Author: Yarlung Records

GRAMMY® Award winning Yarlung Records brings fresh musicians to the classical music world using minimalist audiophile recording techniques to deliver sound as close to living performance as possible. Rather than using recording studios, engineer Bob Attiyeh produces these albums in concert halls famous for their acoustics

James Matheson Review: Stephen Greenbank, MusicWeb International, United Kingdom

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This is my first encounter with the music of James Matheson, an American composer whose music is both colourful and accessible. What better introduction could there be – a concerto, a string quartet and a song-cycle. The recording was sponsored by J and Helen Schlichting of California, who also commissioned the String Quartet. At 18 minutes the Quartet’s opening movement is the most substantial and ambitious. It begins with a swirling coruscation of sound, persistently driven and underpinned by motoric rhythms. There’s a feel of forward momentum and purposeful direction. In the central section, where the music is more relaxed, each instrument is given the opportunity to state its case. Then the energy returns in the form of declamatory sweeps. The slow movement is intensely lyrical, but the emotion is tinged with melancholy and sadness. At one point it reaches a passionate climax. The finale is, as it states on Continue Reading →

Andrew Quint reviews “James Matheson” for The Absolute Sound

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Matheson: Violin Concerto, String Quartet, Times Alone. Music, Video and Downloads Yarlung Record’s program produced and financed by the musical philanthropists J and Helen Schlichting of Southern California, is an excellent introduction to the notable American composer James Matheson. Matheson, now in his mid-40s, wrote his Violin Concerto for Baird Dodge, principal second violinist of the Chicago Symphony — and once the composer’s roommate at Swarthmore College. All of Matheson’s music has a bold, cinematic flair. His writing for solo violin is highly idiomatic and virtuosic; the orchestral contribution is extravagantly colorful. Matheson employs an advanced tonal syntax and confidently cites other styles as he makes his argument: the central Chaconne of the Concerto references the slow movement from Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and the energetic finale strongly suggests bluegrass. Esa-Pekka Salonen was on the podium leading the CSO for the world premiere recorded here in December of 2011. Dodge joined Continue Reading →

James Matheson

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Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Baird Dodge, violin Color Field Quartet (members of CSO and Chicago Lyric Opera orchestra) soprano Laura Strickling & pianist Thomas Sauer Executive Producers: J and Helen Schlichting Music Samples Video Album booklet James Matheson | Esa-Pekka Solonen | Chicago Symphony Orchestra | Baird Dodge | Laura Strickling | Yarlung | Music Publisher NativeDSD | HDtracks | CD Let us know what you think. Matheson’s concerto is a supercharged showpiece for virtuoso violinist and orchestra that connects with the listener on a visceral as well as intellectual level. It keeps the soloist extremely busy as he negotiates a maze of vivid, colorful orchestral …. While neo-romantic in overall flavor, Matheson is original enough to shun the feel-good bromides that constitute so much of today’s “new” classical music. –John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune Unlike many younger composers who have a basic idea and then try to orchestrate it, Matheson writes in full orchestral Continue Reading →

Yarlung Records files using SonoruS Holographic Imaging

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Thank you for your interest in SonoruS Holographic Imaging.[1] Some people say it feels like the sonic equivalent of virtual reality. Friends who have heard demonstrations of SonoruS Holographic Imaging have remarked on a realistic three-dimensional sound stage and have appreciated the natural presence of the musicians and their placement within the acoustics of the concert hall.[2] If you have set up stereo speakers in your room correctly, this format can fill the room with musical information.  The free downloads on this page can help you decide if you like Holographic Imaging and if it works well in your stereo system.  If you don’t like the effect, or if the effect doesn’t work, please choose our regular stereo version of the same music. Please note! Yarlung’s SonoruS Holographic Imaging files do not work on headphones.  Moreover, they only work for one person sitting in the center.  Two people listening side-by-side on Continue Reading →

Yarlung Records: An Audiophile Label With a Greater Purpose

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by Bob Attiyeh and posted on The Absolute Sound, April 15, 2016. The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, the world’s largest such organization with nearly 2000 members, honored at their annual Gala dinner and awards ceremony in December 2015, Yarlung Records founder Bob Attiyeh with its Humanitarian Award. Yarlung Records is a nonprofit organization that provides recording opportunities to up-and-coming artists. Many illustrious careers have been jump-started by exposure from Yarlung recordings. The recordings, which span a wide range of musical genres, are made to the highest audiophile standards, with many releases issued on vinyl including 45rpm discs. Upon hearing Bob Attiyeh’s acceptance speech at the LA&OC awards ceremony, I was struck by the tremendous contribution Bob Attiyeh and Yarlung Records is making in support of music and young musicians. I asked him to send to me his speech so that TAS can share with its readers the Continue Reading →

Classics Today Review: “Sasha Cooke’s Captivating Orchestral Songs”

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Yarlung| Amazon | NativeDSD | HDTracks | iTunes  Excerpts from a review on Classics Today of Sasha Cooke — “If You Love for Beauty” — by David Vernier American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke… has a voice of substance, lustrous and silver-toned, especially rich and vibrant in the lower register, with the assured technique of one who has the goods and just knows what to do with her gift…. She characterizes the mood, various colors, and moments of rising intensity, or more “dreamy” or reflective passages in the Chausson Poème particularly well, expertly abbetted on all counts by a very fine orchestra and its sensitive music director Yehuda Gilad. Cooke’s voice has the size and expressive range to sustain focus on and interest in whatever she is doing, in true collaboration with an orchestra that’s sizable and exceptionally colorful in its own right. Throughout the Chausson, and also in the Mahler (excellent solo horn and Continue Reading →

Taku Kurosawa interviews Yarlung’s Bob Attiyeh for e-onkyo Music

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Introducing one of the world’s leading high sound quality record labels: “Yarlung Records” Taku Kurosawa interviews Yarlung’s Bob Attiyeh for e-onkyo Music, April 1st, 2016 translated from the Japanese by Mika Sasaki Yarlung Records is a label based in Los Angeles (in the United States) which has received extremely high recognition for its producing and recording work, primarily in classical music. Cellist Antonio Lysy’s album, “Antonio Lysy at the Broad Music from Argentina,” – which included a commission from Lalo Schifrin, among others – received the 11th Latin Grammy Award in 2013. For this article, we interviewed Mr. Bob Attiyeh, who represents Yarlung Records as the executive director, producer and recording engineer. We asked him about the characteristics, goals, recording equipment, musical goals, and any recommendations for albums that might be of interest to our readers. − What are some characteristics of Yarlung products? Are there any policies and values which Continue Reading →

Record Collector News : “The Year of Yarlung”

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David Thomson waxes poetic in Record Collector News about new vinyl releases during Yarlung’s 10th Anniversary and calls 2015 “The Year of Yarlung.” Yarlung Records received three prestigious awards in 2015, the year of their 10th anniversary: Dr. David W. Robinson’s Brutus Award, Brian Moura’s 2015 Writer’s Choice Award — both, mainly, for their astonishing analog tape conversions to Direct Stream Digital (DSD) files while, locally, owner Bob Attiyeh received the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society’s (LAOCAS) Humanitarian Award for offering opportunity, and worldwide exposure, to the gifted young musicians who perform within the very diverse Yarlung catalog. About Te Amo, Argentina on vinyl: From the opening “Bragato Graciela y Buenos Aires,” I was absorbed. While ogling the gracious tango dancer imagery adorning the cover, the seductive melody took hold and the resonance of Antonio’s cello became so present in my living room, I was reminded of Disney’s Fantasia as Continue Reading →

Dr. David W. Robinson Awards Yarlung Records the 2015 Brutus Award in support of the label’s promotion of our musicians in high resolution DSD

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The cutting edge Positive Feedback Brutus Awards are given at the end of each year by Dave Clark and Dr. David W. Robinson. They are awards for the best products that PFO’s editors have heard in their listening rooms during the past year. Yarlung Records was once again selected  as one of this year’s honorees. Dr. Robinson writes: “The song continues! Bob Attiyeh and Yarlung Records have continued their Quad DSD series of transfers from Bob’s masterpieces on analog tape (15 ips half-track quarter-inch tape). Working with Jared Sacks, Tom Caulfield, and the other folks at NativeDSD.com, Bob handles the raw transfers from his master tapes via the industry-leading Merging Technologies HAPI ADDA (which he now owns!) to Quad DSD. The inimitable Tom Caulfield, a Grammy winner himself, does the post-production work, and then sends the DSD files along to NativeDSD for publication. You can find Bob Attiyeh’s recordings in Continue Reading →

Brian Moura awards Yarlung one of three 2015 Writer’s Choice Awards

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It is a privilege to be awarded Brian Moura’s prestigious PFO Writer’s Choice Award along with the superb NADAC from Merging Technologies and the DSD album Eight Ensembles in 1 Bit, both of which Yarlung has promoted and reviewed in our social media.  Our friends at Merging and NativeDSD deserve these awards and we are thrilled that Brian recognized Yarlung, Merging Technologies and NativeDSD in 2015.  (Please note Yarlung’s album created specially in honor of the NADAC.  Take a look at the download booklet). Bob Attiyeh is one of the largely unsung heroes in the world of very high quality music and audio. This year he celebrates the 10th Anniversary of his music company Yarlung Artists. Yarlung is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that records and releases music from young and very promising musicians in the highest audio quality. This includes Analog Tape, Vinyl LP and most recently Music Downloads. The result Continue Reading →