BRAHMS Symphony No. 2, Academic Festival Overture BARBIROLLI

Sir John Barbirolli (Conductor) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

The golden sound of the Vienna Philharmonic echoing through the Musikverein.
The true brilliance of Barbirolli’s most beautiful Brahms performance on vinyl was never before seen!

ESOTERIC’s unique analog record software
ESOTERIC’s analog LP sound, which was highly acclaimed in the analog era, has been realized by ESOTERIC in a meticulously crafted analog version.
ESOTERIC’s analog reproduction of the LP sound, which was highly acclaimed in the analog era, has been realized by ESOTERIC’s meticulous analog reproduction.

The LP recordings of the most emotionally rich performance of Barbirolli’s late Brahms No. 2, of which there are many masterpieces, are now available!
This album contains the Symphony No. 2 and the Overture to the University Celebration, which were performed with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to bring out the best of their beauty.
The opening of the symphony is a beautiful interplay between low strings, horns, and woodwind, and the cello is drenched with emotion as it introduces the second theme,
The first movement alone is full of attractions, such as the magnificent three-dimensionality of the development section, and the echoes of the setting sun in the coda.

A masterful recording that beautifully depicts the richness of the music that resonates in the Musikverein.
The famous Musikvereinsaal in Vienna is known as a difficult hall for session recordings without an audience because of its many echoes.
However, Barbirolli’s Brahms is recorded with EMI’s typical concert presence balance,
The Brahms Barbirolli recording, however, captures the full richness of the music that resonates through the hall with EMI’s typical concert presence balance.
The lustrous string parts, charming woodwinds, full-bodied Vienna horns, and brass are beautifully blended and reproduced without losing clarity.
The way in which the lush string parts, charming woodwinds, rich Vienna horns, and brass are reproduced without losing clarity is the result of the exquisite mixing skills of the engineer (Ernst Lohse) .

Newly remastered for analog records
The original master was newly mastered exclusively for analog records using Esoteric Mastering.
The Master Sound Discrete DAC and Master Sound Discrete Clock were carefully tuned by ESOTERIC’s top-class equipment,
MEXCEL cables were used sparingly, and the master was created with the aim of achieving the highest sound quality possible.
Analog cutting was performed by Mixer’s Lab, a famous machine from the heyday of analog,
The VMS80 cutting race manufactured by Neumann was used for analog cutting.
This machine was manufactured in West Germany, and currently only two units are in operation in Japan.
With the cooperation of Mixer’s Lab, we brought the Esoteric Mastering equipment into the cutting room,
The output is directly connected to a Neumann SP79C cutting console.
The output is directly connected to a Neumann SP79C cutting console. The Esoteric Mastering sound is sent directly to the cutting process without using the console’s equalizer.
Cutting is performed by Mr. Katsutoshi Kitamura, a cutting engineer at Mixer’s Lab.
He put his mastering skills into the mastering process.
Nowadays, master discs are only cut for record pressings, and it is rare for a lacquer disc to be cut just for audition purposes,
However, ESOTERIC created multiple lacquer discs with different transmission methods to the console in order to pursue sound quality.
The lacquer discs were then brought back to the ESOTERIC Mastering Center,
The optimal transmission method was determined after listening and sound quality confirmation with ESOTERIC’s Grandioso T1 analog turntable.
The information contained in the original masters was successfully transferred to analog vinyl records with a smooth sound.
We have succeeded in creating an analog record with the information from the original masters in a sound that is rich and full of extension.

Performer: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Sir John Barbirolli

[Original recordings]
[Recording] December 7-9, 1966 (Symphony No. 2), December 6-8, 1967 (Overture to the University Celebration),
Musikverein Main Hall, Vienna

[Analog recordings]
[Remastering] December 2025, Esoteric Mastering Center, “Esoteric Mastering” system
[Producer] Motoaki Omachi, Esoteric Mastering Center
[Associate Producer] Minoru Yoshida (Esoteric Mastering Center)
[Remastering Engineer] Shinya Higashino (ESOTERIC Mastering Center)
[Cutting Engineer] Katsutoshi Kitamura (Mixer’s Lab Inc.)
[Commentary] Kozo Asazato
[Planning and Sales] TEAC Corporation
[Planning and Cooperation] Tokyo Denka Co.

Recording Information
Johannes Brahms:
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

Side 1
1st movement: Allegro non troppo
Second movement: Adagio non troppo – L’istesso tempo, ma grazioso

Side 2
3rd movement: Allegretto grazioso (Quasi andantino) – Presto ma non assai – TempoI
Fourth movement: Allegro con spirito
Overture to the University Celebration Op. 80