Walter Hendl – Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor (Jascha Heifetz) (Ultra Tape)

Heifetz, Sibelius and a stand-in conductor

Jascha Heifetz plays the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Walter Hendl conducts, standing in for an ill Fritz Reiner. John Pfeiffer produced the sessions, Lewis Layton engineered them.

The three-track transfer keeps the soloist in proportion to the orchestra: Heifetz remains present without being pushed forward.

This edition: Ultra Tape, and what you need to play it

Analogue Productions issues this recording in its Ultra Tape series: a ¼-inch analogue tape running at 15 ips with IEC equalisation, in two-track (half-track) stereo. Each copy is made in real time from a copy of the original analogue master tape, transferred on an ATR-modified Ampex machine with flux magnetic heads, and it arrives in a custom slipcase.

Playing it needs a reel-to-reel machine that runs at 15 ips and reads two tracks. The format leaves out the steps a record takes between master tape and groove, which is the reason collectors reach for it.

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe