Gustav Mahler’s 5th Symphony left the composer in despair after its premiere in Hamburg in 1905. “The fifth is a cursed work. Nobody understands it,” he wrote in his diary. Today it is one of his most popular and best-known symphonies, which is certainly due to the extensive use of the Adagietto in Visconti’s film “Death in Venice”. Herbert von Karajan’s recording with the Berlin Philharmonic dates from 1973/1974.
UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but rather cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to protect the softer photopolymer from scratching. The combination results in a significantly reduced reflection of the laser light inside the CD and an unequaled precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with normal CD players. Musically, the result is a sound that is strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.
