann M49 valve microphones, the tubed mixer, to the restored tubed Telefunken M5 2 channel Stereo Reel to Reel, to the editing by hand up to the DSD converter which does use semiconductors. However the booklet says "... in the course of being converted the signal does not pass through any transistors, but rather adjoins them and is measured: The transistors cannot 'pass on' any of their properties to it's sound. So we can rightly claim that for the music recorded here no transistor effected the sound in any way all at. This 2 channel SACD has the most gorgeous sounding strings I have ever heard in any format, the sound and music are utterly beautiful. This is not a sampler but complete works by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. I especially love the first selection "La Musica Notturna della strade di Madrid" by Boccherini it is not only beautiful but exciting too, a major discovery for me. Also other gems by Sammartini, Avison, Scarlatti, Handel, Vivaldi, Biber and Corelli. I highly recommend this 2 channel SACD to one and all; it was auditioned on my 2-channel high-end system. Happy listening, Teresa"

The 17-member chamber orchestra plays without conductor and imbues these Baroque selections with a verve and burnished tone that sounds fresh and new. The musical sound effects and tone-painting of both the Biber battle piece and Boccherini?s Night in the Madrid Streets are the sort of thing not usually heard in early music and they add considerable interest to the program. The string tone is excellent; I believe this ensemble uses standard violins instead of Baroque versions. The recorder used was a refurbished Telefunken M5, so vintage that it was an original mono recorder with a second circuit level bolted onto it to create a stereo machine. A Neumann M49 vacuum tube mike dating from 1949 was used. A fine effort with plenty of both musical and technical interest. John Sunier

This is the first compendium of tracks from different TACET productions. For once, the main feature of this CD is not a musician, a composer or a musical theme. Instead, the star of the piece is: The condenser microphone. Something for music gourmets. (Scala)

The recording of music from the Middle Ages entitled "Crossing the Channel" already awarded the "Supersonic" by Pizzicato, is now also available on SACD with a version in 5.1. The midnight, medieval mood in the unique Romanesque church of Beaulieu sur Dordogne touches the heart even more deeply in TACET Real Surround Sound.

A little less than half of Chopin’s complete surviving Mazurkas make up this 2009 release, ordered not according to opus number but for the purpose of an effective program that can sustain one’s interest for 80 minutes. The Mazurkas hold up under many different interpretive game plans, from Ignaz Friedman’s robust, epic statements to the perfumed intimacy of Maryla Jonas and Guiomar Novaes, not to mention Arthur Rubinstein’s three very different complete Mazurka cycles. Koroliov evokes Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli’s lapidarian finger work, wide dynamic range, and subjective poetry. You hear this in Op. 6 No. 1’s fastidious voicing of the central section’s leaps, although Michelangeli’s monumental left-hand droning fifths in Op. 56 No. 2 never lilted like Koroliov’s do here.

The pianist lends interest to the rather uneventful Op. 24 No. 1 by slightly accenting the dissonances, while his gentle way with the implicitly boisterous Op. 7 No. 1 is offset by striking phrase elongations and cross-rhythmic interplay in the deliciously modal Trio. Similarly, Op. 24 No. 2’s pared down outer sections contrast to the surprisingly rolled, loud A-flat major chords announcing its Trio. In fact, Koroliov is not averse to arpeggiating chords at will, or playing the left hand slightly before the right, dead pianist style, yet he employs these devices wisely. Deft polyphonic control justifies Koroliov’s admittedly pulled-about Op. 24 No. 4 and Op. 56 No. 3, while his mesmerizing legato control in the A minor “Émile Gaillard” Mazurka similarly convinces you that his unorthodox slow tempo is a plausible alternative.

Koroliov’s Chopin Mazurkas aren’t so much dances as distinct and diversified dramas, and he brings off his conceptions without a trace of ambiguity, whether or not you agree with the pianist’s every step. Tacet provides superb engineering and fulsome, high-handed annotations.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

This CD is recommendable for the two works by Gade, rather than the piano trio by Chopin. While the Chopin Trio (the Polish composer's only large-scale chamber piece for more than two instruments) occasionally betrays its author's unease in balancing piano with two strings, both of the Gade works are technically self-assured and achieve the desired chamber music effect of a conversation among equals. The two outer movements of Gade's F major trio deftly develop their attractive principal ideas in larger time spans while the inner movements (a scherzo and a charming Andantino slow movement) are both less than four minutes long, so the total timing is a compact 25 minutes.

The other Gade work, bearing the Schumannesque title "Novelletten", comprises five miniatures that effectively add up to a full-scale 20-minute trio. Both works show total mastery of material and means, albeit at no point do they rise to the beguiling fantasy of the best parts of the Chopin, particularly its enchanting Adagio sostenuto slow movement. Part of the fascination of this imaginatively programmed disc arises from this demonstration of how Chopin's sheer inspiration sometimes trumps Gade's technical excellence. But the Gade works are fine enough, and in these excellent performances they make a desirable addition to any collection of Romantic chamber music.

This 2001 recording shows that the Abegg Trio has matched if not eclipsed the finest ensembles of its type. The three members (Ulrich Beetz, violin; Birgit Erichson, cello; and Gerrit Zitterbart, piano) truly breathe and play as one. The Chopin performance is at least equal to the Beaux Arts' Philips release, and the Gade is unmatched. I have a slight reservation regarding the sound, namely that the piano (left channel and center) has a slightly distant, hollow quality in the stereo release (the program also is available in DVD-A surround, TACET D112), while the two strings are parked mainly in the right channel.

-- Joseph Stevenson, ClassicsToday.com

Here it comes - the first fruit of the cooperation between the conductor András Keller, Concerto Budapest and TACET. Until now András Keller was well-known as a violinist and member of the Keller Quartet, but now he is allowed to shine as a conductor. When it comes to highly-recorded works, listeners often hear many favorable reviews. Again somebody praises a recording of Bruckner 9. But this recording is truly something special- from the masterful interpretation, to the high-quality recording. The last Bruckner symphony talks about grandeur and nullity, about self-doubt and certainty, about life and death. Every listener has to find out on his own if András Keller and his musicians convey the message trustworthily. They tried honestly, that was obvious in every minute of these 5 recording days.

Here it comes - the first fruit of the cooperation between the conductor András Keller, Concerto Budapest and TACET. Until now András Keller was well-known as a violinist and member of the Keller Quartet, but now he is allowed to shine as a conductor. When it comes to highly-recorded works, listeners often hear many favorable reviews. Again somebody praises a recording of Bruckner 9. But this recording is truly something special- from the masterful interpretation, to the high-quality recording. The last Bruckner symphony talks about grandeur and nullity, about self-doubt and certainty, about life and death. Every listener has to find out on his own if András Keller and his musicians convey the message trustworthily. They tried honestly, that was obvious in every minute of these 5 recording days.

Since Tacet re-entered the vinyl business back in 1999, barely 10 years after the supposed demise of the LP, they have ranked among the leading classical labels who continually delight their audiences with sparkling new recordings in this medium, claimed by many to be unsuitable for classical music. And now this! All 9 Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven performed by Wojciech Rajski and the Polish Chamber Orchestra in the flawless complete recordings on LP. Rhythmically crisp, secure in intonation, snappy, elegant, sensual, exciting, always transparent - all the advantages of a modern interpretation of Beethoven on modern instruments are united here. Some of the symphonies already existed as ''Tube Only'' versions on LP. They are replaced here with new mixes that no longer originate from tube microphone, analogue tape recordings. Instead they offer other important merits, such as clearer details as a result of using more microphones. Further added benefits in production include half-speed - and/or backwards mastering, which Tacet have been famous for since their Bolero recording. There are 40 years of vinyl know-how behind this release. More information can be found on the LP sleeves.

Since Tacet re-entered the vinyl business back in 1999, barely 10 years after the supposed demise of the LP, they have ranked among the leading classical labels who continually delight their audiences with sparkling new recordings in this medium, claimed by many to be unsuitable for classical music. And now this! All 9 Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven performed by Wojciech Rajski and the Polish Chamber Orchestra in the flawless complete recordings on LP. Rhythmically crisp, secure in intonation, snappy, elegant, sensual, exciting, always transparent - all the advantages of a modern interpretation of Beethoven on modern instruments are united here. Some of the symphonies already existed as ''Tube Only'' versions on LP. They are replaced here with new mixes that no longer originate from tube microphone, analogue tape recordings. Instead they offer other important merits, such as clearer details as a result of using more microphones. Further added benefits in production include half-speed - and/or backwards mastering, which Tacet have been famous for since their Bolero recording. There are 40 years of vinyl know-how behind this release. More information can be found on the LP sleeves.

We usually try to list the overall title of discs when they are given one, but in this case I held back. Because this one is billed as Tacet's Beethoven Symphonies." No sense getting confused with all those other Beethoven Symphonies out there. Tacet wants to promote that their discs are unique. And truly they are. This one has two features you won't find on most other Beethoven symphony CDs: It is part of the label's Tube Only/Transistor Free series - using tube microphones and tube mic preamps (no information is provided on whether the recording medium is also tubed). (Another useful bit information would be what or where is Sopot?) Only the stereo CD and SACD options on the disc used the tube mics. The other feature is that on the surround sound layer, Tacet uses their Real Surround Sound technique, which seeks to use the entire acoustic space for the musical experience - not just employing the surround channels to convey the ambiance of the venue. In string quartets, one player is placed at each of the four corner speakers, for example. In the case of these two symphonies, the spatial positioning is as though the listener was a member of the orchestra. The woodwinds are directly in front of you close up, the horns and percussion further away in front, the strings close behind the listener and the trumpets at the distant back. As stated in the note booklet, this approach certainly does extend horizons when listening to Beethoven! I found the rear horizon definitely too close with my identical front and rear speaker channels all set with a test disc to the same volume level. I had to reduce the surround speakers by 2 dB to get a good balance with the frontal three channels. I hadn't run into this on previous Tacet Real Surround SACDs. But after balancing I found I really enjoyed the Seventh - my favorite Beethoven symphony anyway. The dance-like aspect of much of it seemed even more pronounced than usual. This is clearly not the Berlin Philharmonic or BSO, but the playing hews to a high standard throughout. It was difficult to do a comparison between the tube-recorded options and the solid state since the latter was multichannel (and overbalanced towards the rear at that) and the former only 2-channel. The strings did sound more pleasant in the tube versions - both the CD layer and the SACD layer. There was more bloom on the bass drum whacks. In general, just a bit more of that overused term "musical." But the surround presentation - especially due to the excitement of being plopped into the midst of the orchestra - still held my interest, and since my front three channels are powered by tubes, I still listened thru those lovely musical bottles regardless!" John Sunier Total playing time: 63'01

This the second volume in a series of the complete Beethoven symphonies being undertaken by the independent, Stuttgart-based company TACET. I found the first disc (of Symphonies 7 and 8) revelatory (see review at Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 - Rajski), and this new coupling is no less exciting. The works are smaller in scale and scope, of course, but the performances of conductor Wojciech Rajski and his excellent Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra are no less lean, supple and punchy than in Volume 1. Rajski has the gift, surprisingly rare in Beethoven, of finding the tempo giusto", injecting the music with plenty of youthful vigour and spirit without pushing it uncomfortably into overdrive in an attempt to prove some spurious (and anyway largely self-evident) point about the dynamic, driving nature of Beethoven's composerly personality. Regular readers of this website will probably be aware that the distinctive thing about the TACET label is not, however, the quality of the performances (though these are very high quality indeed), but the way in which chief engineer and company owner Andreas Spreer presents the sonic information. Put briefly, Spreer makes full use of the two rear speakers - rather than, as with most multichannel classical recordings, mainly utilising them to fill out hall ambience, with most of the raw musical signal still emanating from the front speakers. Thus, for instance, in this present recording, first and second violins are located about halfway down your listening space, and divided left and right across the sonic spectrum, so that you can hear the often very important (and witty) interchanges between firsts and seconds much more clearly than in "normal" 5.1, 5.0 or 4.0 recordings, or in stereo. Lower strings are placed slightly further towards the rear, woodwinds more towards the front speakers. The two horns (plus timpani) are well towards the front, the two trumpets well towards the rear, both divided left and right antiphonally. This type of arrangement is what TACET calls "Real Surround Sound", in the sense, I guess, that the sound does really and genuinely surround you while you're listening. There are those who bridle at this kind of arrangement, dubbing it artificial or even gimmicky, and some of these critics have expressed their opinions forcefully elsewhere on this website. That's fine (though I suspect that in several cases at least they have never actually listened to a TACET product). My own opinion is that what I hear on this disc is neither "artificial" nor "gimmicky", but a beautifully integrated, uniquely transparent recording giving a special insight into the soundworld of these symphonies, how they work, the many interactions of instruments, and how they're put together in the composing process. I must stress that, despite the unprecedentedly high levels of detail available to the multichannel listener, the overwhelming effect of the recording is one of homogeneity and unity. There is assuredly much greater separation of instrumental strands and individual instruments than usual, but never at the expense of the overall sonic picture, which is unified and warmly enveloping, decidely not a collection of fascinating little titbits of spot-miked information patched together in a willy-nilly fashion. You are, as it were, "in media res", but in no sense in an oppressive or intimidating fashion. Quite the opposite - it's a warmly enveloping and inviting sound-picture, one that uniquely facilitates active engagement with and reaction to the music. The interplay between the different string parts in the finale of Symphony 1, and the rousing call and response sequence between horns and trumpets in the powerful development section of Symphony 2's opening movement, are but two examples among many of the special insights and enjoyments offered by TACET's multichannel presentation of this music. I'll conclude by saying that I've never enjoyed these symphonies more, heard more of the subtleties of what is going on in them instrumentally, or had a more intimate insight into Beethoven's creative thought processes in making them. Andreas Spreer is a uniquely imaginative, uniquely skilful "Tonmeister" who brings immense care and musicality to his recordings, and has already, in terms of the possibilities of multichannel sound for classical music, long since left the point at which most other companies have not yet even considered arriving. I am confident that in due course of time Spreer will be hailed as one of the key innovators in sound recording history, and bracketed with the likes of Walter Legge, John Culshaw, and Wilma Cozart Fine as a member of that small, exclusive band of pioneers who have moved the classical recording industry forward in a genuinely new, exciting direction." Terence Blain total playing time: 56'56

With their expressive timbre and the technical excellence of the recording, the Auryn Quartet need not fear the competition, even though there is already a multitude of recordings in existence. Hartmut Leck, Klassik-heute There is no shortage of great and famous Beethoven Cycles, but there are no performances such as these. For me, this is now the set to beat. (Laurence Vittes)

With their expressive timbre and the technical excellence of the recording, the Auryn Quartet need not fear the competition, even though there is already a multitude of recordings in existence. (Hartmut Luck, Klassik-heute) There is no shortage of great and famous Beethoven Cycles, but there are no performances such as these. For me, this is now the set to beat. (Laurence Vittes)

The incubation period is a mere thirty seconds: that is how long the symphonic first spark takes to ignite, with the four musicians dragging the child empress out of silence at the beginning of the first Razumovsky Quartet and again and again projecting their Auryn sparkle into us. And once again we are hooked. (Wiesbadener Anzeiger) There is no shortage of great and famous Beethoven Cycles, but there are no performances such as these. For me, this is now the set to beat. (Laurence Vittes)