Reference Recordings



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						Reference Recordings is back in business, after a judge extricated it from the bankrupt Dorian Group. Reference used to make some of the world's best recordings, and is, happily, back at it. We have good stock on current titles, and we also have some stock of the company's famous LPs, long out of production (scroll down to see the list of what's available). Many of these are among the best available anywhere. CLICK THE CART TO REVIEW SHOPPING CART Recordings shown red have been used in UHF equipment tests. HDCD (MOSTLY) COMPACT DISCS Serenade The final recording by the wonderful Turtle Creek Chorale under Timothy Seelig. A vast array of music from different periods, and sonically the best they have ever done. HDCD: RR-110 $16.95 30th Anniversary Sampler Reference Recordings celebrates with this HDCD collection of excerpts from recent Reference releases. Piano, organ, symphony orchestra, and lots more. HDCD: RR-905 $9.95 Yerba Buena Bounce The Hot Jazz Club of San Francisco, who used to record for Clarity, gets picked up by Reference. Fine, fine musicians, communicative swing jazz, and sonics by "Profesor Johnson.". HDCD: RR-905 $16.95 Nojima Plays Liszt Minoru Nojima's 1986 recording of Liszt, including the B Minor Sonata, was raved about. Now, finally, it gets picked up in HDCD. And about time! HDCD: RR-25CD $16.95 Nojima Plays Ravel Minoru Nojima's recording of Ravel, including Miroirs and Gaspard de la Nuit. Now it’s glorious in HDCD. HDCD: RR-35CD $16.95 Garden of Dreams David Maslanka's evocative and mysterious themeatic music. Superb sound, with the Dallas Wind Symphony. HDCD: RR-108 $16.95 Pomp&Pipes! This recording for wind ensemble and organ became one of the world's most famous demo recordings. Done flawlessly, it can shake down any system. And a lot of this music is terrific too. HDCD: RR-58CD $16.95 Trittico Modern music for brass, woodwinds and plenty of percussion, with Frederick Fennell on the podium. The Dallas Wind Symphony can really push you back in your chair. This was one of the very first HDCD recordings. HDCD: RR-52CD $16.95 Requiem this modern Requiem Mass is from contemporary composer John Rutter. Rutter has conducted his own acclaimed version, but we prefer this one, with the Turtle Creek Chorale and the Women's Chorus of Dallas. The sound is gorgeous too. HDCD: RR-57CD $16.95 From the Age of Swing An eight-man jazz ensemble led by Dick Hyman, probably the most imaginative jazz pianist and composer of his age. Astonishing "you are there" sound. HDCD: RR-59CD $16.95 Swing is Here A second album of the same sort of music, and highly justified! Incredibly lifelike if you own a good system. HDCD: RR-72CD $16.95 Copland The best-recorded version of Aaron Copland's stunning Fanfare for the Common Man, long a staple of audio shows even in lesser versions. Also includes Copland's 3rd symphony, from which the Fanfare is drawn, and the Appalachian Spring. No player should be without it. HDCD: RR-93CD $16.95 The Medinah Sessions This is a "two-fer," a double CD for the price of one. It includes the best-ever recording of Walton's gorgeous Façade Suite, still a staple of UHF equipment tests, because...well, you'll see. Also included is stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale and Weill's Three-Penny Opera suite, along with others. HDCD DOUBLE DISC: RR-2102 $16.95 Oxnard Sessions, vol.1 The terrific jazz pianist Mike Garson, in session with bass, drums, guitar, sax and trumpet, plus drums.. HDCD: RR-37CD $16.95 Ports of Call A hi-fi travelogue of popular tone poems, including Tchaikovsky's Capriccio italien, The Moldau by Smetana, and a blistering performance of Siblelius' Finlandia. HDCD: RR-80CD $16.95 An American Requiem Richard Danielpour's moving and poetic Requiem mass, inaugurated right after 9/11, and bearing the appropriate dedication. HDCD: RR-97CD $16.95 Casa Guidi Dominick Argento's music inspired by the Italian refuge of poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Plus Rossini in Paris, and more. With the Minnesota Orchestra and famed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. HDCD: RR-100CD $16.95 Mephisto Brilliant orchestral pieces by the Minnesota Orchestra, all with connections to Lucifer. Includes a Night on Bald Mountain, and lots more. Terrific sound, great playing. HDCD: RR-82CD $16.95 Fiesta! Howard Dunn and the Dallas Wind Symphony, with brilliant, brash music by Morton Gould, Owen Reed, and others. CD: RR-38CD $16.95 Holst The Dallas Wind Symphony plays three suites by Gustav Holst, composer of The Planets. A fine performance, with sound that...well, we've used it in our equipment tests. CD: RR-39CD $16.95 Fennell Favorites The legendary Frederick Fennell conducts the Dallas Wind Symphony in energetic music by Bach, MacDowell, Prokofiev, and more. CD: RR-43CD $16.95 Menotti/Barber Violin Concerto The late great violinist Ruggiero Ricci, captured at his best with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. CD: RR-45CD $16.95 Chadwick Serebrier and the Czech State Philharmonic play three of George Whitefield Chadwick's pieces, including the Symphonic Sketches. HDCD: RR-64CD $16.95 Vivakli for Diverse Instruments Vivaldi concertos for violins, flutes, horns, bassoon, organ and lots more. A long time best-seller.. HDCD: RR-77CD $16.95 Copland The best-recorded version of Aaron Copland's stunning Fanfare for the Common Man, long a staple of audio shows even in lesser versions. Also includes Copland's 3rd symphony, from which the Fanfare is drawn, and the Appalachian Spring. No player should be without it. HDCD: RR-93CD $16.95 Ports of Call A thin pretext for what is essentially a sampler for the Dallas Symphony, but it is definitely a keeper. Warning: you'll want to get some other recordings sampled on this disc. HDCD: RR-803CD $16.95 Tutti Perhaps the best of the Reference Recordings sampler, with (need we add) glorious sound HDCD: RR-906 $9.95 Minnesota Orchestra Showcase A sampler at a special price, with excerpts from some of our HDCD favorites: strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, and a lot more. HDCD: RR-907 $9.95 Bruckner Symphony No. 9 We've compared, and we have not found a better version of this astonishing symphony, performed by the Dallas Symphony. And then there's the sound! HDCD: RR-81CD $16.95 Ein Heldenleben This very complex symphonic poem by Richard Strauss, featuring an orchestra that even Beethoven might have found too big, is a long-time demo favorite, but there had never been a perfectly-recorded version until this one. You'll hear how good your system really is! HDCD: RR-83CD $16.95 Rachmaninoff The Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances are lovely, and there have been many great versions. This is the one that both audiophiles and music lovers should have, and if you are both... HDCD: RR-96CD $16.95 Scheherazade Yes, there are countless versions of Rimsky-Korsakov's tone poem, but if you don't have a good one, this is definitely, absolutely the one to get. HDCD: RR-89CD $16.95 Mahler: Song of the Earth The Minnesota Orchestra with this masterpiece from Mahler. It expresses Mahler's longing for life, at a time when his health was failing and he foresaw the dying of the light. Fine sound...of course. HDCD: RR-88CD $16.95 Bernstein: Candide Overture and Suite from Candide; Three Meditations from Mass; Five Songs with Beth Clayton, mezzo; Divertimento for Orchestra HDCD: RR-87CD $16.95 Text & Burn-In The return of this famous recording for testing and burning in equipment and cables. Done in conjunction with XLO. HDCD: RX-1000 $39.95 VINYL LPs Holst The Dallas Wind Symphony plays three suites by Gustav Holst, composer of The Planets. A fine performance, with sound that...well, watch for it to pop up in our equipment tests. LP: RR-39 $25 Beachcomber A change of pace for Fennell and the Dallas Wind Ensemble — a series of pleasant encores. Includes Tico Tico, and a version of 76 Trombones you’ll remember for a long time. The sound is glorious. DOUBLE LP: RR-62 $32 Dick Hyman--Fats Waller This is the analog version of this famous recording, which was cut to CD during the actual performance. But of course Keith Johnson simultaneously recorded the performance on his own hand-built analog recorder. This is, as usual with Reference LP's, a pure analog recording. LP: RR-33 $25.00 Fennell Favorites The Dallas Wind Symphony with spirited wind band arrangements of music by Bach, Brahms, Prokofiev, Goldmark and MacDowell. Briilliant, lively sound, stunning percussion. LP version only. LP: RR-43 $25.00 Blazing Redheads They may not be all redheads, but this all-female salsa jazz big band adds lots of red pepper to its music. LP version only. LP: RR-26 $25.00 Eileen Farrell sings Alec Wilder The famous classical singer takes on tunes such as Where Do You Go and The Lady Sings the Blues. LP version only. LP: RR-36 $20.00 ALL PRICES SHOWN IN CANADIAN DOLLARS. FOR RECORD ORDERING INFORMATION, IN CANADA OR ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, GO BACK TO THE MAIN AUDIOPHILE STORE PAGE.