TEN NEW TITLES JOIN THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED
RCA RED SEAL LIVING STEREO SERIES
IN HYBRID SACD/CD FORMAT
CDS IN STORES JULY 26, 2005

Classic Performances from Cliburn, Heifetz, Moffo, Rubinstein,
Monteux, Munch, Reiner And Stokowski Highlight Third Round Of Releases
In the Most Successful Reissue Series On CD

As RCA Red Seal’s acclaimed Living Stereo series – the most successful classical reissue series on CD – continues to win rave reviews from audiophile and music critics, it will add 10 new titles in the hybrid SACD/CD format, offering the latest advances in remastering and playback on a disc that is also playable as a conventional CD. The 10 titles will include three new to the Living Stereo series and feature performances by soprano Anna Moffo, violinist Jascha Heifetz, pianists Van Cliburn Arthur Rubinstein and the conductors Pierre Monteux, Charles Munch, Fritz Reiner and Leopold Stokowski. These latest Living Stereo titles will be released on July 26, 2005.

“The sheer fun of listening to the latest batch of RCA Living Stereo CDs sets the standard for the most basic criterion for spending money on recordings – that one will turn to them again and again. They revel in the glorious sounds of inspired performances of greatly rewarding music,” the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote, in its review of the second round of Living Stereo releases in January. Noting that the new format allows the original Living Stereo recordings at last to be heard as they were created, Ultraradio.com writes, “They are revelations … Cheers to BMG for mining its vaults in a proper manner.”

RCA Red Seal’s Living Stereo has set the standard for remastering and restoring among the most acclaimed stereo recordings made in analog sound, usually using two or three microphones. The advent of SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc) and multi-channel playback afford these classic recordings yet another advance – now the listener can hear the left, center and right channels exactly as the recording engineers heard them at the original recording sessions.

Each of these Living Stereo titles has been remastered by an engineering team led by the award-winning John Newton, using only three of the available six channels (two when the original recording was two-track stereo) in order to remain faithful to the sonic image created by the original producers. Newton remarks, "Two important technologies come together to allow SACD customers to hear these programs in higher fidelity than the original engineers could listen to. By using the best playback channels and heads on a modern transport we heard material that certainly did not come through the original tube type analog tape recorders. This improvement coupled with the incredible clarity of the DSD process allows today's listener to hear more of what is on these historic tapes." Although DSD (Direct Stream Digital) remastering has added a fresh luster to the sound, no signal processing has been used to “improve” the original tapes of these performances.

The first round of Living Stereo releases had record critics cheering. Stereophile wrote, The first 10 releases in BMG’s RCA Living Stereo SACD series are overwhelming successes.” The Absolute Sound concurred, adding, “These SACDs are far superior to all previous CD versions in every conceivable way.”

The new Living Stereo releases include:

· RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3; PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 3 – Van Cliburn, piano, with Kiril Kondrashin cond. Symphony of the Air & Walter Hendl cond. Chicago Symphony Orchestra – New to the Living Stereo series line on CD, this release adds new luster to Cliburn’s legendary Carnegie Hall concert performance of the formidable Rachmaninoff Third. SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on three channels.

· HI-FI FIEDLER – Arthur Fiedler cond. Boston Pops Orchestra – In recordings designed to demonstrate the delights of stereo high fidelity (Hi-Fi), these spectacular performances – Rimsky Korsakov’s Le Coq d’Or Suite, Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Tchaikovsky’s Marche slave, Chabrier’s España and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and Rákóczy March – dazzle anew, courtesy of DSD mastering and the SACD format. SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on three channels.

· BRAHMS: Violin Concerto; TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto – Jascha Heifetz, violin, with Fritz Reiner cond. Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Two complete Living Stereo LPs on a single disc – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on two (Brahms) and three (Tchaikovsky) channels.

· FRANCK: Symphony in D Minor; STRAVINSKY: Pétrouchka – Pierre Monteux cond. Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Boston Symphony Orchestra, with Bernard Zighera, piano – Two complete Living Stereo LPs on a single disc – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on three channels.

· BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5; Symphony No. 6 Pastorale – Charles Munch cond. Boston Symphony Orchestra – New to the Living Stereo series line on CD – First CD release of Symphony No. 6 Pastorale – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on two channels.

· STRAUSS: Scenes from Elektra and Salome – Inge Borkh, soprano; Paul Schoeffler, baritone; Frances Yeend, soprano, with Fritz Reiner cond. Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus – Matchless performances of Elektra’s Soliloquy, Recognition Scene and Finale from Elektra, plus the Dance of the Seven Veils and Final Scene from Salome – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on two channels.

· MAHLER: Symphony No. 4 – Fritz Reiner cond. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with soprano Lisa Della Casa – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on three channels.

· CHOPIN: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 – Arthur Rubinstein, piano, with Stanslaw Skrowaczewski cond. New Symphony Orchestra of London & Alfred Wallenstein cond. Symphony of the Air – New to the Living Stereo series line on CD – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on two channels (Concerto No. 1) and three channels (Concerto No. 2).

· Stokowski Rhapsodies – Leopold Stokowski cond. RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra & Symphony of the Air – Stokowski’s fabled touch adds to the excitement of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Enesco’s Roumanian Rhapsody No.1, Smetana’s The Moldau from Má Vlast and The Bartered Bride Overture, and Wagner’s Prelude to Act III of Tristan und Isolde and Tannhäuser Overture and Venusberg Music – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on three channels.

· Anna Moffo: Opera Arias – Tullio Serafin cond. Rome Opera Orchestra – Classic collection features arias from Faust, La Bohème, Dinorah, Carmen, Semiramide, Turandot and Lakmé – SACD Multi-Channel Sound plays back on three channels.