NAGRA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TAPE

 NAGRA 75TH ANNIVERSARY

COLLECTION TAPE

A Celebration of Music

 Recording and Analogue Craft

NAGRA AUDIO and 2xHD Fusion’s anniversary collection brings together jazz legends, cinematic themes and acoustic performances in a two-tape programme celebrating 75 years of audio heritage.

The supplied tape artwork reveals 15 selections, divided between “Tape 1 — Red” and “Tape 2 — Silver,” with the statement “From original masters (AAA).”

Bill Evans opens the collection with “These Foolish Things,” followed by Sonny Rollins’ “Blue Room” and Emilie-Claire Barlow’s “La belle dame sans regrets.” The programme then moves into Miles Davis and Quincy Jones’ historic Montreux collaboration, with an introduction and performances of “Boplicity” and “Maids of Cadiz.”

The second tape expands the musical landscape. John Williams’ “Raiders March” and “Hedwig’s Theme,” performed by the FILMharmonique Orchestra under Francis Choinière, bring orchestral scale to a collection that also embraces voice, harp, cello, double bass and percussion.

Among its intriguing selections are Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan,” Piazzolla’s “Oblivion,” and an extract from Scott Haggart’s “Untitled.” These offer listeners an opportunity to explore unfamiliar music alongside celebrated favourites.

For recording enthusiasts, the sleeve’s engineering notes are part of the appeal. They describe several Nagra machines and microphone arrangements, including orchestral recordings made with two battery-powered Neumann M50 tube microphones. Such details invite us to consider how microphone placement, the recording space and the chosen equipment shape our experience of a performance.

René Laflamme is credited with editing and mastering at the 2xHD mastering lab using Nagra equipment, with production credited to René Laflamme and Matthieu Latour.

As an anniversary programme, its appeal lies in that connection between musical history and recording craft. The promise is compelling; a listening assessment will reveal how successfully these varied recordings work together.

Which selection would you thread up first?

Would you choose the intimacy of Bill Evans, the energy of Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, or the orchestral sweep of John Williams?

And when you listen to a reference tape, what draws you in most — instrumental tone, dynamics, the sense of space, or the emotion of the performance?

Share your favourite track and the tape machine you would play it on.

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