Executive Producer Jim Mulally’s 180 GRAM 45RPM release of Sibelius Piano Trio’s western hemisphere premiere performance of Sibelius’ Korppoo Trio excited audiophile listeners and writers around the world. Michael Leser Johnson reviews Korppoo Trio in Analog Planet, Stephen Estep writes about the release in The Absolute Sound, and Jacob Heilbrunn covers the pressing and more in The Spectator.
From The Spectator:
The Sibelius Piano Trio’s live concert, featuring Petteri Iivonen on violin, Juho Pohjonen on piano and Samuli Peltonen on cello, is a treat to hear. For one thing, Yarlung Records, which always goes to great lengths to ensure high recording quality, down to the microphone amplification and tape machines it employs, has produced another sonically stellar LP. The individual instruments are almost perfectly balanced and the timbral fidelity is impeccable.
The pleasure that Sibelius must have had in playing with his siblings on a work that he himself had composed comes through in the new recording. The opening movement (Allegro moderato) is alternately majestic and playful, with especially fleet and jaunty piano runs from Pohjonen towards the end of it. Pohjonen’s playing throughout is characterized by a refined and elegant sensibility.
The Romantic character of the trio comes to the fore in the andante second movement (Fantasia), where Sibelius ensures that the cello has a melancholy singing line in tandem with the violin. Later in the movement, the violin’s delicate solo birdcalls in the treble could hardly be more evocative. Then comes the rollicking Rondo finale which closes with a bang.
From The Absolute Sound:
Mark Lehman reviewed the original 2-CD set that included this trio in Issue 268, calling Yarlung’s work “the epitome of sonic realism.” Hold onto your earlobes, because the vinyl knocks the CD into a cocked hat. The clarity is still there, but the vinyl—mastered by Bernie Grundman—offers more of the hall’s resonance, a more relaxed atmosphere, and a much sweeter tone. I’m gobsmacked at the difference.
Sibelius was 22 when he wrote this fresh, outdoorsy trio for himself and his siblings. He was a fine violinist and wrote himself a fairly showy part…. He nods Beethoven’s way several times but never strays from his own path; some trills and tremolos in the Andante are spine-tinglingly inventive. The outer movements are positively perky, a quality I had yet to hear from Sibelius…. Don’t miss this.
From Analog Planet:
Grammy award winning Yarlung Records… has been releasing classical music albums on CD, LP, and R2R tape since as far back as 2006, but they had somehow managed to escape my radar. Better late than never, as they possess all the ingredients necessary to delight readers of this website; including a dedication to minimalist analog recording techniques, and the curation of the finest up-and-coming classical talent working today. This label is run by people (primarily producer and engineer Bob Attiyeh) who care deeply about classical music, and are connected to first rate performers….
[Yarlung is] dedicated to producing these recordings with remarkable sound, catering to the audiophile and analog lover, something other labels producing similar artists (like Naxos) never even attempt….Unlike most modern classical recordings, which… feature gratuitous editing, cutting, and pasting to present recordings that are “perfect” and free of any blemishes, Attiyeh records the old-school way, presenting recordings where movements are done in complete takes…. Not that it would be an easy feat given that Yarlung primarily records with a SonoruS ATR12 analog tape recorder. Attiyeh states that this method does put a lot of pressure on the musicians to come in overprepared, and he says he has sent musicians home when he felt they weren’t polished enough for his performance standards. Most modern practitioners would engineer themselves around such problems, but for Yarlung records, the solution is always greater musicianship. Yarlung hasn’t skimped on the back end either, with mastering done by Steve Hoffman (alongside Bob Attiyeh), and vinyl cutting by none other than Bernie Grundman. My…pressings were flat, quiet, and centered.
The playing on this particular recording is first rate, with an organic sense of pacing that makes the musical twists and turns flow naturally…. I especially appreciated the sensitive playing of pianist Juho Pohjonen in not only his melodic passages…. The second half of this movement contains a beautiful fugue, the pacing of which is carried out with an exquisite forward motion. The second movement “Fantasia Andante” gives each player a chance to shine, with broad and sensitive legato lines particularly from cellist Samuli Peltonen. The delicate violin cadenza by Petteri Iivonen at the end of the movement let me experience a moment of serene stillness as well.
From a sonic perspective, this recording is a gold mine. In many ways it reminds me of my classic “Living Stereo” chamber records, with a natural string tone and three-dimensionality of instruments. The transparency was truly impressive when heard through my Harbeth 30.2 monitors, and I could almost make out the little breaths, grunts, and groans of the ensemble moving and shaping the music together.
In some other ways, this record decidedly bests my classic “shaded dogs” and Decca “wide bands”, with a fuller piano sound, and better micro-dynamics and low level details…. the performance is of high artistic merit, and the sound is of a quality we almost never hear in new recordings, even from major labels. This is not only a record I highly recommend, but this is a label to keep on your radar.