A Selection From The Original Masters On Audio Sound Tape
AUDIONAUTES RECORDINGS — 15TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION
A SELECTION FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTERS
Fifteen years of analogue discovery - captured on one extraordinary reel.
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To celebrate its 15th anniversary, Italian audiophile label AudioNautes Recordings has assembled a musical journey through some of the most admired recordings in its catalogue. This is not simply a conventional “greatest hits” collection. It is a carefully curated demonstration of how convincingly music can communicate when it is preserved and reproduced through a disciplined analogue chain.
Founded in 2010 by Fabio Camorani, AudioNautes has built its reputation by searching for original reference sources and revisiting exceptional—sometimes overlooked or forgotten—recordings from classical music, jazz, sacred repertoire and popular song. The label’s philosophy is straightforward but demanding: respect the original performance, select the most authoritative available source and avoid unnecessary manipulation.
The 15th Anniversary Limited Edition turns that philosophy into a remarkably varied listening experience.
THE PROGRAMME
The collection travels from the famous intimacy of Jazz at the Pawnshop to the scale of Jean Guillou’s organ, from Harry Belafonte’s humanity at Carnegie Hall to the celestial choral sound of Cantate Domino.
1. “Limehouse Blues” — Jazz at the Pawnshop
2. “Prologue” — Jazz at the Pawnshop
3. Debussy: “Syrinx” — Solflöjt
4. Bizet/Farberman: “Carmen Suite — Tanz” — Farberman–Kroumata
5. Bach: “Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565” — Jean Guillou
6. “Almighty God” — Antiphone Blues
7. “Trotto” — Early Music at Wik
8. “Merci Bon Dieu” — Belafonte at Carnegie Hall
9. “Spagna Contrapunto” — La Spagna
10. “Primus ex apostolis” — Ultreia!
11. “Cantate Domino” — Cantate Domino
12. Vivaldi: “Inverno — Allegro” — Le Quattro Stagioni
13. “When He Comes” — Now the Green Blade Riseth
14. “Laudate Dominum” — Laudate II
15. “Bocina — Duet No. 1” — Mediterranean Feeling
Few compilations move so naturally between jazz ensemble, solo flute, percussion, pipe organ, gospel-inflected improvisation, early music, orchestra and choir. That diversity makes this release especially revealing: every selection presents a different challenge to both the recording and the playback system.
THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE
“Limehouse Blues” immediately evokes the celebrated atmosphere of Stockholm’s Stampen jazz club. The attraction is not merely instrumental detail; it is the sensation of a living room around the musicians—the audience, the air and the spontaneous energy of the performance.
Debussy’s “Syrinx” changes the scale completely. A lone flute demands tonal purity, natural breath and an unbroken sense of musical line. It exposes artificial brightness immediately, but through a sympathetic analogue presentation the instrument can appear delicate, human and physically present.
The Carmen Suite and Vivaldi selections test speed, transient attack and rhythmic control. Jean Guillou’s Bach brings an altogether different challenge: the deep foundation, immense harmonic structure and architectural scale of a pipe organ.
Then comes the spiritual and choral heart of the programme. Antiphone Blues, Cantate Domino, Now the Green Blade Riseth and Laudate II demonstrate why the finest Swedish recordings remain so highly regarded. Voices emerge as individuals within a believable ensemble, while the surrounding church acoustic expands naturally behind them.
Harry Belafonte’s “Merci Bon Dieu” provides another kind of presence. The performance is direct, warm and emotionally immediate—an important reminder that fidelity is not only about frequency extension or spectacular dynamics. Its highest purpose is to preserve human communication.
A REFERENCE REEL - BUT ALSO REAL MUSIC
The anniversary edition is catalogued as AN-RTR-2408 and presented as a ¼-inch, two-track stereo tape at 15 ips, on a 10.5-inch NAB reel with CCIR equalisation. Retail information lists a single reel of RTM LPR90 tape and real-time 1:1 duplication using an Otari MTR-15. OpenReelToReel
These specifications matter, but they are not the entire story.
The best demonstration recordings sometimes impress for a few minutes and then remain on the shelf. This collection has a broader purpose. Its fifteen selections form an unusually rich tour through different musical cultures, recording venues and acoustic perspectives. It can reveal the resolution and dynamic capability of a serious system, but it also rewards attentive listening as music.
That balance is its greatest strength.
WHAT LISTENERS SAY ABOUT THE AUDIONAUTES APPROACH
Independent discussion of AudioNautes’ reel-tape edition of Jazz at the Pawnshop has praised its exceptionally elaborate presentation, including technical documentation, authenticity certification and individually identified metal reels. One owner described its packaging as the finest among his commercial tape collection.
A comparative review of another AudioNautes edition of Jazz at the Pawnshop characterised its presentation as open, dynamic and less compressed than the conventional CD comparison - useful context for understanding the label’s broader mastering priorities.
Public reviews specifically addressing the anniversary reel remain scarce - the official AudioNautes product page currently lists no submitted reviews - so extravagant claims should be treated cautiously. What can be evaluated is the remarkable source catalogue, the format specification and the label’s established commitment to original recordings.
THE VERDICT
⭐ MUSIC: 5/5
⭐ PROGRAMME VARIETY: 5/5
⭐ COLLECTOR APPEAL: 5/5
⭐ ANALOGUE PRESENTATION: Reference-level ambition
AudioNautes Recordings — 15th Anniversary Limited Edition is both a celebration and a statement of purpose.
It honours recordings capable of transporting us into jazz clubs, churches and concert halls. It shows how dramatically repertoire, venue and engineering can alter the character of reproduced sound. Above all, it reminds us that great analogue playback is not valuable because it is nostalgic - it is valuable because, when everything aligns, the machinery seems to disappear and the performance remains.
This is a collector’s anthology, a system-evaluation reel and a deeply enjoyable programme in one beautifully conceived edition.
💬 JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Which selection would you play first?
Would it be the atmosphere of Jazz at the Pawnshop, the immense organ sound of Bach, Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, Vivaldi’s winter storm—or the transcendent choir of Cantate Domino?
And if you could choose one AudioNautes album to hear directly from the master-tape source, which would it be?
Discover the release: The Sound of Tape
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The Sound of Tape
