I've been following this excellent Beethoven Cycle which features gut strings, period brass and modern woodwind - truly a hybrid orchestra (Kammerorchester Basel). Antonini's dynamic interpretations, from the New Beethoven Edition scores, are very similar to Järvi's except that Antonini is more inclined to vary the basic tempi somewhat - and he gets a truly Italianate sound from his strings.
The cycle has had a bumpy road in terms of recording. Coming in order of composition, the first disc (Symphonies 1 & 2) was issued by OEHMS as a hybrid SACD; then Sony (Germany) took over the project and released Symphonies 3 & 4 in a 2 disc hybrid SACD package. Sony have now released Symphonies 5 & 6 in Germany on 5th Mar 2010 (5th April in UK) but sadly only as RBCD. In view of the previous hybrid releases, it seems unlikely that Sony will do a double-inventory and issue an SACD. I have had no response from Sony or from the staff of Kammerorchester Basel to my query if a high-resolution recording was made (the Kammerorchester website refers to the new recording being 'the highest technology available').
The cycle is so fine that I plan to follow it in RBCD if that is necessary. However, I'd be interested if anyone has any further information about Sony's plans for this excellent project.
Regards, John
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