Regarding the repertoire, David and Wu Han stated:
"The selection of sonatas for this recording allows us a unique opportunity: to present in a single release works of greater variety than in any of our previous ArtistLed releases. Each piece represents a special, long-held passion of ours for the music of its composer and for the musical era in which it was created, and we were both thrilled and challenged to fold into one project the four distinct interpretational approaches that the works demand."
The album was recorded and produced at David Finckel and Wu Han's new studios in Ardsley, New York. Wu Han's Hamburg Steinway D, "Lorelei", used in ArtistLed recordings since the Russian Classics release, now resides in the studio. The cello is a copy of the "Duport" Stradivari by Brooklyn maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz (1993).
A select number of CD's will include a flash drive as well as the standard disc and liner notes, inaugurating the label's latest innovation:
ArtistLed PLUS
. The flash drives, enclosed within the standard CD jewel case, offer increased convenience, value, and content:
- The drive may be plugged into any USB port, such as in audio systems and cars without CD players.
- The drive contains upgraded audio files in multiple formats, including MP3 and WAV files.
- Also included: AudioNotes - the liner notes in audio format; an ArtistLed catalog sampler featuring excerpts from other releases; unpublished photos of the artists and their colleagues on tour around the world; and the complete liner notes in PDF format.
David Finckel and
Wu Han comment:
"The inspiration for ArtistLed PLUS came to us from multiple sources. First, through working regularly with ArtistLed engineer
Da-Hong Seetoo on multiple recording projects, we are in touch with the all the current cutting-edge sound processing software capabilities. Recently, Da-Hong remastered the entire ArtistLed catalog for digital online release, and we are tremendously excited to be able to offer, through ArtistLed PLUS flash drives, these phenomenally upgraded audio files.
In addition, the increasing scarcity of CD players concerned us, especially since our own new car (a Tesla Model X), does not have a CD player. We have been playing all our music in this car via flash drive, and we thought, why not make it just as convenient for all of our ArtistLed customers? It's incredibly important to us, in this day and age when people enjoy music on multiple devices, that we are able to deliver the very highest resolution audio files to our audience, which simply sound phenomenal, no matter how or where they are 'heard.' "
Included in the CD booklet is the following message from the artists:
"With endless gratitude, we dedicate this ArtistLed 20th anniversary release to producer and engineer Da-Hong Seetoo, whose musicianship, ingenuity, energy, loyalty, and pursuit of ever-increasing excellence have inspired us, and enabled ArtistLed to produce the recordings of our dreams."
