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I don't think that it would be going out on a limb to say that this title was one of the most anticipated Ultratape releases. Reiner and the CSO's performance (originally released as RCA Living Stereo LSC 2446) has achieved near legendary status for both music lovers and audiophiles. For both the performance and sound of this 1960 Mohr/Layton Chicago Symphony Symphony Hall recording. For the string sound and soaring brass. In fact, my very first piece for The Absolute Sound covered the first reissue by Chesky Records back in 1987. Since then Scheherazade has been released at both a 33 and 45 rpm (Classic Records) cut by Bernie Grundman and 33 rpm (Acoustic Sounds) cut by Ryan Smith. Most likely, Acoustic Sounds will also release this RCA at 45 rpm too.
So so how does this 15 ips reel-to-reel 2-track sound? Just a little background about the tape transfer first. Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound started with the original 3-track, 15 ips master tape and then made a new 30 ips, 2-track. That's in contrast to just starting with the old 2-track mix down that was used for the LPs. The 30 ips tape copy was then used as the working master to dupe the production copies. And the sound with one small exception is a rousing success. First, the original LP only hints at the dynamics of the original recording. Second, the original (and many original RCAs) was a little bass shy and the tape has a bit better but not hugely improved low end. Let's chalk that up to Scheherazade being an early stereo recording. Next, the tape conveys even more of the sound of Chicago Symphony Hall and just the sense of space.
Finally the strings. The sound of solo violin and low level strings is exemplary. No make that opening solo at the beginning of first and second movements moth watering. The low strings have a definition and authority missing on the LP. Where the tape release runs into some issues is with a touch of edge with dynamic massed strings. This is probably just a reflection of the original recording's shortcomings namely equipment and one person even suggested it was due to an issue with the low bias settings of these early tape decks leading to a little issue with self biasing here. It's also there on the LP too if you listen carefully (I went back to my two original LS releases just to check here.) Interestingly, I think some of the limitations of the early cutting lathes was a blessing, in some ways compensating for some of the issues of the early stereo tape.
There are more and more tapes being released; in contrast to the old days when tapeheads picked up any available tape due to the paucity of software, audiophiles are now becoming much more choosy, only buying the most outstanding recordings. There's no question that any tapehead who loves large scale orchestral music should add this Ultratape release to their wish list!
Analog and digital. Personally I am amazed Chad and Gus have churned the tapes out as fast as they have. Faster than The Tape Project. The bottleneck with Scheherazade was, however, AS ran out of tape. Not sure - and perhaps Bruce can add something here - Recording The Masters tape supply seems spotty at times. Demand or production?
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