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These two files were made in 1926 and 2005: "before" and "after" recordings by legendary pianist Alfred Cortot. He's playing Chopin's third prelude, lasting 55 seconds. The recordings offer a glimpse into what is possible when a performance can be separated from its original acoustical setting.


Alfred Cortot's original mono 78 rpm recording for HMV in 1926, playing Chopin's prelude #3 in G major. Posted with permission of Music & Arts Programs of America, Inc. CORTOT PLAYS CHOPIN: THE RARE 1925-1929 RECORDINGS, CD-4871(1).
Download the "before" recording

 

Zenph® Studios’ re-performance® of Alfred Cortot playing Chopin's prelude #3 in G major. Recorded in stereo by Peter McGrath in April 2005.
Download the "after" recording

We deliberately made our "after" recording acoustically different from the 1926 monaural original, so it would be clear that they were not remasterings. We used a superbly voiced nine-foot concert grand piano, set in a small, resonant recital hall. We invited Peter McGrath, a renowned recording engineer, to make new six-channel high-resolution DSD recordings, although you're only hearing two stereo channels here. He intentionally set his microphones well back from the piano, so you hear a lot of room ambience. The sound has been neither equalized nor filtered. However, to speed download times, we have reduced them to 320 kbps MP3 files.

There are many variables affecting a listener's sense of touch and sound color: different instrument, different acoustics, different tuning, different recording equipment, different microphone placement, different playback equipment, and so on. Because this is a multi-dimensional set of issues, we consider them from various viewpoints, and this is also why our work naturally involves different specialists - computer scientists, musicians, piano technicians, and recording engineers.

This is just a sample of what is possible, and isn't the final word on how these re-performances might sound. Delightfully, our new high-resolution MIDI file can be re-performed identically by a comparably-outfitted piano, and can be re-recorded in a myriad of venues.

Click here for a comprehensive article about the process used to create these re-performances.

Celebrated concert pianist Ruth Slenczynska studied with Alfred Cortot in the 1930s. Upon hearing our new recording in August 2005 she wrote, “I’ve listened to your CD and certainly recognized his touch on the rendition of Opus 28 No. 3. French pianos 70+ years ago weren’t great and Mr. Cortot’s fingers were perhaps ‘creaky,’ but that was his sound and I loved it!”


Original Performance, New Recording!

 

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