Particularly rich in analogue reissues, 2025 saw the launch of the new Verve Vault and Muse Master Edition series, reissues from the Strata East catalogue, and the excellent Rhino High Fidelity and Rhino Reserve series.
No doubt motivated by the success of the Original Source series from its Deutsche Grammophon catalogue, Universal Music is continuing the adventure by announcing the launch of a series of Decca Pure Analogue vinyl records, featuring iconic recordings from the Decca and Philips catalogues. Like the DG series, it is mastered by Rainer Maillard and cut by Sidney C. Meyer at the famous Emil Berliner Studios, which guarantee that only 100% analogue (AAA) techniques are used and that no additional devices (i.e. no digital processing) are involved in the signal transfer.
Only analogue sources from the original stereo and quadraphonic master tapes are approved, including recently discovered analogue masters from the label’s early digital recordings. The set will be pressed on 180g vinyl at Pallas and presented in deluxe gatefold sleeves in limited, hand-numbered editions. The entire series is supervised by Dominic Fyfe, director of the label, who will also provide historical and technical annotations for these reissues.
With this announcement, Decca is opening new opportunities to showcase its catalogue and that of Philips, thereby satisfying the desires of classical music enthusiasts who are still drawn to analogue listening.
The first Decca Pure Analogue selection will include three titles, available from 16 January:
* Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring by Sir Georg Solti, recorded in Chicago in 1974, mastered from the original Decca stereo tapes released in two ¼-inch tracks and pressed for the first time at 45 rpm to achieve a wider high-frequency response and best reproduce all the “fury and clarity ” (Chicago Tribune) of the original recording.
* Jean Sibelius’s 5th & 7th Symphonies conducted by Colin Davis, recorded in 1975 for Philips with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, mixed and pressed directly from the original quadraphonic master tapes released in four ½-inch tracks. Spread over two vinyl discs for optimal duration, this recording now also includes the symphonic poem Tapiola, taken from the original multitrack (4-track) master tape.
* The 1979 New Year’s Concert in Vienna, with Willi Boskovsky conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, long celebrated as Decca’s first digital recording. Recent research has uncovered a set of previously unreleased ¼-inch 2-track analogue masters, allowing this famous recording to be heard in analogue for the first time.
Following this promising introduction, we will try to get hold of one of the three LPs as soon as possible so that we can tell you about it in issue 63, if possible.26/11/2025
