Munch at his spontaneous best. JEU DE CARTES begins routinely, but then it heats up and becomes white hot. Martinu's SYMPHONIE FANTASQUE, written for the BSO's 75th annivesary, is totally hot. No wonder Martinu wrote it specifically for the sound of the BSO and for Munch's spontaenity. I have the "first stereo release" on an RCA Gold LP--really dull because I could heard only half of what is going on. Thank you for finally putting it on CD--all is revealed. A desert island disc, indeed.

The Munch recording of Jeu de Cartes has LONG needed a high-quality audio release. It is a brilliant performance, but its appreciation has been hampered by recordings that soften the sharp punctate writing for the brass and limit the frequency range. This recording fixes all that. The lows extend more deeply than I’ve heard before and the highs are crystal clear. More importantly, the transient response now clarifies all of this masterpiece’s inner voices. I’d say this is the best work HDTT has ever done. These comments apply to the DXD version. While the Martinu occupies quite a different sound world, with its complex swirling/swarming sounds, in this recording the textures remain transparent. Again, the transients are perfectly captures—for instance the tam-tam hits. I can’t say enough about the quality of this transfer. What is most amazing is that this was played and captured so well 70 years ago.