Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – Chasing the Dragon – Reel To Reel 1/2 Track 7 1/2 ips

Chasing The Dragon’s first “Direct Cut” album. Interpreti Veneziani performs a wonderful version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

A dynamic performance, a pure analog delight! Vivaldi’s best-known work, The Four Seasons, is given new life in this Audiophile Direct to Disc recording from Chasing the Dragon. In order to make this D2D recording, the Interpreti Veneziani Chamber Orchestra performs each album side live in the studio, recorded via state of the art, all-tube valve microphones, fed to a Neve Desk, and then via a pure analogue path directly to the Neumann VMS80 lathe.

The brilliantly captured session was carefully engineered, and mixed live, no overdubs! During the performance, the Neumann VMS 80 Cutting head engages the master lacquer (“stamper” used for pressing LPs) and is not stopped until the entire side is complete! The results are amazing! A more accurate recording, a greater immediacy and interaction among the players, less background noise through the elimination of master tapes, overdubs, etc. by directly cutting the recording to vinyl. A dynamic album that needs to be heard!

Features:

– Audiophile Demonstration Album
– Direct to Disc (D2D) live performance recording
– 1st Generation Reel to Reel Tape made from the Original Master Tape
– As close to the Original Master Reference Quality as possible
– 7″ Spool, 1/2 Track, 7 1/2 IPS CCIR
– Created from 30IPS 1/2″ Running Masters at Air Studios
– CCIR/IEC Equalization
– Originally mastered at Air Studios London
– Created using ATR Magnetics Tape Stock
– Housed in a Heavy Duty Professional box
– Machines are connected with Zensati Seraphim Interconnect Cable for highest transfer quality
– Transferred and monitored by Chasing The Dragon Producer Mike Valentine

“In creating this direct cut album, we had to overcome many challenges. Because the album had to be recorded ‘live’ I had to first find a piece of music which would the perfect length. Obviously, I found the answer in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Next came the musicians and I was so lucky to have the opportunity of bringing over from Venice, the leading Venetian chamber orchestra, Interpreti Veneziani. Finally, I had to find a recording studio which not only had a superb space, it also had to have an engineer versed in the black art of cutting live vinyl. Well, have we succeeded? Please judge for yourself, for I hope you have as much fun in listening as we had in cutting this disc!”

– Mike Valentine, Chasing The Dragon

Tracklist

1. SPRING
2. SUMMER
3. AUTUMN
4. WINTER