BREAKING NEWS! Classical Giant DECCA Announces Its Own PURE ANALOGUE Vinyl Reissue Series

Mastered and Cut directly from the Analogue Stereo and 4-Track Master Tapes by Emil Berliner Studios

Man, have I had difficulty keeping quiet about this news for the last couple of months!  No doubt seeing the critical and commercial success of Deutsche Grammophon’s Original Source Series, today UMG label mate DECCA announces its own purist all-analogue vinyl reissue series, going under the name of DECCA PURE ANALOGUE.

As with DG’s Original Source Releases, Decca is using the purist mastering and cutting chain at Emil Berliner Studios that allows Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer to master and cut directly from the 2 and 4-track master tapes to the cutting lathe, with no compression etc.  Unlike the DG releases, the Decca Pure Analogue series will be pressed at Pallas.

More great news here is that the whole series is being overseen by label head Dominic Fyfe, who will also be contributing additional historical and technical annotation for these releases.  Fyfe’s previous work on historic reissues for the label has been exemplary in terms of documentation and title selection.  For Tracking Angle I reviewed the reissues of Solti’s landmark Ring cycle and Britten’s War Requiem.  In both cases I felt that the digital restoration of technically problematic tapes, as represented by the CD/SACD incarnations, was state-of-the-art.  Where I felt the reissues fell down was in their use of Abbey Road for their vinyl mastering, which was thoroughly decent without being as exceptional as I felt the source material warranted, nay demanded - and would have been possible if handled by a different mastering/cutting facility.

With the announcement of this AAA vinyl reissue series, which fully embraces the same all-analogue production chain and cutting directly from the master tapes for maximum sonic purity used for DG’s Original Source series, using one of the best mastering and cutting teams in the business, everything changes.  There is enormous potential for Decca to revitalize and celebrate its monumental back catalogue (and that of Philips) in a manner as momentous and consequential as DG has done with its Original Source series.

Classical enthusiasts and audiophiles rejoice!  This is HUGE news!  Factor in Chad Kassem’s recent announcement about reissuing 25 RCA Living Stereo titles at 45rpm and classical music lovers are being spoiled rotten!

Decca was always considered one of the primo classical labels for sound, even into the digital era.  The label pioneered the so-called “Decca Tree” microphone array, resulting in recordings which, along with RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence, and Columbia/EMI, set the gold standard for purist audiophile classical recordings.  Its engineers became the stuff of legend, led by the almost mythical figure of Kenneth Wilkinson.  To this day, Decca records remain highly collectable in all their different incarnations.

 

Now, unlike DG, Decca never embraced surround technology, so all its records were pressed from regular stereo masters (although, apparently, a few experiments in surround recording did take place - but there are no surviving masters that have been found, as of this writing).  The exciting news here is that this reissue series will also include titles from the Philips catalogue, and Philips did indeed record in surround for potential quadraphonic release that, as with DG, never happened.  Because Philips, long defunct, now falls under the aegis of Decca at UMG, this Decca Pure Analogue series will include titles from that highly underrated label.  This is tremendous news for those of us who eagerly seek out Philips titles in the used bins.

So, included in this first batch of releases, we have recordings made by Philips in Boston’s Symphony Hall using extra room mics to record surround information.  This has allowed Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer at EBS to master and cut directly from the same kind of 4-track master tapes that they have sourced for the Original Source series.  This has resulted in huge, three dimensional soundstages and thrillingly dynamic sonics.  Collectors of the Original Source reissues will already know that some of the most outstanding releases have emanated from Boston, so this refurbished reissue of classic recordings of Sibelius by Colin Davis and the BSO has got me salivating in anticipation of what I will be hearing from these records.

Dominic Fyfe outlines his approach to selecting titles for reissue in the Decca Pure Analogue series:

“My rationale in selecting this first batch of three titles was to highlight just some of the variety of sources available to us: our archive is an Aladdin’s Cave of analogue treasures. The Solti “Sacre” gives us classic mid-70s Decca analogue (intriguingly it was simultaneously recorded in quad, although no quad master exists sadly): the three-mic Decca Tree ‘in excelsis’ with Wilkie (Kenneth Wilkinson) at the mixer. We’ve cut it at 45rpm for an even more visceral result. 

“Meanwhile, the 1979 Vienna New Year’s Day Concert lifts the lid on a cache of pristine analogue safety masters of their early digital counterparts. This was, famously, Decca’s first digital release and, until now, these edited analogue masters had been entirely forgotten – who would have thought they would play into our hands half a century later! 

“And last, but not least, the Philips catalogue is represented with the classic quadraphonic Colin Davis/Boston Symphony Sibelius 5&7. It was the first to be recorded of that cycle, but sadly the only one in quad. We’ve split it across four sides for improved sonic results (the original LP was double-sided) and added “Tapiola” on the fourth side. The Philips catalogue of that era is rich in edited quad masters so we plan to have plenty more in future batches.”

So while the two Decca releases in this first batch are sourced from “mere” 2-track stereo masters, they are no less exciting for the reasons mentioned above and that I will examine in more detail below. 

Before you nod your head and mutter something about “Who needs another Rite of Spring?”, let me just say, “We do!”  Especially when it is this justly celebrated recording mastered and cut at 45rpm for maximum groove velocity and impact!

Hold on to your hats!

There are places on the original vinyl release where it sounds like a musical flaying is in progress… Imagine that given the EBS and 45rpm turbo charge!

The ultimate energy-to-burn conductor Georg Solti - no shrinking violet when it came to conveying the kind of musical barbarism that The Rite is all about (Solti’s nickname amongst the musicians, after all, was “The Screaming Skull”) - partners with the Ferrari of American Orchestras to bring you Stravinsky’s ultimate orchestral smackdown in all its analogue glory.  I’ve got an original pressing and this thing rocks.  I’ve got a feeling this new 45rpm incarnation will add just enough fire and thunder  to give every other version in the catalogue a serious run for its money.

Bring. It. On!

Well, this is a huge surprise, and a very welcome one at that.

The series of records made by Decca over many years in Vienna of all the classic Strauss family waltzes, polkas and other musical delights, performed by the quintessential Strauss orchestra led by its concertmaster, Willi Boskovsky, were sonically brilliant, musically enticing, and utterly magical.  I have nearly all of them in original pressings, and they get played often.

This double LP of the 1979 New Year’s Day Concert from Vienna’s fabled Musikverien announced a new era.  It was the first time that the complete New Year’s Day Concert was released in its entirety as a live set, and it was the first commercially available digital recording.  It sold like hotcakes, and I was one of those original buyers!  It has remained a real favorite of mine, with fantastic performances that convey all the atmosphere of this unique occasion, with lively but always respectful audience participation.  It’s also a particularly well-chosen program of this intoxicating music, as delicious as a Viennese plate of Strudel mit Schlagsahne - and just as addictive.  The concert includes so many performance and sonic highlights, but let me just mention the pointillistic (I couldn’t resist) Pizzicato Polka (which I cannot wait to hear in its all-analogue incarnation), the galloping Hunt Polka that will have you jumping out of your seat at the alarmingly realistic gun shots,  and definitive versions of The Blue Danube Waltz and the Radetzky March!  The sound, although lacking that tell-tale analogue warmth, remains thoroughly decent on the original LPs, because Decca’s digital recordings were always amongst the best made with the new technology, from the beginning.

Well, now we can hear what we were sonically missing, because what makes this new Pure Analogue reissue so enticing is the fact that Fyfe and his team found the analogue back-up tapes sitting in the vault, so for the first time we will be hearing this irresistible music played in this legendary hall in front of a thoroughly engaged audience in all its full analogue, “live” glory. 

Can. Not. Wait. To. Hear. This!

Ah, what an unexpected and yet such a welcome choice.  Colin Davis’s Sibelius cycle in Boston is rightly amongst the most celebrated renderings of this glorious reinvention of the symphonic form out there.  Pairing the well-known 5th Symphony with the lesser-known but compelling 7th is the kind of match die-hard collectors appreciate, while maintaining appeal for classical newbies.  Bottom line, this is gorgeous, haunting music slightly out of the mainstream (at least the 7th, that is) that will nevertheless appeal to all.

The kicker here is that I am guessing the sonic upgrade to an already fine sounding recording is going to be considerable, since in addition to sourcing directly from the surround master tape, they are spreading the symphonies over three rather than the original two LP sides, and adding the ever popular tone poem Tapiola to round out this double LP set.

Another no-brainer purchase.

So there you have it.  Charge your bank accounts and start your engines.  If these releases turn out as well as the Original Source series, classical fans are in for a real treat.  The Decca and Philips catalogues are full to the brim with drool-worthy titles that would be welcome in any record collection.

As always, full behind-the-scenes coverage and reviews of this important series will be coming your way on this site.

I will leave you with these observations from Dominic Fyfe, A&R Director, Decca Classics:

“Decca Pure Analogue will be a revelation for collectors and audiophiles, as well as introduce new audiences to the warmth and brilliance of an all-analogue sound. Recordings we thought we knew have emerged with arresting immediacy, presence and newfound detail. There is unlimited treasure: the jewels of the Decca and Philips catalogues as well as rediscovered masters, including analogue versions of Decca’s early experiments in digital recording. The series opens a window onto the golden age of the analogue LP, when ‘ffrr’, ‘ffss’ and the Decca ‘Tree’ were King. Both Decca and Philips were fabled for the quality of their original LP pressings – setting the bar high for the new series – but the painstaking care with which the original masters have been treated, together with the bespoke presentation, give these legendary recordings a new lease of life.”

Pre-orders and more information go live on Decca’s shop site now!, and no doubt the Decca Pure Analogue releases will also eventually become available to order and buy from all the usual audiophile vinyl sites.  Release date for this first batch is January 16th, with - to my knowledge - at least two more batches slated for release in 2026.