# Emil Berliner Remasterings of classic DGG recordings on SACD



## inthemusiczone (Feb 15, 2019)

Wondering if anyone else has come across these. They are single-layer (ie. no CD layer) SACDs of classic DGG recordings from the 60s and 70s. They have been appearing steadily since 2018. I have two sets: Kubelik's Beethoven symphony cycle, and Karajan's Tchaikovsky cycle from the mid 70s.

These are revelatory. DGG has always taken a certain amount of grief from audiophiles in comparison to labels like Decca, EMI, Mercury and Living Stereo, and rightly so. Without doubt earlier "Large Tulip" pressings can sound great, and even later pressings can surprise you (eg. Karajan Prokofiev 5th, Giulini's Pictures at an Exhibition and Mahler 9th with CSO, Abbado's Lieutenant Kije/Scythian Suite). Even DGG's regular CD remastering have vastly improved. 

However I was not ready for the massive leap forward in sound quality these SACD remasterings represent. Nothing short of a revelation. The Kubelik Beethoven cycle, for example, is hard to find on LP, and the copy I have is sonically somewhat anemic (though that might be down to being a Japanese pressing). The cycle has been incompletely reissued on CD, then it finally made an appearance in complete form in a couple of box sets a few years ago (I have not heard these). I know Pentatone has issued a dual CD/SACD (surround) layer of a couple of these symphonies, but again I believe this is different from the Emil Berliner remastering.

Now this cycle leaps from the speakers and instantly goes to the top of my recommended Beethoven cycles.

The Karajan Tchaikovsky cycle is similarly astonishing. These recordings of the first three symphonies were always thought well of, and as was often the case with repertoire only recorded once by Karajan, the readings are incredibly fresh and spontaneous. I have always liked these 70s recordings of the last three symphonies too, especially the 5th, but the recordings, made in the Philharmonie, always lacked a degree of lustre. Well, that's all changed now. 

The sound on these SACDs is another world. Gone is that glassiness in the strings, and the "removed" quality of the wind and brass that often afflicts DG recordings. Instead, orchestral timbres sound natural, dynamics are phenomenal, there is real, walloping bass,and the sense of the orchestra being laid out before you is palpable.

It really makes me wonder what sonic wonders are hidden on all those DGG recordings we grew up with and loved despite the shortcomings in the sound. For example, is it possible that the master tapes for all those phenomenal Argerich, Pollini, Michelangeli, Kempff, Gilels etc. solo piano recordings boast a fuller piano sound than the thin one we all just had to get used to.

I am eyeing several other Emil Berliner SACD releases: Bohm's Beethoven cycle, Karajan's Bruckner. Unfortunately these sets do not come cheap but they are worth every penny (in US you can find them at Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, sometimes on Amazon, and eBay, though the latter is usually the most expensive.

Maybe these remasterings will eventually make their way to CD, or, even better, to vinyl.

Thoughts and opinions?


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