There's nothing better than a bit of great surprising news to jump-start the beginning of a new year. And this certainly qualifies as great and exciting news, especially for all the collectors and audiophiles out there.

The highly distinguished and influential German label MDG (Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm) has embarked on an ambitious project in collaboration with the Japanese label Denon, also known as Nippon Columbia, to once again make available as part of a joint edition, top-quality recordings from the extensive Denon catalogue along with new productions, on a world-wide distribution basis (except for Asia). For many years now Denon recordings have only been available in Asia or as Japanese imports. This partnership will once again open the floodgates and allow for easy access to these excellent recordings. Well established musicians, like Grimaud, Rampal, Schiff, Perlemuter, etc ... along with outstanding conductors launched their careers with Denon.

Best news of all is that the first recording chosen for rerelease is the outstanding accounts by the Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt of two of Anton Bruckner's best symphonies, the Symphony No. 4 in E flat major "Romantic" (Nowak Version) and the Symphony No. 7 in E major (Haas Version). The recordings date back to 1981 and 1980 respectively, at a time when good recording engineers did not fuss with extraneous equipment or multi-microphone setups, but rather focused on reproducing an accurate soundstage. In these recordings you can hear the depth and width of the orchestra and actually feel the position of key instruments. The booklet notes state that Denon were responsible for establishing "one-point recording" in order to convey the natural depth gradation of the instruments in stereo reproduction. As soon as you hear the opening bars of the Fourth symphony, with the single horn uttering the iconic Bruckner four-note motif, you know you're in for sonic splendour. The orchestral sound as a whole is impressive and the members of the brass section in particular are in a class all their own. Herbert von Karajan once described the sound of this orchestra as the "brilliant glow of old gold." The reviews at the time were full of praise with one comment in particular defining the Seventh as "a blend of eloquence and electricity."

I for one can't wait to re-experience the Denon cycle of the Gustav Mahler symphonies with conductor Eliahu Inbal leading the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. If you missed these the first time around, or any Denon recording for that matter, now is your proverbial second chance.