Classical Vinyl Records

Anyone believing in the old adage that science and the fine arts do not mix must rethink his ideas when he becomes acquainted with Alexandr Borodin’s biography and his music. The Russian professor of chemistry constantly stole time from his lectures in order to compose; it was musical elements and formulas rather than chemical ones that occupied him.

Without a doubt, the Second Symphony in B minor best reflects Russian feeling and temperament. Its rather harsh and mechanical theme is contrasted first by a lively little song and later by a conciliatory second subject. Cheerful and soothing melodies are heard in ever new combinations until the main theme returns once again and the movement is brought to a powerful close. The Scherzo, with its throbbing horns, march rhythms and thrilling woodwinds, is equally electrifying. The contemplative Andante is followed by a highly explosive Finale based on two Russian dance melodies which are widely varied during the course of the music.

Both old and new friends of Russian symphonic music are highly recommended to experiment in their own “sitting-room laboratories” with this musically and chemically pure vinyl pressing.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

Recording: October / November 1954 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Rapsodie Espagnole
Pavan for a Dead Princess

Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Isle of the Dead, Op. 29

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a.

As in numerous other works by Spanish composers, Isaac Albéniz’s aim in his Iberia Suite was to portray the landscape and express the zest for life which is so abundant in southern countries. Infused with folkmusic elements, the suite is introduced by the dancelike Evocación which vividly evokes a picture of Iberia. The lush, extravagant harmonies and the stark contrasts of the dynamics in particular – from the softest pianissimo to the extreme fortissimo – certainly whet one’s appetite. Don’t worry – Spain has a lot to offer! The next movement, El Corpus en Sevilla transports us to Andalusia where a solemn procession is taking place to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. This is followed by a sparkling Triana in which the various complex and brilliant rhythms of the national dances Almería, Rondeña and Fandango are ingeniously combined. And the two movements El puerto and El Albaicín are no less exciting: the first presents a rich potpourri of types of Spanish songs, while the second – held in the minor key – conjures up a picture of Granada’s gypsy quarter.

Turina’s Danzas fantásticas are noted for their sumptuous orchestration and marked rhythms. A better choice to round off this first-class recording, dedicated to Spanish tradition, is almost impossible to imagine.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

Recording: Mai 1960 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Today it is difficult to understand that despite the tremendous Bach renaissance that took place in the 19th century many compositions by the Cantor of St. Thomas’s Church in Leipzig had been underrated. The Cello Suites, for example, have been regarded for almost 300 years as purely a set of tricky etudes that every virtuoso in the making simply must tackle. What recording engineers and their equipment can bring to the ears is quite astounding. So it was back in the Thirties with Pablo Casal’s legendary recording against which every cellist is measured today and to whose perfection he aspires.

Janos Starker’s recording of the Suites from 1965 makes a lasting impression on the listener, even when compared with other recordings from the digital era, and even record producers who are well used to recorded excellence have been highly impressed. For Charlotte Gilbert of the Mercury record label, these recording sessions were one of five truly great events in all her 20 years of recording experience.

Without a doubt, Starker allows his instrument to resound freely but without forcing the tone. Starker’s full-bodied sound and technical brilliance are complemented by his finely chiselled interpretation that lends immense expression to Bach’s thrilling harmony and verve to the strict rhythmic construction of the movements. Just listen to his organ-like double-stopped passages, the eloquent dialogues, and the pure excitement created by his highly individual treatment of tempo. Then you will surely agree with the often-quoted paradox that Bach’s Cello Suites are ‘polyphony for a solo instrument’.

Musicians:

• Janos Starker (cello)

Recording: April 1963, September and December 1965 at ballroom Studio A at Fine Recording Studios, New York, by C. Robert Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Wilma Cozart

Format: 3LPs 33rpm / Box, booklet

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Bartok composed his Dance Suite as the result of a commission from the city fathers of Budapest to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the union of the two towns Pest and Buda. While on his travels, Bartok liked to collect old folksongs, and he used this opportunity to express the act of fraternity in his music in the manner of a hidden program. As he himself stated, he made use of Arabian, Hungarian and Romanian influences in the Suite, whose dances are linked together by means of ritornello-like interludes. Glossiness in order to achieve romantic tonal magnificence is uncalled for here. Dorati's conducting is oriented towards the archaic strength, and the dry and at times rustic nature of the Suite. He allows the orchestra to seethe, whistle and stamp, driven on by ever-changing rhythms which lend the work its impulsive urge.

Together with the highly expressive Portraits, Op. 5 and the two excerpts from Mikrokosmos, originally composed for the piano and heard here in an arrangement for orchestra by Tibor Serly, this compilation offers an excellent insight into Bartok's musical thoughts and works.

Recording: June 1958 at Grosser Saal of Vienna Konzerthaus by C.Robert Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The performance history of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos is, it appears, bound up with a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, every great pianist must almost feel destined to perform these works at least once in his lifetime. But on the other hand, so many heroes of the schellac era have left future generations their excellent recordings that these are filled with awe and respect, their otherwise nimble fingers become lame – and often only a mediocre recording is the result.

The present recording, a milestone among the multitude of televised recordings made in they heyday of analogue recording technique, is highly impressive for its depth of musical focus, even without any visual support. Benedetti Michelangeli’s performance is a far cry from sugar-sweet pedaling and showy virtuosity, rather he displays a highly individual understanding of the intricately constructed musical material. Each phrase blossoms out to become a unique event in time composed. The soloist and the excellent orchestra here give a performance which sums up all Beethoven’s famous compositions and in which the pianist’s amazing sensitivity penetrates even the smallest detail.

Musicians:

• Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)
• The Vienna Symphonic Orchestra
• Carlo Maria Giulini (conductor)

Recording: September 1979 at Musikverein, Grosser Saal, Vienna by Klaus Hiemann
Production: Cord Garben

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The Concerto No. 5 in E flat major for Piano and Orchestra, composed in 1809 at the time of Napoleon’s siege and occupation of Vienna, was Ludwig van Beethoven’s last work in this form. The heroic optimism at the heart of the Concerto finds expression in the majesty of its design and the innovative virtuosity of the solo part. The dialect between piano and orchestra creates an electric atmosphere of brooding depth and sweeping grandeur. Beethoven’s choice of key, the E-flat major, was not arbitrary but gave voice rather to the wild pathos in his own soul.

Clifford Curzon’s interpretation of the score is intelligent and refined, his execution characterized by introspective discipline.

The exemplary interplay between Curzon and Hans Knappertsbusch evokes the chiaroscuro latent in each of the Emperor’s three movements. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra displays its customary brilliance throughout.

This DECCA recording, one of the very earliest in stereo, is convincing both musically and tonally. More than a document, it is a milestone in musical history.

Musicians:

• Sir Clifford Curzon
• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Hans Knappertsbusch (conductor)

Recording: June 1957, Sofiensaal, Vienna by Gordon Parry
Production: Erik Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

It was clear from the start that Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with its air of solemnity in the final chorus, which calls for brotherly love just as the New Year comes in, would become a musical part of our world’s cultural legacy. Hundreds of minds, Beethoven researcher Karl Nef prophesied, have been set in motion by this music in the most varied ways, and it will continue not only to bestow pleasure upon countless thousands, but also to stimulate mental life right at the most fundamental level.

There are certainly only a very few truly cerebral interpretations which stand out from the fathomless mass of recordings. One of those upon which “The Absolute Sound” journal has stamped its coveted seal of approval is the recording with Georg Solti and his perfectly honed symphony musicians from Chicago. Here, this usually somewhat daring baton-wielder plumbs the very depths of the score and allows Beethoven’s rich abundance of ideas to ferment into a great whole.

The four soloists prove their worth as first choice for the richly detailed and balanced synopsis of this fissured work. They captivate us as much in the solo as in the group singing with their natural and expressive intonation. The dry, very present sound highlights the fact that this is an artistic performance at the highest level.

Musicians:

• Pilar Lorengar, Stuart Burrows, and other soloists
• The Chicago Symphony Chorus & Orchestra
• Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

Recording: May 1972 in the Krannert Centre of the University of Illinois, Chicago, by Kenneth Wilkinson and Gordon Parry
Production: David Harvey

Format: 2LPs 33rpm / gatefold sleeve

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Some violinists enrapture their audience with their purity of tone, others with their warm timbre, or their amazing technical virtuosity. Pablo de Sarasate y Navascuéz was one of the very few violinists who combined all these merits, and in addition was a composer in his own right. The most famous of his 50 works are Zigeunerweisen, based on traditional gypsy folklore and the fiendishly difficult Carmen Fantasy.

And what better proof is there than Saint-Saëns’s Rondo capriccioso that it is perfectly possible to unite high-spirited joyfulness with a minor key. As the name suggests, his Havanaise is filled with the melodies and colourful rhythms of Spain: no wonder this piece is known as “the violinists' warhorse”.

It goes without saying that these 19th-century bravura pieces are an absolute “must” for all those who wish to join the annals of great virtuoso violinists. And today, 40 years after the making of this recording, general consensus has it that Ruggiero Ricci has taken his rightful place among the great virtuosos.

Musicians:

• Ruggiero Ricci (violin)
• London Symphony Orchestra
• Pierino Gamba (conductor)

Recording: September 1959 at Kingsway Hall, London by Alan Reeve
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Unlike his fellow countryman Tchaikovsky, it wasn’t easy for Alexander Borodin to achieve the recognition due to him. As a professor of chemistry, Borodin found very little time for composing, but in spite of this he is considered one of the most important Russian symphonic composers of the 19th century. Borodin also created works for small ensembles; thanks to its beautiful, slow notturno, his String Quartet No. 2 is among the most important compositions in chamber music.

Dmitri Shostakovich has often been honoured as one of the outstanding composers of this century. Shostakovich was devastated by the destruction of Dresden and the composition of the moving String Quartet No. 8 was his means of overcoming his war experiences. The intensity of this piece is augmented by the relaxed climax in the largo which brings his composition to a serene ending. The international career of the Moscow Philharmonic Quartet began in 1955 when it took on the honourable title “The Borodin Quartet”. These 1962 recordings are masterly performances, full of great expressivity. Even the highest demands are met by the warm and full sonority.

Recording: September 1962 at DECCA Studios, London by J. Clegg
Production: E. Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Fritz Reiner dedicated himself to the interpretation of works by modern composers such as Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss and Béla Bartók, and it suited him well to tackle works such as Brahms’s Hungarian Dances and Dvorák’s Slavonic Dances. These lively compositions require a conductor whose interaction with the orchestra is vivacious and animated. Reiner always demanded utmost concentration and perfection from his ensemble. Under his baton, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra plays with enthusiasm and without restaint; no trace of a sterile concert atmosphere is found in this recording.

Reiner’s penchant for effects is not irritating, but rather adds highlights which support his highly musical interpretation, indeed one even forgets this trait when listening to the brilliant music.

From a tonal point of view, the sound is beautifully balanced and reaches the highest standards despite its recording date of 1960 – or maybe just for that reason? The recording is characterized by its brilliance, warmth and vivacity with the result that listening becomes a true musical pleasure.

Musicians:

• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Fritz Reiner (conductor)

Recording: June 1960 at Sofiensaal, Vienna by James Brown
Production: Erik Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Brahms originally intended his Piano Concerto No. 1 as a symphony and he extensively reworked his ideas before setting down the work in the form as we know it today. The composer’s original intentions still shimmer through however, for the work goes far beyond mere concertante playing and a display of virtuoso brilliance by the soloist. The first movement in particular, with its relentless, threatening main theme, embodies Brahms’s dramatic symphonic writing and even a conciliatory secondary theme offers no relief for it too must give way to the heavy, fateful initial theme.

The passionate and grandiose opening movement is followed by an Adagio full of tranquillity and quiet devotion; the solemn atmosphere is taken to exalted heights by the soloist and orchestra only to fade out pianissimo. Although the forceful, belligerent Finale occasionally conjures up the dark powers of the first movement, the work ends in a confident and cheerful vein. It is amazing how the sheer presence of the emotions in this composition have been captured on the present DECCA recording from 1962. This is not only true of the gripping interpretation but also of the recording itself which remains transparent and brilliant throughout.

Musicians:

• Sir Clifford Curzon (piano)
• London Symphony Orchestra
• George Szell (conductor)

Recording: May/ June 1962 at Kingsway Hall, London by Kenneth E. Wilkinson
Production: John Culshaw

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The original pressing just doesn't hold a candle to this re-issue! Lovingly re-mastered from the original Mercury Living Presence analog tapes, Speakers Corner has done an astounding job on this album. Hear Starkers bold and natural cello and Seboks piano reproduced with perfect clarity and tonality. The performances are exceptional; lively and heartfelt. The sound quality is purely first rate. Outstanding music, impeccably performed, and the sound quality is the best youll hear! It just doesnt get better than this!

Brahms' Cello and Piano Sonatas could well be described as 'romantic expression dressed in classical garb,' filled as they are with the same musical philosophy that is to be found in many of his instrumental works. Although 21 years lay between the two compositions, Brahms remained true to the formal musical language of the Viennese masters, and this brought him and other composers of his time the reproach of imitating Beethoven.

The unmistakable personal style of Brahms is reflected in the sweeping first movement which is in the manner of a serious song and calls for sensitive but by no means feeble bowing. Starker's wiry, austere playing keeps a check on any excessive emotion and instead brings the music to life in great detail.

Musicians:

• Janos Starker (cello)
• Gyorgy Sebok (piano)

Recording: June 1964 at Watford Town Hall, London, by C.R.Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Harold Lawrence

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

5. Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 in F major, op. 99
6. Allegro Vivace
7. Adagio Affetuoso
8. Allegro Passionato
9. Allegro Molto

In the 18th and 19th century, a great many chamber-music works for winds were composed with a specific occasion in mind. Brahmss Horn Trio, however, is an exception in that it was not especially written for a contemporary virtuoso. It is known, though, that Brahms himself played this difficult instrument fairly well, that he valued the beauty of its tone, and that he was inspired to compose the work recorded here by an inner urge.

In his performance, John Barrows concentrates upon bringing out the compositional layout of the work, which largely dispenses with a display of virtuosi fireworks. The sonorous tonal character of the horn and its range of expression from lyrical to mournful are shown off to great effect. In the rapid Finale, however, Barrows pays tribute to the various playing techniques offered by this aristocratic instrument. With blaring staccatos and organ-like bass notes, he goads his fellow musicians to join him in a musical hunt, as it were, and they take up his challenge with thrilling effect.

Musicians:

• Joseph Szigeti (violin)
• Mieczyslaw Horszowski (piano)
• John Barrows (horn)

Recording: March 1959 at the Ballroom of Great Northern Hotel, New York City, by C.R. Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

When one considers that Erica Morini’s 60-year career on the concert platform brought her together with such orchestras as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic and took her as far as New York’s Carnegie Hall, the number of recordings she left us is very small indeed. In order to obtain an idea of this violinist’s great talent, which she developed to perfection as one of the very first women to attend the Vienna Conservatory, it has generally been necessary to delve into the shellac record archive. And of course, such records crackle and hiss, thus ruining the listener’s pleasure. But now here is the remedy: a stereo recording of Brahms’s Violin Concerto which the 61-year-old Erica Morini recorded for the Westminster label. Her clean and highly differentiated timbre, her lyrical expression, technical perfection, and of course her very own thrilling esprit is marvellous to hear.

No matter whether the absolute Brahms fan tucks this LP under his pillow at night, or the collector stows it away in his cupboard, or even better lets it spin around on the turntable, this LP remains invaluable for its documentary and artistic value.

Musicians:

• Erica Morini
• Philharmonic Orchestra of London
• Artur Rodzinski (conductor)

Recording: September 1956 at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, by Herbert Zeithammer
Production: Dr. Kurt List

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasia is a late-Romantic work which is seldom found on concert hall programmes today. One realises after listening to the piece for the first time that the composition proves to be at least as solid and artistic as all the other works of the composer.

The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jascha Horenstein gives a sonorous interpretation of the melancholic which, according to Bruch, depicted an aged minstrel who, while gazing upon the ruins of an ancient keep, ponders over the splendid days gone by. The well-known slender but warm timbre of David Oistrakh’s violin is well suited to this music which was inspired by Scotland. David Oistrakh demonstrates his versatility in this performance of Hindemith’s Violin Concerto, written in 1939, where he effortlessly mesmerises the audience with breakneck cascades of scales. With many years of experience in the performance of modern music, the London Symphony Orchestra, led by the composer himself, prove that they are a match for this work.

This DECCA recording offers first class interpretations of two great masterpieces from differing eras that have been acclaimed widely and have reached far beyond the circle of Oistrakh fans.

Musicians:

• David Oistrakh (violin(/li>
• London Symphony Orchestra
• Jascha Horenstein and Paul Hindemith (conductor)

Recording:October 1962 at the Walthamstow Town Hall, London by Arthur Lilley and Alan Reeve
Production: Erik Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The debut recording by the Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich took the public by the storm all over the world – and the applause has still not subsided! A mere glance at the repertoire shows that she was reaching for the stars. To bring five composers together on an LP of roughly 45 minutes length means nothing other than speaking five different musical languages – and Martha Argerich proves herself a master of them all! The demonic opening of the Scherzo in C sharp minor gives way to an iridiscent dialogue which sings and sparkles beyond compare. The Barcarolle rocks gently along; Prokofiev’s Toccata is filled with dynamic force and nervous agitation; Ravel’s Jeux d’eau is pensive and introverted, with the water rippling in a circular motion. As a contrast, the two famous Brahms Rhapsodies are performed with passion, impetuosity and occasionally the required heaviness.

This recording is surely one of the brightest candles to burn anew on Deutsche Grammophon’s birthday cake.

This record was part of the 3-LP Set “The Conductors“ and is now available again.

Musicians:

• Martha Argerich (piano)

Recording: July 1960 at Beethoven-Saal, Hannover by Heinz Wildhagen
Production: Prof. Elsa Schiller

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The ballets "Appalachian Spring" (1944) and "Billy the Kid" (1938) are considered to be key works of their day. Both have folkloric traits, which brought Copland the reputation of having a penchant for borrowed melodies. In reality, the well-known tunes are very subtly treated and modified, and are incorporated into large-scale, defined forms. Now and again, melodic echoes of Mahler’s music or highly rhythmic exposed passages reminiscent of Stravinsky flash through. The ballet "Billy the Kid" is thoroughly American. Arranged in orchestral 'wide-screen sound', as it were, cowboy melodies glow with the very best Wild West tradition, and are bedded in a dramaturgy which is almost ripe for a film soundtrack. The signal to Hollywood is virtually unmistakable. That is America.

Recording: June 1961 by C.R. Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Wilma Cozart-Fine and Harold Lawrence

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

With his Nocturnes, Debussy's vision of music inspired by Nature enters a new sphere. His first multi-part orchestral work the composition was originally conceived for violin but was published as a vocal-symphonic work offers a wealth of subtleties as regards melody and sound coloring, the likes of which had never been heard before in Debussy's oeuvre. Unlike traditional orchestral writing, the woodwinds here provide vitality with a wide spectrum of tonal coloring while the strings unroll a dynamically finely graded carpet of sound. Absolutely innovative is the wordless female chorus in the third movement whose voices combine with the instruments to produce a mysterious tonal concoction.

Debussy's compatriot, Ravel, went to even greater lengths in his Daphnis and Chloe Suites. As the instrumental distribution leads one to suspect full orchestra plus 15 percussion instruments, chorus and wind machine the work is a full-fledged modern-age French choreographic symphony and one of the greatest compositions of its time. It is almost superfluous to mention that a thrilling performance of both works can only be achieved by the very best of symphony orchestras.

Recording: March 1961 at Cass Technical High School Auditorium, Detroit (MI), USA,
by Robert Eberenz / Production: Wilma Cozart-Fine

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Janos Starker tackles this cello concerto with amazing confidence; technical difficulties encountered by others in its performance appear unknown to him. Tonal purity, even in the dreaded upper register and the cadenzas, remains unscathed, so that one can concentrate wholly on the meditative magic of the music.

Starker has found worthy fellow musicians in Antal Dorati and the London Symphony Orchestra. The conductor and soloist set a benchmark in how to work together as a team in concert in that it is less the often-lamented emulation than the interpretation, which stands in the foreground in this performance. Rather, the two protagonists commit themselves to a chamber-music-like reading, which is distinguished by the dynamically moderate intonation of the orchestra and the slender tone of the soloist throughout. An ever-welcome encore is found on side two with Bruchs Kol Nidrei, performed with verve and a good portion of romantic, melting sweetness, which allows this evergreen to flourish.

Recording: July 1962 at Wembley Town Hall, London, by C.R. Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Wilma Cozart

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Dvorák’s long experience with classical forms finds its culmination in his final symphony, whose first performance took place in New York in 1893. The work still enjoys an unwaning popularity thanks to its finely contoured orchestration and its original themes, all of which are based on American folksongs and negro spirituals.

To capture Dvorák’s score in sound has always proved a challenge for both orchestra and recording team. This aim has been more than fulfilled in the present recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra led by István Kertész: the primeval power of the weighty brass, the glorious revelling of the strings, and the lyrical solo passages are all captured here. Musicianship of the highest degree combined with audio-technical perfection lend this recording, made in the early days of stereophony, the status of an historical sound document which, despite numerous other recordings, has no reason to fear competition.

Musicians:

• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Istvan Kertész (conductor)

Recording: March 1961 at Sofiensaal, Vienna by James Brown
Production: Ray Minshull

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The very fact that Manuel de Falla composed his ballet El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) for the ambitious impresario Serge Diaghilev and his epoch-making Ballets Russes indicates the historical importance of this work. Although the Impressionistic character of the musical language reflects his studies with Debussy, the composer never once renounces his native origins. Overflowing with the thrilling rhythms and electrifying melodies of Spanish folkmusic, this work achieved worldwide popularity virtually overnight.

As so often before in this genre, the Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet proves once again in this DECCA recording that he is a power to be reckoned with. The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande executes the slightest nuance, the most exquisite of figures and gentlest lyrical tone with meticulous precision. Powerful rolls of thunder, the click of castanets, lively rhythms and rich sonority conjure up a picture of fiery Spanish temperament so tangibly before our eyes that any comment on the recording quality appears almost superfluous. In a nutshell: this record is, quite simply, incredibly good.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

Recording: February 1960 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Wind instruments make a big noise, are heard in the open air or in beer tents, and usually play marches and folk music. That’s the general consensus of opinion, and it is one that must be decidedly contradicted! Anyone who has ever experienced listening to a good wind ensemble knows that the 'big blowers' can certainly match a symphony orchestra when it comes to refined dynamics and magnificent sound. This finding has prevailed in America ever since the beginning of the 20th century, and therefore it is not surprising that the best ensembles are still to be found there.

The Eastman Wind Ensemble is a model of a modern wind band and thanks to its flexible instrumental formation it has no problem with performing both older and more modern scores. Thus it is no wonder that four highly different composers are united in this album. Percy Grainger’s gripping arrangements of English folk melodies are happily found alongside Roger’s Japanese Dances and Milhaud’s wanderings through French provinces. And as an encore there are late-Romantic harmonies penned by the young Richard Strauss. Because all these works are original compositions, "Winds in HiFi" is an excellent introduction to music for wind instruments.

Recording: March 1958 at Eastman Theatre, Rochester, New York, by C.R. Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart and Harold Lawrence

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Composed in the spirit of the Baroque, the Water Music and Royal Fireworks Music were written by the highly regarded George Frideric Handel on commissions from Kings George I and George II of England.

The remarkable première of the Water Music – a suite of instrumental airs, fanfares, dances, and other delights – was played in 1717 by musicians in a barge who entertained the King and his entourage on a banquet held on board the royal barge which travelled up and down the river Thames. According to reports at the time, Handel’s new work was greeted with unanimous acclaim.

Music appeared equally fitting for the solemn but festive commemoration of a peace treaty. The Royal Fireworks Music – originally scored for brass, oboes and bassoons, plus timpani and the bizarre serpent horn – was composed in 1749 for the victory gala in London’s Green Park celebrating the Peace of Aix-La-Chapelle.

In both pieces Georg Szell and the London Symphony Orchestra conjure up the full splendour of baroque tonality. Orchestra and conductor are clearly in a festive mood. The strings show rare form, lush and radiant. The brass are brilliant but never shrill. The atmosphere is transparent, the spatial effects are impressive.

For the outstanding quality of this recording we are indebted not least to its inspired recording engineer, Kenneth E. Wilkinson.

Musicians:

• London Symphony Orchestra
• George Szell (conductor)

Recording: August 1961 at Watford Town Hall, Watford by Kenneth E. Wilkinson
Production: John Culshaw

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

This is not only a great LP but a key piece of jazz and pop music history. Back in 1958, "Peter Gunn" was one of the unexpected hits of the new television season, capturing the imagination of millions of viewers by mixing private eye action with a jazz setting. Composer Henry Mancini was more than fluent in jazz, and his music nailed down the popularity of the series. With the main title theme, a driving, ominous, exciting piece of music to lead off the album, "The Music from Peter Gunn" became a huge hit, charting extraordinarily high for a television soundtrack and doing so well that RCA Victor came back the next year asking for a second helping ("More Music From Peter Gunn") from Mancini.

The music holds up: "Session At Pete’s Pad" is a superb workout for the trumpets of Pete Candoli, Uan Rasey, Conrad Gozzo, and Frank Beach, while Barney Kessel’s electric guitar gets the spotlight during "Dreamsville"; and "Sorta Blue" and "Fallout" are full-ensemble pieces that constitute quintessential 'cool' West Coast jazz of the period. In other words, it’s all virtuoso orchestral jazz, presented in its optimum form.

Musicians:

• Henry Mancini (arranger, conductor)
• Ted Nash, Ronnie Lang (alto saxophone)
• Dick Nash, Milt Bernhart (trombone)
• Pete Candoli (trumpet)
• Johnny T. Williams (piano)
• Larry Bunker (vibraphone)
• Rolly Bundock (bass)
• Jack Sperling (drums)

Recording: August and September 1958 in Hollywood, CA.
Production: Simon Rady

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

It’s always a pleasure to listen to favourite music again and to nibble a little of that proverbial 'ear candy'. The same goes for composers who, at any and all times, collected folk songs and dances on the streets, as it were, in order to incorporate them into their own works. The Americans are no exception and they have always dug busily for musical roots in their territories, as one can see from the numbers "Mexican Rhapsody", "Kentucky Mountains" and "Savannah River Holiday".

Muted sounds are not to be found here, for the “Hi-Fi Fiesta” is celebrated with orchestral fireworks, which stress their close relationship with film music. A powerful string sound, paired with salvos from the blaring brass and thunderous drum rolls are just as characteristic of these spirited, effervescent works as are the lyrical, cantabile passages which reach ethereal heights with violin harmonics ("Mexican Rhapsody"). The Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, which here honours two former pupils of the Eastman School of Music – Robert McBride and Ron Nelson – performs the present collection with great spirit and a maximum of glorious sound.

Recording: May and October 1956 at Eastman Theatre, Rochester, (NY), USA, by C.R. Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart and David Hall

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

With the sixties British blues boom, which included acts such as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, early Fleetwood Mac, and The Rolling Stones, a number of attempts were made to record the original blues masters such as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker (actually the tradition was continued in the nineties by John Lee Hooker with his "The Healer" project) with some of the young upcoming 'white' blues players. Unfortunately many of the projects lacked real impact (usually the recordings were done on the cheap, over short periods, with most of the young musicians simply too intimidated by their idols to offer any real creative input), however these sessions with the great Howlin' Wolf proved to be one of the exceptions. Although pushing 60, and suffering from heart and kidney problems, the 'Wolf' was still in imposing form, and with backing musicians including his own superb guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Eric Clapton (one of the main catalysts of the sessions – along with producer Norman Dayron), Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, Stevie Winwood, plus numerous drop in guests, the resulting sessions produced 'blues gold'.

Apparently Howlin' Wolf was somewhat skeptical of the idea of recording with white Brits, as one can see in some of the cover photos. But the music tells quite another story. One is always wiser after the event!

Musicians:

• Howlin’ Wolf (vocal, harmonica, guitar)
• Eric Clapton, Hubert Sumlin (guitar)
• Steve Winwood (piano, organ)
• Ian Stewart (piano)
• Jeffrey M. Carp (harmonica)
• Bill Wyman, Phil Upchurch (bass)
• Charlie Watts (drums, conga, percussion)

Recording: 1971 at Olympic Sound Studios, London, by Glyn Johns
Production: Norman Dayron

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

As long as 40 years ago, at a time when Pop and Classical music were strictly separated from one another, Jacques Loussier’s “Swinging Bach” thrilled both friends of Baroque music and jazz lovers alike. Other musicians have tried, and are still trying, to jump on this modern “Bach band wagon” – but not one of them has achieved anything like the international success of the French trio.

“Play Bach” is to be taken at its word. If Prelude, Fugue or Toccata is on the label – then that’s what one gets: the melodies and the harmonic structure of Johann Sebastian’s original works are largely left untouched – you always know where counterpoint stops and groove sets in. Just as in Bach’s day the keyboard is at the fore, but the double bass also has a good share of the polyphony, and the finely nuanced percussion swings along as though it has no cares in the world and adds its own sparks of fire to pearl-like scale passages. What better way to bring the Bach Year to an end than with the re-release of the first Loussier album? The first of Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues shows how it began – just as they show how Jacques Loussier began.

Musicians:

• Jacques Loussier (arranger, piano)
• Pierre Michelot (bass)
• Christian Garros (drums, percussion)

Recording: 1959

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Aram Khachaturian, the most well-known of all Armenian composers, believed that art should be closely bound to the people and indeed it was a pre-requisite for his own creative inspiration. Largely uninfluenced by the manifold trends of the 20th century, Khachaturian’s works reflect the folk heritage of his native country. In the two richly orchestrated ballets, which he himself later arranged into suites, we find the musical spirit and customs of an ancient culture. In particular the unrestrained exuberance of the Sabre Dance from Gayaneh has contributed to the immense popularity of this suite. The ballet Spartacus could be described as a monumental historical drama and made Khachaturian one of the Soviet Union’s most highly honoured composers.

That a slave uprising can not only be expressed in music but can also take place on an international dimension is admirably demonstrated by the maestro personally in this recording where Khachaturian takes on the role of leader of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Musicians:

• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Aram Khachaturian (conductor)

Recording: March 1967 at Sofiensaal, Vienna by James Brown
Production: Erik Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Smetana’s symphonic poem “Má Vlast“ consists of several individual compositions which the composer put together at a later date to form a cycle and is one of the greatest testimonies to Czech national music. The Bohemian countryside and sagas are reflected in the tone poem From “Bohemia’s Woods and Fields“, while the programmatic “Moldau“ occupies a rightful place among the most outstanding works to have been written in the late 19th century. Thanks to its popular folk melodies, its clearly structured and recognizable “programme“, and brilliant orchestration, the work has never failed to arouse the enthusiasm of a wide public.

Rafael Kubelik conducted numerous first-class orchestras both in the concert hall and in the recording studio, and won a deserved reputation as the Smetana connoisseur. He is to be congratulated on his choice of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for this recording: gentle and transparent in the gossamer-light orchestral passages, powerful and smooth when playing as a full tutti. This thoroughly satisfying performance is further enhanced by its excellent recording technique and is to be recommended to all collectors.

Musicians:

• The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Rafael Kubelik (conductor)

Recording: April 1958 at Sofiensaal, Vienna by Gordon Parry
Production: Eric Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Haven’t we always known that blasphemous laughter will land us in trouble? – Just think what happened in the monastic whodunit "The Name of the Rose" in which a god-fearing monk did his utmost to hide a book about laughter from curious eyes and so turned into a serial killer in old age. Actually, carnival merrymaking monks went unpunished in medieval times when they turned strict Christian values upside down once a year and celebrated a so-called 'Feast of the Ass' in their hallowed halls. First, a Boy-Bishop would be chosen from among the lower orders and choir boys who would read a burlesque, mock mass to hoots of laughter from the revellers. Meanwhile other monks played cards and dice at the altar, burned incense made of dung and old shoe soles and sang dirty songs.

The Clemencic Consort has reconstructed the music for a lifelike 'Asses’ Mass' from medieval manuscripts. Among profane songs, contrapuntal, polyphonic verses and melodies with an accompaniment based on fifths, we hear Gregorian chant accompanied by the growl, rattle and rasp of historical instruments. Of course, the singing is perfectly in tune and sounds quite lovely, but here and there it is intentionally off-key, too loud, or even oddly, foolishly sung. This satirical programme, full of contrasts with its ecclesiastical habitus and worldly vulgarity, explicitly invites us to join in the fun!

Musicians:

• The Clemencic Consort conducted by Dr. René Clemencic

Recording: September 1979 by Jean-François Pontefract
Production: Eva Coutaz

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

First mentioned around 1500 in Portugal, no forms or melodies have come down to us for the Folia. Described by historians as a noisy dance which was performed by masked and disguised figures who leapt about as though they had lost their reason, a tranquil, sarabande-like form asserted itself in Europe in the early 17th century.

Grégorio Paniagua, director of the Atrium Musicae de Madrid, demonstrates once again his virtuosity in his treatment of historical material. His arrangements are not confined to medieval and baroque instruments but also employ a whole arsenal of percussion, such as various small drums, triangle, tambourine, castanets and xylophone. As the title of the LP suggests, the ensemble adds spice to the airy variety of timbres with a small touch of madness here and there. Unbelievably, a jazz solo is heard which recalls the "Pink Panther Theme", and the Orient is conjured up by two Indian tunes (ragas) in which the sitar chirps passionately to the powerful plop-plop-plop of tabla rhythms.

With its high resolution sound which places a high demand on hi-fi equipment in order to get the best reproduction, this record is both cult and legend.

Musicians:

• The Atrium Musicae de Madrid conducted by Dr. Don Grégorio Paniagua Rodriguez

Recording: June 1980 by Jean-François Pontefract
Production: Eva Coutaz

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Born in 1881, George Enescu led the life of a globetrotter. Although he became acquainted with all manner of schools and styles during his thorough studies in Vienna and Paris, it was invariably folk music that provided him with the most important source of inspiration. Thanks to their freshness and impressive thematic invention, the two Roumanian Rhapsodies have remained firm favourites to this day. Nothing in the music appears to demand great effort or mental struggle. The colourful mixture of lyrical and spirited passages seems completely natural and homogeneous, offering sheer delight for the ears right up to the final chord.

Enescus carefree hits serve as an ideal introduction to two orchestral heavyweights by Franz Liszt, which undoubtedly are to be counted as 'state of the art' works in this particular genre. Antal Dorati conducts the London Symphony Orchestra with a firm hand and complete concentration as is demanded by this tightly knit score , always managing to find the perfect balance between timbral force and transparency. Of course one can find elsewhere these compositions being performed faster, louder and with questionable sensational effects. But if you are looking for a faithful interpretation of the score, musicality and natural sound, then this is the recording for you.

Recording: June 1960 at Wembley Town Hall, London, by C.R. Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Wilma Cozart

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

“My symphony will be something the world has never heard before. The whole of Nature will be lent a voice in it and will impart such deep secrets as those one might imagine in one's dreams.” Mahler’s vision of music which reflects the world finds its monumental culmination in his Third Symphony. The god Pan awakes to dull drum beats and rumbling basses. From afar a lied theme feels its way to the fore. The mild season of Spring dawns with song, sounds of nature and the budding of vegetation; then at last Summer marches in, grotesquely distorted in its exuberance, expressing the dualism of the innocence of Nature and its terrifying primeval force. Only in the finale are these contrarieties united in glorious harmony – although an undercurrent of doubt is always present.

Sir Georg Solti and the London Symphony Orchestra are absolutely ideal for performing this mammoth, highly complex, multi-layered work. With fairly brisk tempi, clearly differentiated strings, and the usual excellent brass, Solti gives a gripping performance which no Mahler fan should miss - even if already has other recordings of the work in his collection.

Musicians:

• The London Symphony Orchestra
• Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

Recording: January 1968 at Kingsway Hall, London by Gordon Parry and James Lock
Production: David Harvey

Format: 2LPs 33rpm / gatefold sleeve, booklet

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

“What kind of a world is this which produces such sounds and forms to portray itself?” said Mahler of his First Symphony and gave the world his answer in the music.

What at first sounds like “endless Spring” is transformed grotesquely to become an irreal collage. Just how deceptive is this idyllic landscape through which the wayfarer wanders? Distant fanfares, furtive melodies and strange cuckoo calls disturb the seemingly peaceful depiction of Nature before the cheerful theme melody pushes to the fore. But this peace is transient too. The wayfarer begins to increase his pace, he is not the hunter but the hunted in a hostile world. This symphony neither portrays nor describes – it presents the esthetic counterpart of reality.

In view of the recent revival of Mahler and the resultant new recordings of his works, this early DECCA recording cannot be too highly praised. The disc guarantees not only a masterly performance but sumptuous sound and transparency. The owner of this particular recording of the Titan Symphony certainly needs no other and has every right to ask, “What kind of a record is this which produces such sounds...?”

Musicians:

• London Symphony Orchestra
• Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

Recording: January and February 1964 at Kingsway Hall, London by Gordon Parry / John Culshaw

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The search for the extra-musical world in Gustav Mahler’s philosophical and programmatic works will doubtless continue to occupy future generations of music scholars. Today’s music lovers, however, are wholly satisfied with the highly varied interpretations and impressive sound reproduction – which is precisely what Mahler himself wished for his rugged works. For decades Mahler’s dramatic musical masterpieces were misunderstood and scorned as “kapellmeister music”. Luckily interest in his works was revived and all nine symphonies were recorded in the 1960s by the recently deceased conductor Sir Georg Solti. Right up to this very day, his cycle has clearly lost nothing of its aura, its reputation for “never having been surpassed” – how could it otherwise have been so successful for so many years in the light of all the highly competitive, more recent recordings?

After the success of the new pressing of Mahler’s First Symphony (DECCA SXL 6113), it was high time that the Resurrection-Symphony became available on LP once more. And the result is most impressive. One can only hope that the complete Mahler cycle will one day be resurrected in vinyl.

Musicians:

• Heather Harper
• Helen Watts
• London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
• Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

Recording : May 1966 at Kingsway Hall, London by Gordon Parry
Production: David Harvey

Format: 2LPs 33rpm / gatefold sleeve, booklet

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

In 1967 T. A. McEwen, head of Classical Music at Decca in London, named three artists to whom he believed the company had a "moral obligation": Ernest Ansermet, Renata Tebaldi, and Mantovani.

It may well be today that other names ought to be included in the list. However, it cannot be denied that in the early days of the Decca Record Company these three artists - like no others - made an immense contribution towards the company's market position and to its musical identity in particular.

Annunzio Mantovani was born in the traditionally musical city of Venice in 1905. At the age of only 23 he was director of the Hotel Metropole's own orchestra in London, and it was with this orchestra that he made his first recordings. It took 20 years, however, for him to become a world-famous star. The final breakthrough of the 'Mantovani Sound' came in 1951 with his waltz "Charmaine" which was produced for the American market.

This sound was utterly different from that of other entertainment orchestras at that time. Mantovani created such a lush and intense violin sound that that critics believed it was the result of recording tricks - an assumption that Mantovani easily disproved with his numerous concerts.

The album "The American Scene" demonstrates the whole spectrum of one of the 20th century's most genial arrangers : "I Dream Of Jeanny" is a wonderful exemple of the truly remarkable strings which is counterbalanced by such numbers as the sparkling "Camptown Races" for example. Arranging folk songs for large orchestra can be somewhat perilous in that they easily become insignificant but Mantovani is in no danger of this: the 'wall of sound' which he created with his orchestra is far too fascinating for that.

Musicians:

• Mantovani and his orchestra

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Felix Mendelssohn composed the concert overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1826 while the remaining incidental music, composed for a performance of Shakespeare’s famous play, was written many years later. His well known Wedding March and the other important numbers of A Midsummer Night’s Dream are included in this sought-after DECCA recording.

This composition is Mendelssohn’s most important stage works and a great favourite, which explains why it is so frequently performed (especially the overture) and recorded. World-class musicians like the soloists Jennifer Vyvyan, Marion Lowe and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Peter Maag, and supported by the Women’s Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, give a masterly performance of this delightful work which offers an insight into Mendelssohn’s early and late compositional styles. The quality of the performance leaves nothing to be desired and the listener is carried away to a world of dreams, not only during a summer night.

Musicians:

• Soloists, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
• Peter Maag (conductor)

Recording: February 1957 at Kingsway Hall, London by Cyril Windebank
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The amazing skill of two great virtuosos, Joseph Leutgeb and Anton Stadler, inspired Mozart to compose the concertos heard here. Made in 1959, this DECCA recording gives us an excellent idea of how the concertos would have sounded in Mozart's day, thanks to two of today's very best instrumentalists – the clarinettist Gervase de Peyer and the horn player Barry Tuckwell.

Amazing lightness, warmth of tone and perfect intonation are the hallmarks of the soloist and London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Maag in the clarinet concerto, which Mozart completed only a few weeks before his death. The two horn concertos heard here were also written during Mozart’s final creative period in Vienna. Just one hearing is enough to let them be remembered for all time – for these concertos employ to the full the horn’s rich and widely varied range of expression. Broad arching melodies, tripping runs and merry hunting calls in the final movements guarantee musical enjoyment, and for this we owe our thanks to both the past and present masters of their instruments in this delightful recording.

Musicians:

• Gervase de Peyer (clarinet)
• Barry Tuckwell (horn)
• London Symphony Orchestra
• Peter Maag (conductor)

Recording: November 1959 at Kingsway Hall, London by Kenneth E. Wilkinson
Production: Ray Minshull

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Mozart wrote the Divertimento No. 1 at the age of six, while A Musical Joke and Eine kleine Nachtmusik were composed shortly before his death.

From what one hears, apparently only a few music lovers enjoy listening to Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Far too often has it been performed routinely rather than being filled with life. This recording is quite different: living up to his reputation, Karl Münchinger proves that this favourite can be imbued with significance.

The historical roote of the serenade lie in the suite which consists of varied contrasting dance movements. In the spirit of this tradition, Münchinger offers a clear and unfussed interpretation which is absolutely credible and has a freshness rarely heard. The ensemble plays both cheerfully and and wittily. In A Musical Joke, Mozart parodies amateurish composers of his own era, and the orchestra quite obviously participates in the fun. This LP is distinguished by its musical and tonal balance and is one of DECCA’s best sound recordings.

Musicians:

• Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
• Karl Münchinger (conductor)

Recording: November 1960, Victoria Hall at Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

It is not often that incomplete works enjoy great popularity. And it is even rarer that a torso should exercise such great importance in music history, but this is the case with Mozart’s Great Mass, K. 427. The C minor Mass is always spoken of as if it were complete: it is spoken of with reverence, eyes looking towards Heaven, lost in the beauty of the music, transported to celestial heights. Mozart combines the compositional style of the Baroque masters with the more modern style of the Viennese Classic. Lofty arioso sections alternate with tremendous choral sections for up to eight parts whose splendid and spectacular timbre broke the bounds of tradition and set new standards for the genre.

This Mass is, of course, not merely performed but celebrated, as the Berlin RSO under its Principal Conductor Ferenc Fricsay has so admirably demonstrated in this recording. Precise entries, strict tempi, a polished orchestral timbre and vocal soloists so brilliant one might think they were standing in one’s own front room lend this recording top marks for musical quality and repertoire value.

Musicians:

• Maria Stader
• Hertha Töpper
• Ernst Haefliger
• Ivan Sardi
• Chorus
• The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
• Ferenc Fricsay (conductor)

Recording: September/ October 1967 at the Haus des Rundfunks, Berlin by Werner Wolf
Production:Otto Gerdes

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Friedrich Gulda is known to all. He is the musical wizard with the embroidered cap, an artist who is equally at home in jazz, the Viennese lied, or the works of the Viennese Classic. Gulda might have only performed a small number of his Austrian compatriot's 27 piano concerto but with these few he certainly created a sensation. That the present recording of the Concertos Nos. 20 and 21, even after 25 years, is still regarded as ranking among the very best performances is something that can be heard after just a few bars. The minor-key first movement of No. 20 begins with a measured tempo and precise articulation, then the piano joins in with almost sober clarity and proceeds to lead a concentrated, tightly enmeshed conversation with the orchestra.

The C major Concerto sparkles brightly with its thrilling, virtuoso part-writing and transparent, almost chamber-like instrumental ensemble. Details left only fleetingly touched and casual phrasing will be sought in vain in this highly analytical interpretation of Mozart's musical intentions. The listener will do well here to forget the popular concept of a fun-loving, high-spirited Mozart and to recognize the ardent, passionate side of the composer.

Musicians:

• Friedrich Gulda (piano)
• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Claudio Abbado (conductor)

Recording: September 1974 at Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, by Günter Hermanns
Production: Rainer Brock

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 21 in C Major, K. 467
Allegro maestoso
Andante
Allegro vivace assai

“Now I am going to compose a Sinfonia concertante”, wrote Mozart to his father, quite unsuspecting that his contribution to this hybrid of concerto and symphony would not bring the immediate approval and success to which he was accustomed. But opinions have changed drastically since then, especially since the Sinfonia concertante K. 364 has far greater depth to it than its title suggests. The wealth of melodic ideas, subtly allotted alternately to the soloist and the orchestra, testifies to the fact that this is one of Mozart’s mature orchestral masterpieces which he composed while in Vienna.

The superb performers in this DECCA recording guarantee that the listener will not only enjoy the deceptive merriment of the outer movements but will be deeply moved by the sad Andante. What bad luck for rival performances! But when father and son take up their bows, this is the recording to beat all recordings!

On the B side, the Duo for Violin and Viola, K. 423 is a welcome bonus since it offers a wonderful opportunity for a display of virtuosity and counterpoint. And of course the old question pops up once again as to who is the better master of his instrument: father or son? The answer is simple: neither the one nor the other! – Both, of course!

Musicians:

• David and Igor Oistrakh
• The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
• Kyrill Kondrashin (conductor)

Recording: September 1963 at DECCA Studio No. 3 in West Hampstead, London by Kenneth Wilkinson
Production: Erik Smith und Ray Minshull

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Like all the works he composed during his extremely productive years in Vienna, Mozart’s last two symphonies are remarkable for their ambitious and demanding individuality, despite the fact that they were written in the amazingly short space of only six weeks. Any inference to the dire circumstances in which the composer was living at the time might possibly be detected in the grave character of Symphony No. 40 in G minor. The so-called Jupiter-Symphony, however, which owes its name to the Roman god, brims over with an endless joy of life. The powerful final movement with its combination of fugal technique, rondo and sonata form is quite rightly regarded as a unique compositional achievement in the classical era. The Mozart specialist Carlo Maria Giulini, who only enters the recording studio when he is quite totally sure of a thing, has set down a performance here which does without orchestral fireworks and concentrates on a seemingly endless flow of melody. The orchestral playing is light, airy and unpretentious, the strings as soft as silk – what more could Mozart have wished for.

Musicians:

• New Philharmonia Orchestra
• Carlo Maria Giulini (conductor)

Recording: October/ November 1965 at Kingsway Hall, London by Kenneth Wilkinson
Production: Ray Minshull

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Let us recall that great American and citizen of the world who trod every musical pathway and who held his audience riveted with unbounding energy and charisma. Whether as a composer of operas or musicals, performer, conductor or mentor, “Lenny” felt at home everywhere. And all who were privileged enough to get to know him can confirm this, whether they experienced him as a circumspect teacher who taught interested amateurs about church music, or even as a pianist bawling out hit songs in a bar.

Quality was guaranteed with records sporting the words “Bernstein conducts ...”, and no music lover ever missed adding such gems to his collection. But most recordings of Bernstein as a master of the keyboard lie buried in the archives.

Where some musicians fail due to a lack of perspicacity or false self-judgement, Bernstein appears to take himself beyond his normal bounds in his double function as solo pianist and conductor. His interpretation of Mozart is richly nuanced but free of all romantic trimmings; his Mozart is what we have learned to value over the past few years of the present century. This recording is absolutely first class, both musically and technically, and is thus a true collector’s object.

Musicians:

• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Leonard Bernstein (conductor)

Recording: March 1966 at Sofiensaal, Vienna by Gordon Parry
Production: Erik Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

This two-LP set includes as a very special bonus the piano-only version of Pictures at an Exhibition cut at 45 RPM. This is how this work was originally composed though no recording of that version has previously been released. The full symphonic version of Pictures at an Exhibition is cut here at 33 1/3.

The orchestral version of Mussorgskys musical picture gallery has always been one of the most popular works ever heard in concert halls all over the world. Originally written for the piano, the unsuccessful composer never heard the work in all its symphonic glory, although many of his contemporaries had often been tempted to arrange his works. As early as 1891, ten years after his death, Mikhail Tushmalov a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov presented a first version. However, it is Maurice Ravels orchestral version from 1922 that remains unsurpassed to this day. His arrangement amalgamates the original force and angularity of the piano with the brilliance of a modern orchestra.The transparent and powerful performance by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra is complemented by an equally fascinating version from one of Mercurys main pianists, Byron Janis. In listening to the two interpretations one after the other it becomes clear as to how closely Ravel remained true to the original version while still managing to imbue his genial orchestral version with his own tonal conception. The solo piano recording, released for the first time on vinyl, will certainly be of special interest to record collectors.

Recording: April 1959 at Northrup Auditorium, Minneapolis, USA, and September 1961 in
Ballroom Studio A at Fine Recording, New York, by C.R. Fine / Production: Wilma Cozart

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

As is widely known, ballet suites are the ‘little sisters’ of large ballet compositions that have been compiled by the composer mostly at a later date for performance in the concert hall. Prokofiev’s "Romeo and Juliet" is another story however. Strangely enough, his two Suites were given their first performance before the premiere of the complete Ballet. The applause can still be heard echoing through the world of music. This music is one of the pillars of a good record collection - and with good reason! Both Suites contain a wealth of delightful melodies that are given substance by colourful harmonic writing. Just how Prokofiev can ideally sound is brought to us by Stanislaw Skrowacziewski and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. In the first Suite he lets his musicians sweep with élan through the Burlesque, the splendour of the Love Theme is full of lyrical intensity, and rises to a forceful climax filled with sharp dissonances in "Death of Tybalt".

The Second Suite, too, is of the very highest standard, both from an artistic and recording point of view. The characteristic themes and motifs are well contoured and brought to the fore while embedded in a fresh and natural carpet of sound which is sometimes filled with immense warmth. It is clearly noticeable that all participants have given much time and thought to this first-rate production. And the listener will certainly enjoy giving over a good portion of his leisure time to this delightful music.

Recording: April 1962 at Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis, USA,
by C.R. Fine and Robert Eberenz / Production: Wilma Cozart

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The composition is written in a traditional, four-movement form and is filled with highly expressive, lyrical themes, which are broadly expanded and make full use of the orchestras registers and sound colouring. The outer movements act like a cyclical framework, with the theme of the first movement reappearing in the last movement where it is combined with new material and taken to a final boisterous apotheosis. Antal Dorati leads his orchestra through the depths of the score with a sure and steady hand, cautiously allowing them to revel in the often brittle melodies during moments of repose.

The Second Piano Concerto represents Rachmaninoff's escape from a crisis lasting several years during which he experienced one catastrophe after another. At the suggestion of his psychiatrist, who had prophesied that he would write wonderful music, he turned once again to the work - and it brought him his greatest success to that date. Although the piano writing demands enormous technical dexterity, the composer was apparently not solely aiming at producing a virtuosic showpiece, since the piano part clings snugly to the orchestra like an accompaniment for long stretches, although it does triumph powerfully here and there for good measure.

Once again, Byron Janis - whose brilliant interpretations of Rachmaninoff's repertory have influenced whole generations of pianists - has made a benchmark recording in which he alagamates tremendous energy with great tranquility. He revels in the late-Romantic ecstatic harmonies, dazzles us with his transparent presentation of the internal structures, and displays great vigour in the weighty themes. The emotional middle movement is also glorious in that Janis enjoys to the full the interplay of passion and reverie with expansive chords and dark-hued tonalities.

Recording: April 1960 at the Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minnesota, USA, by C.R. Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Wilma Cozart-Fine and Harold Lawrence

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, fondly referred to as 'Rach 3' or even 'Rachi 3' in dealer circles, has enjoyed a constantly growing popularity over the last few years. One reason may well be that the market has been flooded with recordings of the work, many of which attempt to outshine their rivals with massive sound effects instead of winning over the listener with musical transparency. Well, as everyone knows only too well, a first-class recording not only demands a world-class soloist but also a top notch orchestra and conductor. That’s no surprise to anyone! This early stereo LP with the pianist Byron Janis and conductor Antal Dorati was and still is an enormous success, as is proved by the fact that it is regarded as a work of reference even in this age of the silver disc. Janis performs with a controlled passion, like a fine mechanic who watches with the greatest of care over the structural elements which have been entrusted to him. His playing is precise and lucid down to the smallest detail, even in the minutest trill. Dorati has his ensemble enter gently with punctilious timing and allows the fullness and energy of this late-romantic score to unfold before us. How wonderful that this particular 'Rach 3' is available once again to eager audiophile listeners!

Recording: June 1961 in Watford Town Hall, London, by C.R. Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Wilma Cozart

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Among the innumerable recordings of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, the present one made by DECCA with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Ernest Ansermet is of particular note. The impressive mounting crescendo over an ostinato bass, leading through the work from the very first bar right up to the last note, goes hand in hand with ever increasing intensity and excitement and hardly permits the listener to draw a breath. As in the Boléro, Ravel’s La Valse, a choreographed poem for orchestra composed in 1920, is based on a single rhythmic idea, the Viennese waltz, which lends the work increasing impetus throughout the course of the music.

Although Arthur Honegger’s Pacific 231, composed in 1923 and dedicated to Ernest Ansermet, is more modern and has a more complex structure, here too a great arc of tension determines the progress of the music until shortly before the end. The orchestra accelerates in tempo and then decelerates – due to the motivic writing – towards the end thus evoking the sound of a locomotive: the Pacific 231 namely.

The great success of the first performance of Paul Dukas’s L'Apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) in 1897, a scherzo composed in 1895 and based on a ballad by Goethe, certainly comes as no surprise when one listens to this recording by the OSR under Ansermet. The composition is filled with a wealth of surprising moments which are presented here with exactitude and subtlety in even the tiniest detail.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

Recording: February 1963 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: Michael Brenner

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Ravel’s ballet music Ma Mère l’Oye, originally written for piano, four hands, was inspired by Charles Perrault’s fairy tale. Ravel mostly wrote music for small forms which is reflected by the short movements of the suite. The world renowned Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, led by the conductor best suited to this kind of music, Ernest Ansermet, bring out the vivacious and colourful elements of the work. The orchestra’s timbre is well suited to the gentle shading of the music, as is shown in the final Jardin féerique.

Completed by Debussy in 1899, the three Nocturnes reveal the aesthetics of a composer who put Nature above Art. Debussy endeavoured to achieve a natural flow and consistency in his music without slavishly copying the sounds of nature. Although Nuages (Clouds), Fêtes (Festivals) and Sirènes (Sirents) are night pieces, they are seen with a view to light and shadow: two optic conditions that influence the music.

The artists give an amazingly transparent and differentiated performance of the music. The present recording should not be missed by any lover of Impressionist music.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet

Recording: November 1957 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The common practice in concert houses today of performing early music on modern orchestral instruments is owed largely to the endeavors of Ottorino Respighi. His free transcription of Renaissance works for the lute (1932) opened the way to the rediscovery of forgotten rhythms and timbres. Although Respighi altered the structure of the music by dissecting phrases right down to their basic elements, re-ordering them and redefining their sonority by the use of heavy brass and timpani, the art of the ancient maestri remained unscathed. Cadences and harmonic idioms are given a modern coloring at the most, but are never destroyed. Antal Dorati and his famous Philharmonia Hungarica have all that is needed to bring the score to life. Even in opulent passages the individual instruments can be heard distinctly. This works particularly well in the first two suites in which each movement is treated to a process of refinement by means of differing orchestration. That the third suite, written purely for stringed instruments, soars away, just like the proverbial Aeolian harp is only to be expected from this orchestra.

Recording: June 1958 at the large hall of the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria, by C.R. Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart-Fine

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

It was Respighis fascination with ancient dances and songs that inspired him to write his bird suite. His great love for such music makes itself felt in every single movement of this work. While Respighi imbued each of the bird portraits with his very own sound colouring typical of his time, there is an original masterpiece by a Renaissance or Baroque composer lurking in the background.

The marchlike 'Intrada', based on a piece by Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710), is further refined by a gradual building-up of the instrumental apparatus and comes to a final climax full of pomp and glory in which the brass are given prominence.

Ornithological elements are easily identified in the movements which follow: the doves cooing and billing is are underlined by a sighing, rhythmic base; the hen is heard clucking with a characteristic motif, and the song of the nightingale is brought to us by the flute over a mysterious murmuring on the low strings. The cuckoo is then heard, followed by a repeat of the initial theme, thus bringing to perfect completion 'Gli Ucelli' ('The Birds'), a colourful bird show which knows no rival in modern music.

The 'Impressioni brasiliano' ('Brazilian Impressions') is also a seldom heard jewel in both the concert hall and on record. Although the three-movement work has a subtle rhythm which runs throughout the work, it is far removed from the well-known 'Europeanised' samba adaptations which are so often heard. The suite is remarkable for its tender, impressionistic colouring which demands to be heard time and time again.

Recording: July 1957 in Watford Town Hall, London, by C.R. Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart and Harold Lawrence

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The frenetic applause with which both the public and the experts greeted the Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra, composed in 1940, is certainly astounding – one would have thought that 20th-century music was dominated chiefly by composers of twelve-tone music and the avantguardists. Rodrigo, however, remained faithful to the Classical three-movement form, employed a late-Romantic orchestral colouring, and followed in the tradition of Spanish composers who, perhaps more than any others, won their inspiration from the folkmusic of their native country.

The whole work is full of the exotic magic of Spanish folkmusic, whereby the rhythmic drive of the first movement – reminiscent of clicking castanets – is particularly fascinating. Fortunately not only the composer but also the conductor and orchestra have taken care that the gentle tones produced by the world famous guitarist Pepe Romero are clearly to be heard.

In addition, the listener is treated to a performance of the rarely recorded Concierto Andaluz for four guitars, composed in 1967. Once again the Romeros demonstrate that they are not only amazingly virtuosic musicians but are also worthy dedicatees of this unique work.

Last but not least, PHILIPS balance engineers have produced a superb recording: Rodrigo himself was absolutely delighted with it – and this opinion one can well endorse.

Recording: July / August 1978 by Wilhelm Hellweg
Production: Wilhelm Hellweg

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Although Gioacchino Rossini wrote 39 operas, they are rarely heard today – with the exception of The Barber of Seville. Many of his overtures have, however, remained extremely popular. This record presents five of them which were composed between 1812 and 1829. Rossini’s orchestral works are famous for the magic of the almost inevitable “Rossini crescendo”. The composer is said to have been so disheartened by the failure of his last opera William Tell that he gave up composing, and took his talents into the kitchen. He was an excellent cook and one can well imagine how the rich melodic inspiration of his overtures was transferred to his menus.

Pierro Gamba’s masterly interpretations convey the structure of the compositions, while the London Symphony Orchestra certainly sets off the fireworks.

The sound quality has lost nothing of its brilliance and musically the recordings are of a very high standard, clear and animated.

Musicians:

• London Symphony Orchestra
• Pierino Gamba (conductor)

Recording: May 1957 by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The cello has always been held in high esteem for its warm, noble timbre and range of expression. So it is no wonder that numerous solo pieces have been written for the instrument. In this recording, the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, together with the great Benjamin Britten at the piano, have left the accustomed pathway to perform three less well-known – but nevertheless excellent – works from the 19th and 20th century.

Robert Schumann’s Fünf Stücke im Volkston allows the cellist to bring out the whole beauty of his instrument. Well-paced tempi, a crystal-clear tone, and an exquisitely precise piano part emphasize the unique character of this music – a work which points the way towards modern times.

The mysterious tonal and harmonic world of the Impressionists is evoked by Debussy’s Sonata for Piano and Cello. Written in the aftermath of the First World War, it reflects human tragedy and a feeling of oppression and anxiety.

Britten’s Cello Sonata was tailormade for Rostropovich and dedicated to the great cellist. The two musicians, both of them technical perfectionists, provide an inspired performance – beginning with the thrilling dialogue of the very first bars, via a lyrical elegy, right up to the gripping Finale in 6/8 time. To sum it up: top marks for music, tonal quality and choice of repertoire.

Musicians:

• Mstislav Rostropovich (cello)
• Benjamin Britten (piano)

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Towards the end of 1951, Roy Eldridge moved from Europe, where he had made numerous recordings with top jazz musicians, back to New York. This move coincided with the founding of Norman Granz’s new label Norgran and it goes without saying that the name came up of the small man Roy (nicknamed 'Little Jazz') whenever a trumpeter was required for a studio jig. Like no other, Eldridge was able to switch without a hitch between swing and bebop and, like Dizzy Gillespie, he was also a showman par excellence.

"Rockin’ Chair" is his most famous number and it not only provides the album name but is the best number on this LP, which contains a selection of titles made at three very different recording sessions. Among the four numbers with strings and arrangements by George Williams, the melancholy "I Remember Harlem" is highly recommendable. Then there are four rhythm ’n’ blues numbers which are set alight by the scorching tones of tenor sax player Buddy Tate. That Roy Eldridge is a highly original singer has been known ever since he worked with Gene Krupa; "Jumbo The Elephant", a typical jump number, harks back to these days. The four numbers from 1952 with Oscar Peterson at the piano or organ are without a doubt the highlights of these recordings.

"Rockin’ Chair" is a real treat for swing and mainstream fans alike. A real must-have too, if you want to hear a trumpet being played by a man who masters both the high and low registers without the least difficulty, who changes his style as easily as a chameleon changes its colour, and who adds a touch of humour on top of all that.

Musicians:

• Roy Eldridge (trumpet)
• Buddy Tate (tenor saxophone)
• Oscar Peterson (piano, organ)
• Barney Kessel (guitar)
• Ray Brown (bass)
• Orchestra and strings

Recording: December 1951 and December 1952 in New York City
Production: Norman Granz

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

This is Schubert’s longest symphony, and its music has been described as heavenly. The symphony is typically and specifically Schubertian in its form, occupying a position in the history of music between Beethoven, Bruckner and Mahler – right on the threshold which separates classicism from romanticism.

It is hard to say if Josef Krips ever succeeded in making a finer recording. The presentation has a direct, unforced spontaneity, confirming that Krips had an intuitive understanding of Schubert’s compositions. The orchestra plays with dynamic vivacity without ever sounding aggressive. The interpretation of the two final movements is delightful in its airy exhilaration: swaying in a dance-like rhythm, tripping lightly through virtually every key there is, and in between, in the Scherzo, the gravity of the trio. The Finale, again, is merry in character with triplets rushing past, and the listener revels in every single repetition as the magnificence of this work reveals itself.

The inspired orchestra does full justice to the music and renders an interpretation in the Viennese tradition at its very best. This recording simply cannot be surpassed in terms of performance or sound quality – it is a must not only for the lover of Schubert’s music.

Musicians:

• London Symphony Orchestra
• Josef Krips (conductor)

Recording: May 1958 at Kingsway Hall in London by Kenneth E. Wilkinson
Production: Erik Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

In the summer of 1819, Franz Schubert stayed in the Austrian town of Steyr where he began work on the composition of the five-movement Piano Quintet in A major, op. 114 (D 667) which was commissioned by the cellist Sylvester Paumgartner. The work was completed in the autumn and soon achieved great popularity under the name of Trout Quintet, which it owes to the Andantino fourth movement – a set of variations on the song of the same name. The work has remained highly popular right up to the present day and so it comes as no surprise to find this highly praised recording, made with such renowned artists as the pianist Clifford Curzon, the violinist Willi Boskovsky and other members of the Vienna Octet, being released once again.

The ensembles refreshing performance reflects the sparkling lightness and virtuosity of the work. The well-balanced recording with its full tone certainly deserves a place in every music lovers collection.

Musicians:

• Sir Clifford Curzon and Members of the Vienna Octet

Recording: October 1957 at Sofiensaal, Vienna by James Brown
Production: Erik Smith

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Dmitri Shostakovich’s music was and still remains his aesthetic ambiguity, the likes of which is almost impossible to find in modern music. The Fifth Symphony in particular is regarded as an excellent example of how, during Stalin’s regime, Shostakovich outwardly remained true to the regulations concerning art while still managing not to forfeit his own artistic freedom and identity. Conceived in a classical vein, the work is filled with powerful motion and Russian song, even going almost as far as late-Romantic transfiguration. But this idyll is deceptive. Again and again the apparent harmony is disrupted by biting sarcasm: the spirited main theme of the first movement soon stiffens into a march-like farce, while in the untroubled second movement a shrill motif in the winds tears apart the cheerful mood.

Skrowacziewski amalgamates the contrasting tender sweetness of the violins and the violence of the attacking wind instruments in his precise and sparing interpretation, which is free of sugary expression and forced dynamics. His well-balanced conducting, combined with the wonderfully transparent recorded sound creates an ideal basis for identifying all the details which Shostakovich composed 'between the lines of the staff'.

Recording: March 1961 at Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis, USA, by C.R. Fine and Robert Eberenz
Production: Wilma Cozart Fine

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

"The violin had got me completely under its spell; for ten years it was my greatest wish to become a great violin virtuoso …", confessed Finland’s national composer Jean Sibelius in later years. Although he began a career as a violin virtuoso too late, as a composer he profited enormously from his intimate knowledge of the instrument and the possibilities it offered. This is particularly apparent in his Violin Concerto with its wonderful synthesis of virtuosic expression and technical bravura, its classical symphonic form, its outward effects and inner substance. This late-Romantic, brilliantly coloured work is certainly one of the most rewarding for every soloist. A specialist in the field of 19th-century bravura pieces and master of an effortless technique and suppleness, the great American violinist Ruggiero Ricci certainly possessed all the requirements for a brilliant performance of this concerto. And Øivin Fjeldstad is the perfect partner for Ricci in more ways than one in this wonderfully lively recording: thanks to his training as both a conductor and a violinist, he ensures a perfect balance between soloist and orchestra; and as a Norwegian he is, of course, completely au fait with Scandinavian repertoire, and guarantees – both here and in other recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra – a truly nordic touch.

Musicians:

• Ruggiero Ricci (violin)
• London Symphony Orchestra
• Øivin Fjeldstad (conductor)

Recording: February 1958 at Kingsway Hall, London by Cyril Windebank
Production: John Culshaw

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Schumann rapidly composed his Cello Concerto in only two weeks during an extremely productive creative phase. Its first performance was quite another story. Although the piece was written "first and foremost for this beautiful instrument", so Schumann, no cellist showed any desire to perform the work in concert. Initially the cellist Robert BockmЯhl from Frankfurt had shown interest in the piece, but then declined to play it after Schumann had refused to comply with his wishes for certain changes. This led to the unfortunate fact that Schumann did not live to see the work’s premiere. Things went quite differently with Edouard Lalo, who described himself as a self-taught composer; an excellent cellist himself, Lalo could be sure that his work would be heard in the concert hall.

Both works are connected by the pioneering attempt to establish the cello as a solo instrument in concert life in the 19th century. Right from the fifth bar of the Schumann concerto Janos Starker is able to display his mastership in the expansive main theme. He enjoys to the full the opportunities to explore the instrument’s range of tone and expression, and this he does with clarity and a full tone. In the Lalo too he demonstrates his absolute virtuosity: in the lyrical passages he delights us with a melting cantabile, in the Saltarello finale he demonstrates his perspicacity and fills the triumphant writing with elegance and tonal resonance. Luckily this music has found its way to one of today’s most outstanding cellists.

Recording: July 1962 at Watford Town Hall, United Kingdom, by C. Robert Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart-Fine and Harold Lawrence

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Ernest Ansermet’s long friendship with Igor Stravinsky enabled him to witness the birth of some of the composer’s most important creations. This proved to be of incalculable worth in his interpretation of the works he premiered for Stravinsksy.

Here Ansermet directs the OSR in a performance of Stravinsky’s The Firebird. It is the composer’s first major ballet, brought him world fame and continues to gain in popularity to this day. The story – which combines the motifs of several Russian fairy tales with a magic Firebird, a vanishing castle, an evil magician, and a hero who saves the maiden – inspired Stravinsky to write some of his most fascinating and mysterious music.

The OSR is fully equal to its fine reputation. Ernest Ansermet’s competence as an interpreter is evident throughout.

Acoustically, this pressing offers advantages over the original. Here the orchestra resonates with a full, natural and mellow sound that blossoms into a veritable garden of tonality extending around and behind the loudspeakers. This new edition of Stravinsky’s The Firebird is a true stereophonic delight.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

Recording date and venue: May 1955 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

EMI made the recording in both stereo and quadraphonic, an early attempt at surround sound for the now defunct SQ vinyl format. HiQ has used the superior balance of the stereo master tapes.

"If anyone still has a lingering suspicion that a former Hollywood film composer and jazz pianist might compromise on musical standards, let him hear this... with superb recording which allows for inner clarity in a rich texture, with fine discipline and sharp rhythmic pointing (sforzandos meticulously observed), the musical qualities are reinforced... this is a record to satisfy the most discriminating..." - Edward Greenfield, Gramophone, July 1973.

Features:
180g Audiophile Vinyl
Cut from original stereo EMI Master Tapes at EMI's Abbey Road Studios
Original album artwork

Musicians: London Symphony Orchestra Andre Previn

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
1. 1812 Overture, Op. 49
2. March Slave, Op. 31
3. Romeo & Juliet - Fantasy Overture

Although he has lived in the USA since 1929 and even took on American citizenship in 1942, Nathan Milstein is often referred to as perhaps the last “Russian” among all Russian violinists due to his art of playing – which is governed wholly by intellect. This does not mean that Milstein plays in an academic or cool manner; his art is thoughtful and controlled – in the very best sense of the meaning. And this should certainly not be equated with “deliberateness”. On the contrary. Milstein’s tremendous virtuosity, particularly in the fiendishly difficult final movements of Tchaikovsky’s and Mendelssohn’s concertos, takes both works to new heights. Although never a forceful presence since he employs relatively little vibrato and thus achieves a slender tone, Milstein’s playing is filled with amazing assertion and luminance, and is quite fascinating for its extraordinary purity. And this is precisely what enhances his interpretation of these two great classical concertos, lending them a legendary grace, a feeling of rightness – that there is no other way. The Vienna Philharmonic with their great tradition provide support of the first order, and Claudio Abbado proves once again that he is a more than circumspect master of the baton.

This record was part of the 3-LP Set “The Conductors“ and is now available again.

Musicians:

• Nathan Milstein (violin)
• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Claudio Abbado (conductor)

Recording: September 1972 and March 1973 at Musikvereinssaal, Vienna by Günter Hermanns
Production: Rainer Brock

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Allegro Moderato
Canzonetta Andante
Finale Allegro Vivacissimo

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor, Op. 64

Allegro molto Apassionato
Andante
Allegretto non troppo - allegro molto vivace

When the evenings grow longer, the autumn leaves begin to fall and Jack Frost calls during the night, then it is time to conjure up the magic world of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker while relaxing in front of a crackling fire.

In this double album you will hear the delightfully varied ballet music in its entirety and not just the usual highlights. Each and every one of the highly individual numbers, be it a dance, a march or a waltz, is enchanting with its ever varying orchestral colouring, here merry and impudent and tripping along lightly without a care in the world, there sturdy and vigourous, even coarse.

The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, led by its conductor of many years standing, Ernest Ansermet, is very much at home in Russian repertoire and masters the occasional immense difficulties of the score with bravado. The DECCA team has once again proved its worth and leaves any nuts which still need to be cracked to the hi-fi equipment – the airy strings, the delicate triangles, the thrill of cymbals clashing, and the wooden clack of the castanets. And if, by an amazing coincidence, the heating should fail when you are listening to this record, there is no reason to worry – this music is guaranteed to warm the cockels of your heart and keep Jack Frost from the door.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

Recording: October / November 1958 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Made during the pioneering days of stereo technology when everyone was vying for a piece of the cake, it is hard to believe that this absolutely top-notch recording of Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique“ has never been brought to the ears of music lovers until today. And it is even more unbelievable since it was made by a first-class orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, Ferenc Fricsay. The reasons for the non-release are a matter of speculation because those responsible have kept them under their hat.

Not even the man behind the microphone, Werner Wolf, can recall making this recording – although a yellowed recording protocol discloses carefully noted details about the recording venue and date. No wonder that the tapes never got made into records. It is not with a little pride and much joyful anticipation that the announcement can be made: the record is spinning on the turntable at last!

And at long last a gap in Fricsay’s repertoire can be closed. Specially recommended: listen to the wonderful clarity of the upper strings which is preserved even in the softest passages.

This record was part of the 3-LP Set “The Conductors“ and is now available again.

Musicians:

• Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Berlin
• Ferenc Fricsay (conductor)

Recording: 17-19 and 22 September 1959 at Jesus-Christus Kirche, Berlin, by Günter
Hermanns and Werner Wolf / Production: Otto Gerdes

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Here is a true delight for all ballet fans and music-lovers. This recording of what is probably Tchaikovsky’s most popular ballet, Swan Lake, by Ernest Ansermet and his orchestra in a masterly performance is now available as a new pressing in vinyl. The Russian composer’s first ballet is offered here on a double LP and although not a complete recording, this compilation (with a minimum of cuts) certainly comprises the most beautiful and expressive scenes, losing nothing in the process.

“Ballet specialist“ Ansermet and his wonderfully balanced Orchestre de la Suisse Romande offer here a recording which you’ll want to hear again and again for it captures both the tragic moments of the fairy tale and the festive dance scenes. The precise winds in, for example No. 4, provide a marked contrast to the lively and exciting tutti (No. 5), while the gentle woodwinds blend charmingly with the dreamlike cantilena of the strings (No. 11). The various characteristics of the festive national dances (Polkas, Mazurkas, Hungarian Dance etc.) are performed with temperament, verve and rhythm, but it is the waltzes with their sweet dreaminess which invite the listener most of all to put on their dancing shoes and join in the dance.

Musicians:

• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
• Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

Recording: October/November 1958 at Victoria Hall, Geneva by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker

Format: 2LPs 33rpm / gatefold sleeve, booklet

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Recordings of Tchaikovsky’s late symphonies with the Leningrad Philharmonic under Mravinskij were a legend even in the days of mono recording technique. It comes as no surprise therefore to learn that Tchaikovsky fans were overjoyed when these three great symphonies were released at last on the Yellow Label in top hi-fi quality at the beginning of the Sixties. Masterful performances, as thrilling as live recordings, now became available – recordings which were far superior to all others on the market. Even when the purported ‘miracle’ of digital recording technique began to take over and industrial record production had become a matter of course, Mravinsky’s recordings were still available in a 2CD set. There are reasons enough to re-release the Fifth Symphony as an individual LP, without going into lengthy discussions about which of Tchaikovsky’s late symphonies is the most important. Those who treasure a mono version or a Mravinsky recording from an unknown source in their collection are now given the opportunity to compare their version with the present re-release. All others can congratulate themselves on possessing a milestone recording, a true work of reference, for no other Mravinskij sounds better than this one.

Musicians:

• The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
• Jewgenij Mrawinskij (conductor)

Recording: November 1960 at Musikverein Großer Saal, Vienna, by Harald Baudis
Production: Karl-Heinz Schneider

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Stravinsky Ballets Dorati Included Works:

Mercury SR90216 Stravinsky: Petrouchka/Dorati/The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Petrushka was born of Stravinsky’s vision of a long-haired musician hammering indiscriminately at the piano keys and engaging in a furious contest with the orchestra answering with vehement protests and acoustic fisticuffs. As was the case with The Rite of Spring and The Firebird, Sergei Diaghilev and his Russian ballet had their share in ensuring that the “burlesque” in the four scenes would be suitable for the stage.

The clown-doll Petrushka revels in his spiteful teasing and pranks at the Shrovetide fair. The orchestra contributes swirling dance figures, blaring brass and scurrying strings to his high-spirited clownery but then the Moor enters and dances with the Ballerina, arousing jealousy in Petrushka. Although the clown-doll does not survive this bitter-sweet story, he triumphs at the end, his ghost mocking the crowd at the fair.

This highly inventive music combines folksong, popular music and the waltz, all bounded together by exhilating rhythms which are often taken to thunderous extremes. With its outstanding sound, this recording is a must-have in any Stravinsky collection.

Mercury SR90226 Stravinsky: The Firebird/Dorati/The London Symphony Orchestra. The Firebird can almost be described as a work of fate, since it is not only the first of several ballets that Stravinsky wrote for Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes but also marks his international breakthrough as a composer. In comparison with his other earlier stage works, the ecstatic, sharply contoured Rite of Spring for example, The Firebird, with its melodic character, is a far gentler work altogether. There are unmistakable reminiscences of the musical language of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky as well as snatches of late-Romantic harmonies; all this lends the music the charm of the Russian tradition.

In his performance, Dorati chooses the golden mean in that he has his ensemble produce a highly colorful but by no means glaring sound. Thus the listener is given the opportunity to follow the development of the finely chiselled motifs which are so characteristic of this early composition. Happily, the chamber-music-like transparency is preserved even in the loud, more exposed passages and the sound leaves the loudspeakers with a sprightly, athletic tread.

Mercury SR90253 Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring/Dorati/The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. While he was finishing the score of The Firebird, the idea came to Stravinsky for a pagan, ritual scenario. The background history of Le Sacre du printemps is well known: while the modernists praised the work, the conservative public thought they were being hoaxed. The reason for their irritation and the scandalous fiasco of the premiere is still audible to this day. Stravinsky carries the aggressive, hammering rhythms to the extreme, casting them in atonal harmonies which feed on the alternation between a red-hot and a mild mixture, as Stravinsky put it.

Dorati urges on his ensemble with robust tempi, and the orchestra is quick to respond to all the refinements of the tightly knit movement. It appears to cope effortlessly with the extremes of contrast and manages to amalgamate the rhythmic excesses with the tenderness of the numerous tiny motifs and figures which seem to sprout like flowers out of hard rock. The excellent recording technique captures both the extreme loudness and the finely pulsating tones, resulting in a sound in which no detail goes unheard. The listener can be sure that this Stravinsky deserves the rating excellent both for the interpretation and for the sound.

Format: 3LPs 33rpm / slipcase, booklet

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The LP's are pressed on Classic's 200g Super Vinyl Profile making it possible to get every nuance out of the non-distorted grooves that make SVP sound superior to all other records on the market today. Authentic tip on construction jackets with all original artwork and labels add to this must have deluxe LP edition as part of the Classic Everest 35MM LP Series.

The LP's are pressed on Classic's 200g Super Vinyl Profile making it possible to get every nuance out of the non-distorted grooves that make SVP sound superior to all other records on the market today. Authentic tip on construction jackets with all original artwork and labels add to this must have deluxe LP edition as part of the Classic Everest 35MM LP Series.

With this recording the musical universe of Rameau is captured in an entirely new programme concept by one of the most popular interpreters of French Baroque music. Marc Minkowski has collected about 20 orchestral pieces from 11 of Rameaus operas and has put them together into a dramatic cycle that represents both the world of French Baroque dance music and the origins of French symphonic music.

Track Listing:
1. Overture
2. Scène funèbre
3. Air tendre
4. Premier Tambourin / Deuxième Tambourin
5. Air tendre pour les Muses
6. Contredanse
7. Air gracieux
8. Gavottes pour les Heures et les Zéphirs
9. Orage
10. Prélude
11. 1. La poule
12. Musette tendre en rondeau, Tambourin en rondeau
13. Ritournelle
14. Rigaudons
15. Danse des Sauvages
16. Entrée de Polymnie
17. Chaconne

Behind the mysterious title Symphonie fantastique is to be found what was undoubtedly one of the most powerful musical compositions of its day. The highly controversial discussions which this autobiographical, extraordinary work provoked are quite understandable when one considers that Beethoven and Schubert had just put down their quills for the last time and that Wagner had only just left his childhood behind him. In commenting upon the daring cyclical structure of the work, one French music critic said, “In Berlioz’s Symphony we believe that we have seen the prelude to a revolution in instrumental music”.

In spite of being acknowledged and praised as a composer, Berlioz was never given the professorship he coveted at the Paris Conservatoire, and it might appear as if the renowned Conservatoire Orchestra was making its apologies for this in the present excellent recording. The various scenes of the intoxicating programme music are approached with daring; dreadful, macabre ideas are presented in a low, gloomy and dark timbre until finally a heroic attitude comes to the fore, accompanied by thundering drum rolls, when the death sentence is pronounced. Fantastique!

Musicians:

• Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
• Ataúlfo Argenta (conductor)

Recording: November 1957 at Maison de la Mutualité, Paris by Ken Cress
Production: James Walker

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

The program for this Sony debut features Lang Langs first-ever recording of Beethoven sonatas: The famous Appassionata, a milestone in the piano literature, is paired with the composers youthful "C Major Sonata Op. 2, No. 3." Virtuosity of a different order is displayed in Albénizs impressionistic memories of his native Spain in Book 1 of Iberia. The program closes with one of Prokofievs explosive War Sonatas, the revolutionary "Seventh Sonata." Finally, to celebrate the Chopin Bicentennial we hear three encores of this Polish geniuss most popular works: the Aeolian Harp Etude, the Heroic Polonaise in A-flat Major, and the sparkling "Grande Valse Brillante No. 2."

Hottest artist on the classical music planet - New York Times

Track Listing:
1. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; I. Allegro con brio
2. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; II. Adagio
3. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; III. Scherzo (Allegro)
4. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; IV. Allegro assai
5. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"; I. Allegro assai
6. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"; II. Andante con moto
7. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"; III. Allegro ma non troppo
8. Iberia, Book I; I. Evocación
9. Iberia, Book I; II. El puerto
10. Iberia, Book I; III. Fête-dieu à Seville
11. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83; I. Allegro inquieto - Andantino - Allegro inquieto - Andantino - Allegro inquieto
12. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83; II. Andante caloroso - Poco più animato - Più largamente - un poco agitato - Tempo I
13. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83; III. Precipitato
14. Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in A-Flat Major
15. Polonaise No. 6 in A-Flat Major, Op. 53 "Heroic"
16. Grand Valse Brillante No. 2, Op. 34 No. 1 in A-Flat Major

Side A: (Rashomon – Music by Fumio Hayasaka)
1. Rashom

Side B: (Ikiru - Music by Fumio Hayasaka)
1. "Ikiru" title track
2. Petition Tub Is Turned
3. Sign of the Waiting Room
4. Diagnosis
5. Recollection
6. Gondola Cafe Song
7. Strip Show
8. Watanabe and I
9. Paths Toward Home
10. Mitsuo Irritation
11. Citizen Manager Seat of an Empty Seat
12. Happy Birthday
13. Gondola Park Song
14. "Ikiru" Ending

LP 2 - (Seven Samurai - Music by Fumio Hayasaka):

Side A:
1. "Seven Samurai" title track
2. To The Little Watermill
3. Kanbei & Katsushiro - Kikuchiyo's Mambo
4. Rikichi's Tears - White Rice
5. Two Search For Samurai
6. Extraordinary Man
7. Morning Departure
8. Seven Men Completed
9. Katsushiro & Shino
10. Katsushiro, Come Back
11. In The Forest Of The Water God
12. Wheat Field
13. Interlude
14. Harvesting

Side B : (Seven Samurai - Music by Fumio Hayasaka / Record of a Living Being – Music by Masaru Sato)
1. Farm Village Scenery
2. Weak Insects Into Samurai Ways
3. Flag
4. Magnificent Samurai
5. Kikuchiyo Rises To The Occasion
6. Tryst
7. Manzo & Shino
8. Rice Planting Song
9. "Seven Samurai" Ending
10. "Record of a Living Being" title
11. Guitar into the Night
12. Suromanho
13. Surorunha
14. Manbomerankoria
15. Star music
16. Ahirumanho
17. "I Live in Fear" end title

LP 3 - (The Throne of Blood – Music by Masaru Sato)

Side A:
1. "The Throne of Blood" Title
2. War Drum
3. Light
4. Rush
5. Old Woman Of The Straw Hat (Unused)
6. It Strangely Disappears
7. Ancient Battlefield
8. Wandering In Fog
9. Fireside
10. Disturbing Coincidence
11. Northern Castle
12. Hunting Contest

Side B:
1. Provocation-Separation
2. Prisoner Of Delusion
3. Promotion
4. Horrid Feeling
5. Crazed Dance
6. Confused Position
7. Line Of Great Lords At The Funeral
8. Entry Of The War Castle
9. Conception (Original Version)
10. To Its Strange Cause (Unused)
11. Phantom Warrior
12. The Great Army Comes
13. Great Army 1 (Tympani)
14. A Sign
15. Spiderhand Forest Moves 2
16. "The Throne of Blood" Ending

LP 4 - (The Hidden Fortress – Music by Masaru Sato)

Side A:
1. "The Hidden Fortress" Titles
2. Fallen Warrior's Death
3. Burnt Ruins Of Autumn Moon Castle
4. Flight
5. Money!
6. Mysterious Mountain Man 1
7. Good Idea To Go Cross Country
8. Road To The Hidden Fortress
9. Useless Work
10. Escaping Woman
11. Rokurota, To The Cave
12. Riding In The Indicated Direction
13. Setting Off
14. Gestured Excuse
15. Reliable Ally 1

Side B:
1. Reliable Ally 2
2. Over The Black Smoke
3. Adept On Horseback
4. Spear Match
5. Line Of Firefighters
6. Firefighters
7. Highland Haunting
8. Going Downhill
9. Firefighters' Song
10. Execution Draws Near
11. Treasonous Pardon - Pass Crossing
12. Two Bad Men In Prison
13. 'The Hidden Fortress" Ending

40th Anniversary Collection

Track Listing:
1. Classic Concertos
2. Chopsticks
3. Die Fledermaus
4. Strauss Waltzes
5. Gershwin Medley
6. I'll Be Seeing You
7. Mexican Fanfare
8. Fire Dance
9. Stardust
10. Chopin Nocturne In E Flat
11. Claire De Lune
12. Cats Clown Medley

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major (Enesco)
2. Rumanian Rhapsody No. 2 in D. major (Enesco)
3. The Soldier's March (Stravinsky)
4. Soldier At The Brook (Stravinsky)
5. Pastorale (Stravinsky)
6. The Royal March (Stravinsky)
7. The Little Concert (Stravinsky)
8. Three Dances: Tango, Waltz, Ragtime (Stravinsky)
9. The Devil's Dance (Stravinsky)
10. The Great Chorale (Stravinsky)
11. The Devil's Triumphal March (Stravinsky)

Judson Griffin,Melissa Graybeal, violas

Richard Myron, double bass

Stephen Hammer, oboe

And the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra and the Smithsonian String Quartet

Track Listing:
Side 1 Serenade in D major
Side 2 Serenade in D major (cont'd)
Side 3 Quartet in D major for flute & strings
side 4 Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major for violin and viola
side 5 Quartet in G minor for fortepiano and strings
side 6 Quartet in Eflat major for fortepiano and strings
side 7 Trio in E flat for clarinet, viola and fortepiano
side 8 Ein Musikalischer Spass in F major
side 9 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in G major
side 10 String Quartet in D major
side 11 Quartet in A major for clarinet and strings
side 12 concerto in A major for basset clarinet

Placido Domingo as Goya

Featuring:

Dione Warwick
Gloria Estefan
Seiko Matsude
Richie Havens

Puccini: Rurandot
Donizetti: La Fille du Regiment
Puccini: Tosca
Puccini: La Boheme
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
Leoncavallo: Mattinata

Side Two

de Curtis: Torna a Surriento
Donizetti: La Favorita
Bizet: Carmen
Bellini: I Puritani
Verdi: Il Travatore

1. Silent Night
2. Shepherd's Pipe Carol
3. Fantasia on I Saw Three Ships
4. Greensleeves
5. Zither Carol
6. The Holy Boy
7. Patapan

Side Two

1. Past Three O'clock
2. Sinfonia From The Christmas Oratorio
3. Ave Maria
4. Chorale From The Christmas Oratorio
5. I Wonder As I Wander
6. Sheep May Safely Graze
7. Jesus Christ The Apple Tree
8. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

The tape recording was made at a speed of 30 inches-per-second, using a transport modified to produce exceptionally good motion: a specially developed constant-velocity recording curve was employed for improved signal-to-noise ratio. The lacquer masters were made directly from the original tape, thus avoiding further transfer degradation. The result is a recording of exceptional clarity, naturalness and freedom from vices prevalent generally in the art. - original liner notes

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Symphonic Dances for Orchestra
Non Allegro
Andante con Moto: Tempo di Valse
Lento Assai; Allegro Vivace
Vocalise for Orchestra, Op. 34, No. 14

1. Joy To The World
2. When Jesus Was A Little Child
3. Away In The Manger
4. There Shall A Star From Jacob
5. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
6. Watts Nativity Carol

Side Two

1. O Holy Night
2. What Child Is This?
3. Beautiful Saviour
4. Far, Far Away On Judea's Plains
5. Tell Us, Shepherd Maid
6. The Holy City/Silent Night
7. I Heard The Bells

1. Deck The Halls
2. We Three Kings
3. Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabella
4. Coventry Carol
5. Good King WEnceslas

Side Two

1. Christmas Sweet
2. Wassail
3. Carol Of The Birds
4. I Saw Three Ships
5. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Side B:
1. Spatiodynamisme I
2. Spatiodynamisme II
2. Spatiodynamisme III

Yo La Tengo have worked with a huge variety of artists from different genres over the years. In 1997 they released the Autumn Sweaters Remix EP, featuring remixes from Tortoise, Kevin Shields and μ-Ziq. In 1999, they released the Danelectro Remixes, with remixes by Kit Clayton and Nobekazu Takemura. During the early 2000s, the band performed with members of legendary free jazz combo Other Dimensions In Music as well as members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. In 2010, the band presents an EP of remixes of Here To Fall, the lead track from last year's Popular Songs, by De La Soul, RJD2 and Pete Rock.

Here To Fall is the most popular track from Popular Songs, a couple having a tense conversation about the future over the background of menacing, descending chords and distorted wa-wa guitar. Each of these legendary hip hop performers has taken the track and the story and made it their own. Maseo from De La Soul strips the song to its core only to add driving guitars and a heavy groove. RJD2's take is as cool and atmospheric as you'd expect. It is the EP's closer that truly takes the song to the next level, Pete Rock's remix is dusky, minimal, abstract and hypnotic, carving the song down to the discrete elements of the human relationship, then dropping a verse about Yo La Tengo themselves.

Track Listing:
1. Here To Fall- Album Version
2. Here To Fall- De La Soul Remix
3. Here To Fall- RJD2 Mix
4. Here To Fall- Pete Rock Remix

Ataulfo Argenta's famous stereophonic demonstration record "España!", with the London Symphony Orchestra made at Kingsway Hall in January 1957, features Spanish-themed music by mostly non-Spanish composers.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Rimsky-Korsakov - Cappricio Espangol, Op. 34
2. Granados - Andaluza, Danza Espanola
3. Emmanuel Alexis Chabriere (1841-1894)- Espana

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:

I like the amplitude and keen, spicy attack of the R.P.O. sound even more on the H.M.V. record. - Gramophone, 1959

When we try to show our grandchildren why Beecham was for us so godlike a musician...we shall certainly pull this record from the rack. - Gramophone, 1959

Track Listing:
1. Wedding March
2. Ingrid's lament
3. In the Hall of the Mountain King
4. Morning
5. Ase's Death
6. 1st Arabian Dance
7. Solveig's Song
8. Anitra's Dance
9. Return of Peer Gynt (Storm Scene)
10. Wiegenlied

1. Opening Dance
2. Poll's Solo and Pas de Deux
3. Belaye's Solo
4. Pas de Trois
5. Finale

Scene II:

6. Poll's Solo
7. Jasper's Solo

Scene III:

8. Belay's Solo and Sailor's Drill
9. Poll's Solo
10. Entry of Belaye with Blanche as Bride
11. Reconciliation
12. Grand Finale

The term 'chamber music' alone makes one think that such music is created just for a private circle of listeners. In many cases, however, public figures or great virtuosos were the dedicatees of compositions for small instrumental ensembles. Mozart wrote his Oboe Quartet K. 370 for Friedrich Ramm, the first oboist in the Bavarian Elector’s orchestra. Heinz Holliger treads in Ramm’s footsteps in this recording and proves to be a worthy follower with his rich sound and prominent demeanour. With fitting demureness, the ensemble allows room for the delicate, long-held tones, which the glass harp specialist Bruno Hoffmann conjures up with his nimble fingers – ranging from fine as a hair to bright as a bell.

That the C minor Quintet found its way into a chamber is all thanks to Mozart himself, for he sought out his Wind Serenade K. 388 – composed many years previously – and arranged it anew. Holliger and his fellow musicians leave no doubt as to the serious, mysterious character of the piece, which are inherent in the key and formal structure of the work. It is not surprising therefore, that Mozart reintroduced his serenades to chamber rooms in order to allow connoisseurs to play them and lovers of such works to enjoy them then and now.

Musicians:

• Heinz Holliger (oboe)
• Bruno Hoffmann (glass harp)
• Aurele Nicolet (flute)
• Herman Krebbers (violin)
• Karl Schouten, Judit de Munk-Gero (viola)
• Jean Decroos (cello)

Recording: January 1977

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Allegro
Adagio
Rondeau (Allegro)

Adagio and Rondo, K. 617
Quintet in C minor, K. 406

Allegro
Andante
Menuetto in Canone
Allegro

Does it make sense to revive an early stereo recording of one of the most recorded works and put it on the market again? Certainly a valid question when one considers the enormous number of recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. But when one listens to the Russian maestro’s mature work, it become quite clear why there is such a flood of recordings – although one often has the feeling that they are taking part in a musical Olympics, trying to go faster or louder, rather than achieving musical depth.

With his unfailing, meticulous analysis of the score, Markevitch demonstrates just how much substance lies between the fateful, morbid fanfares on the brass at the beginning, the phantasmal arabesques of the pizzicato third movement, and the explosive, intoxicating finale: a dancelike verve that is reminiscent of his opera "Eugene Onegin" which was composed at the same time, the rising up and ebbing away of the passionate melodies, and the close-knit interplay of the voices allow us to share in the elation and enthusiasm Tchaikovsky felt during the work’s composition. But why this particular recording? Because Markevitch shows that the key to a thrilling Tchaikovsky recording lies neither in sheer force nor superficial exaltation and a swift tempo, but in resoluteness, great perceptiveness for the melodies, and a passion for detail.

Musicians:

• The London Symphony Orchestra
• Igor Markevitch (conductor)

Recording: October 1963 in Brent Town Hall, London

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

1st Mov.: Andante sostenuto -
Moderato Con Anima

Side 2

2nd Mov.: Andantino In Modo Di Canzona
3rd Mov.: Scherzo (Allegro)
4th Mov.: Finale (Allegro Con Fuoco)

No matter how often one hears it, who can ever fail to enjoy “Morning Mood” from Peer Gynt, the incidental music which Grieg wrote for Henrik Ibsen’s play of the same name. And who can fail to want to accompany the hero on his musical journey through the uncanny world of gnomes and trolls and the seductive exoticism of the Orient, and to return to the stillness of the North after a long sea voyage? And who better to capture the magic of romantic Scandinavian music than Grieg’s compatriot, the unforgettable Øivin Fjeldstad, under whose baton the London Symphony Orchestra conjures up the highly changeable moods with a rare forceful presence.

The velvet-smooth, highly sonorous strings play with delicately shaded dynamics and impressive spatiality, while the wonderfully gentle winds transport the listener to the atmosphere of the concert hall. There’s no escaping this music; once you have sat down to listen to it, it will hold you enraptured right up to the very last note.

This excellent DECCA recording, now available in a limited edition, will surely be sold out within no time!

Musicians:

• London Symphony Orchestra
• Øivin Fjeldstad (conductor)

Recording: Februar 1958 at Kingsway Hall, London by Cyril Windeback
Production: Christopher Raeburn

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

One of the most versatile musicians of the 20th century, Bernstein was a great interpreter of the music of that era. Greatly moved by Shostakovichs music, he was one of the Soviet composers greatest champions. The Second Piano Concerto is often referred to as a fiery and youthful work, making it a perfect fit for the mercurial Bernstein. The performance captured here has the same consuming passion we know from his famous recording of Gershwins Rhapsody In Blue. It may well be the works definitive recording.

Another work that will forever be associated with Bernstein as both pianist and conductor is Ravels Concerto in G. This jazzy and uplifting piece is a perfect playmate for the Shostakovich concerto. No one brought more to this work than Bernstein, who had been playing it with the New York Philharmonic since 1944. Like Ravel, Bernstein was greatly inspired by jazz and its clear (especially on this new LP!) that Bernstein understood the mood and syncopation of the piece like few before him.

Impex Records new LP is a stunning time-capsule for classical record production during the golden era of early stereo: minimally miked, full of natural ambience and incredibly dynamic. The Shostakovich concerto was recorded in the enormous Colorama Ballroom of the Saint George Hotel, the location where Bernstein recorded Rhapsody In Blue and Tchaikovskys Romeo And Juliet. The Ravel was recorded on April 7th, 1958 in the magical acoustics of the 30th Street studio. We know the acoustics of this room from such famous recordings as Kind Of Blue, Time Out, Highway 61 Revisited, Barbara Streisands debut album, not to mention countless other records by Bernstein, Bruno Walter, and Simon and Garfunkel. - Robert Mr. Record Pincus

Track Listing:
1. Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 101
2. Piano Concerto in G Major

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Allegro Moderato
2. Dumka (Elegie). Poco Allegretto
3. Furiant. Presto
4. Finale. Tema Con Variazioni. Allegretto Grazioso, Quasi Andantino

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Danzas Espanolas Op. 37, No. 10 Danza triste G-Dur No. 2778 (Welte-Mignon Catalogue No.)
2. Danzas Espanolas Op. 37, No. 7 Valencia o Calesera G-Dur No. 2779
3. Danzas Espanolas Op. 37, No. 5 Andaluza e-Moll No. 2780
4. Goyescas, Primera Parte, No. 3, El Fandango de Candil (Dance By Candlelight) No. 2785
5. Valses poeticos Op. 10, No. 2781
6. Piece de Scarlatti, No. 2782
7. Goyescas, Primera Parte, No. 4 Quejas o la Maja y el Ruisenor (The Lady and the Nightengale) No. 2786

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Side 1: Symphony No. 1 in C Major op. 21
1. Adagio Molto - Allegro con brio
2. Andante cantabile con molto
3. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace
4. Finale. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace

Side 2: Symphony No. 2 in D Major op. 36
1. Adagio - Allegro con brio
2. Larghetto
3. Scherzo. Allegro
4. Allegro molto

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Side 1: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor op. 67
1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante con moto

Side 2
1. Allegro
2. Allegro

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Andante molto moto
3. Allegro
4. Allegro
5. Allegretto

That the work can be beautifully performed without resorting to venturesome experiments is shown by the PCPO and soloist Daniel Gaede, who focus on authenticity and straightforwardness in their reading, without pledging themselves to a scholastic performance practice as preached by some Baroque gurus. The colourful constant change from good-humoured playing together to 'contesting' with one another is filled with the sheer joy of music-making that is free of mannerisms and whims. These performers demonstrate just how smoothly a four-wheeled Baroque motor can run: it purrs, sings, murmurs, accelerates and slackens without juddering in the least. This recordings forte is found in the light-hearted simplicity and naturalness of the playing and the finely balanced analogue sound recording.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Side 1
Concerto No. 1 La Primavera / Spring
1. Allegro
2. Largo e Pianissimo
3. Allegro

Concerto No. 2 L'Estate / Summer
4. Allegro ma non molto
5. Adagio
6. Presto

Side 2
Concerto No. 3 L'Autunno / Autumn
1. Allegro
2. Adagio molto
3. Allegro

Concerto No. 4 L'Inverno / Winter
4. Allegro non molto
5. Largo
6. Allegro

At long last, the present recording on the audiophile Tacet label brings light into the darkness surrounding this Night Music. The Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra performs standard works with an emotional freshness and over the years has deservedly become a welcome guest at concert venues all over the globe. Wojciech Rajski's Mozart is unaffected and flows freely with lively tempi. He easily deals with the disparity between the lightness of this effervescent music and its elaborate compositional technique which is characteristic for this mature work. It goes without saying that Tacet's tube-only recording technique guarantees a more than adequate reproduction of this top artistic performance.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Side 1: Serenade in G
1. Allegro
2. Romance. Andante
3. Menuetto. Allegretto
4. Rondo. Allegro

Side 2: Divertimento in D
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Presto

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Peter Tchaikovsky: Melody Op.42, No.3
2. Rodion Schtschedrin: In the Style of Albeniz
3. Jules Massenet: Meditation from Thais
4. Franz Schubert: Ave Maria Op.52, No.6
5. Richard Drigo: "Valse Bluette," Air de Ballet
6. Moritz Moszkowski: Spanish Dance No.2, Op.12
7. Edward Elgar: Salut d'Amour Op.12
8. Charles-Auguste de Beriot: Scene de Ballett Op.100
9. Manuel M. Ponce - Jascha Heifetz: Estrellita (My Little Star), Mexican Serenade

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Concerto Grosso op.6 No. 7 d Major
2. Battalia a 10
3. Concerto alla Rustica G Major
4. La Musica Notturna della strade di Madrid
5. Sinfonia F Major

Possessing a complete recording of Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas gives far more satisfaction than merely having the set to fill the shelves. On the one hand it offers one the opportunity to compare Beethoven’s art of composition at various stages in his life. And on the other hand one can already recognise in the early Opus 5 how he breaks with the traditional sonata in which the solo instrument merely provides an accompaniment and treats the two instruments as equal partners in the creation of the movements.

Richter and Rostropovich devote themselves to their task with verve and freshness. The two early works are marked by the rich and full sound of the cello and an elegantly performed piano part, while the two Russian musicians foster a contemplative, introverted style in the A major Sonata. This respectful approach also lends itself well to the C major Sonata where the free, fantasia-like character with wide-ranging shading is shown off to advantage. Beethoven’s break with the traditional sonata-form layout is carried to extremes in the D major Sonata, where the cello ignores the powerful theme on the piano in the first movement. The work’s brittleness is effectively revealed by the two musicians in the transition from the sensitive Adagio to the austere, freely worked final Fugato, while their resolute and analytical approach to the work and technical prowess on their instruments is highly rewarding.

Musicians:

• Mstislav Rostropovich (cello)
• Sviatoslav Richter (piano)

Recording: June 1962 at Rosenhügel Studios, Vienna, and July 1961 at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, by C.R. Fine
Production: Harold Lawrence

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Concerto I - F major BWV 1046
2. Concerto II - F major BWV 1047
3. Concerto III - G major BWV 1048
4. Concerto IV - G major BWV 1049
5. Concerto V - F major BWV 1050
6. Concerto VI - B flat major BWV 1051

The work originally consisted of four pieces: Granada, Cataluna, Seville and Cuba. The editor Hofmeister republished the Suite española in 1912, after Albeniz's death, but added Cadiz, Asturias, Aragon and Castile. The other pieces had been published in other editions and sometimes with different titles (Asturias was originally the prelude from the suite Chants d'Espagne).

The four pieces that Hofmeister added do not exactly reflect the geographical region to which they refer. A clear example of this is Asturias (Leyenda), whose Andalusian Flamenco rhythms have little to do with the Atlantic region of Asturias. Opus 47, the number assigned by Hofmeister, does not have any chronological relation to any of Albénizs other works, since the opus numbers of the pieces were randomly assigned by publishers and Albéniz himself. Despite the spurious nature of the Suite española, however, it has become one of the most performed of Albéniz's piano works, a favorite of both pianists and audiences.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Side 1
1. Castilla (Seguidillas)
2. Asturias (Leyenda)

Side 2
1. Aragon (Fantasia)
2. Cadiz (Cancion)

Side 3
1. Sevilla (Sevillanas)
2. Granada (Serenata)

Side 4
1. Cataluna (Corranda)
2. Cordoba

The opening fanfare from Richard Strauss’s "Also sprach Zarathustra" ("Thus spoke Zarathustra") is known to everyone since it was 'rediscovered' in Stanley Kubrick’s film "2001: A Space Odyssey" and consequently employed time and again in TV ads. At the turn of the century, however, renowned music critics asked themselves whether they should even bother to listen to the rest of the work, a symphonic poem, which – they presumed – was a narration in music of Nietzsche’s book. In what is probably his most famous orchestral composition, Strauss, however, freely associated the words of the Saxon poet and philosopher when putting them into music by using the key of C major to depict nature, and the greatly contrasting key of B major for humanity.

Once again Herbert von Karajan proves himself a distinguished tour guide through the wistful, secretive and bleak sound world through which Strauss has his questing hero wander. And the Berlin Philharmonic thank him with captivating, meltingly beautiful violins, deep growling basses, and steely winds. One recalls with pleasure the legendary leading violinist Michel Schwalbé, who plays the solo part with immense feeling and profundity. Enhanced by a perfected analogue recording technique, this disc is a wise choice when it comes to Strauss.

Musicians:

• The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Herbert von Karajan (conductor)

Recording: January and March 1973 at Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, by Günter Hermanns
Production: Dr. Hans Hirsch

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

As little as Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues conformed to Soviet musical dictates, these ambitious works were all the more highly regarded by the experts. What appeared as decadent and formalistic to Stalinist augurs is no less than an homage to Bach’s "Well-tempered Clavier" in the form of 24 miniatures, in the major and minor keys around the circle of fifths. Shostakovich dedicated his compositions to Tatiana Nikolayeva whom he got to know at the Leipzig Bach Festival in 1950. Little did he know that she would promote his musical gems right up until her very last breath, when she died on stage while performing his Opus 87 in 1993 in San Francisco.

Although Sviatoslav Richter never recorded the complete cycle of Preludes and Fugues, the present recording with his personal selection is one of the most distinguished interpretations of these works. Richter’s refined performance brings out the strict form found within the modern compositional style, allowing the biting sarcasm or ludicrous melodies to sparkle, and explores archaic rhythms. But Richter, the experienced romanticist, is also a master of Schumannesque expression in the form of languid melodiousness in the middle range of the keyboard. At long last this hard-to-find, yet easy to listen to, recording is available once more.

Musicians:

• Sviatoslav Richter (piano)

Recording: July 1963 in Paris

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
1. Poco sostenuto - Vivace
2. Allegretto
3. Presto - Assai Meno Presto
4. Allegro Con Brio

Latin Grammy-Winning LP Possesses One of the Most Realistic-Sounding Performances of Cello and Piano That You'll Ever Hear

Recorded on Vacuum-Tube Microphones: No Compression or Limiting Used in the Process

Virtuosic Violinist Performs the Music of Piazzolla, Ginastera, Bragato, Golijov, and Schifrin

Cellist Antonio Lysy has performed as soloist worldwide, in major concert halls, appearing with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras of London, Camerata Academica of Salzburg, Zurich Tonhalle, the Zagreb Soloists, Orchestra di Padova e il Veneto, Israel Sinfonietta, and in Canada with the Montreal, Toronto, Symphony Orchestras, and Les Violons du Roi. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Yuri Temirkanov, Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and Sandor Vegh.

Track Listing:
1. Pampeana, Rhapsody No. 2, Op. 21
2. Graciela Y Buenos Aires
3. Triste, from Cinco Canciones Populares Argentinas, Op. 10
4. Zamba, from Cinco Canciones Populares Argentinas, Op. 10
5. Omaramor
6. Oblivion
7. Punena No. 2, Op. 45
8. Milonga del Angel
9. Le Grand Tango
10. Pampas

The Mendelssohn was recorded at No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road in 1958 and the Bruch dates from the earliest days of stereo (1956) recorded at Londons famous Kingsway Hall venue.

Produced and engineered by the legendary Victor Olof and Christopher Parker (Mendelssohn) and Lawrance Collingwood and Robert Arnold (Bruch).

The album features original album artwork and is pressed on 180 gram vinyl to audiophile standards.

Track Listing:
Side One:
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
1. Allegro molto appassionato
2. Andante
3. Allegretto non troppo - Allegro molto vivace

Side Two:
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in g minor, Op. 26
1. Allegro moderato
2. Adagio
3. Finale (Allegro energico)

Recorded on 20, 21 & 23 September 1960 (Symphony No.5) and 5 & 6 January 1959 (Finlandia) at Londons famous Kingsway Hall venue. Produced by Walter Legge and Engineered by Douglas Larter (Harold Davidson Finlandia).

Cut at Abbey Road Studios from the original stereo analogue master tapes with the Neumann VMS80 lathe fed an analogue pre-cut signal from a specially adapted Studer A80 tape deck with additional playback head.

Track Listing:
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Side One:
Symphony No.5 in E flat major, Op.82
1. First Movement: Tempo molto moderato - Allegro moderato Presto
2. Second Movement: Andante mosso, quasi allegretto

Side Two
Symphony No.5 in E flat major, Op.82, (cont.)
1. Third Movement: Allegro molto
Tone Poem
2. Finlandia, Op.26

This famous LP was recorded at the Kingsway Hall, London on May 10-11, 1962, except for the Tallis Fantasia which was recorded in the sonorous acoustic of the medieval Temple Church in the City of London a week later. The latter venue was suggested by the American composer and conductor Bernard Herrmann, a friend and admirer of Barbirolli since Sir Johns years in New York.

From Herrmann's website: Herrmann insisted that it must be done in a stone building not a studio. So Herrmann suggested the Temple Church. The recording session was started at midnight to avoid traffic noise. According to Ursula Vaughan Williams (the composers widow): "Coats and bags and thermos flasks were piled round the effigies of Crusader Knights. Bernard was there, listening to the balance, listening to the music, and the resulting record is by far the best ever made of the work."

Produced by the legendary Victor Olof and engineered by Harold Davidson and Neville Boyling (Tallis).

The album features the original album artwork and is pressed on 180g vinyl to audiophile standards.

Track Listing:
Side One:
Edward William Elgar (1857-1934)
1. Introduction and Allegro for strings, Op. 47
2. Serenade in e minor, Op. 20
Side Two:
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
1. Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
2. Fantasia on "Greensleeves"

This classic LP of the Bach Concertos was recorded when Menuhin was in his early 40s and in his prime and the LP has been newly cut at EMIs Abbey Road Studios from the original stereo EMI Master Tapes.

The Bach A minor and E minor Concertos were recorded at Londons famous Kingsway Hall venue on the 7th & 8th of October 1958, and the Double Concerto (with the legendary French violinist Christian Ferras) recorded on 8 July 1959.

Produced and engineered by Peter Andry and Robert Gooch. The album is pressed on 180g vinyl to audiophile standards and features the original album artwork.

Track Listing:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Side 1:
Violin Concerto in A minor
1. Allegro - Andante
Double Concerto in D minor
2. Vivace - Largo ma non tanto
Side 2:
Double Concerto in D minor
1. Allegro
Concerto in E Major
2. Allegro - Adagio - Allegro assai

In celebration of his piano hero's bicentenary, Lang Lang has selected some of the most famous, virtuosic and poetic solo pieces, concluding with a stunning recording of the Piano Concerto No. 1 - accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev.

Track Listing:
Side 1
1. Romance "O pourquoi donc" in E Minor, S. 1690
2. La campanella in G-Sharp Minor from Grandes études de Paganini, S 141/3
3. Consolation No. 3 in D-Flat Major, S. 172

Side 2
4. Grand Galop chromatique in E-Flat Major, S. 219
5. Liebestraum No. 3 in A-Flat Major, S. 541/3
6. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in D-Flat Major, S. 244/6

Side 3
1. Un sospiro in D-Flat Major from Trois études de concert, S. 144/3
2. Rakoczy March from Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 in A Minor, S. 244/15
3. Ave Maria, S. 558

Side 4
4. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S. 124: I. Allegro maestoso
5. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S. 124: II. Quasi adagio - Allegretto vivace - Allegro animato
6. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S. 124: III. Allegro marziale animato

2
1. Sonata III in Do maggiore (C major)
2. Sonata IV in Si bemolle maggiore (B flat major)

This title is not eligible for discount.

Track Listing:
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
LP1 - Side A:
1. Maestoso
LP1 - Side B:
1. Maestoso (continued)

LP2 - Side C:
1. Adagio
LP2 - Side D:
1. Rondo: Allegro non troppo

A captivating recording by the first strings of chamber music. The Guarneri String Quartet also had the distinction of being musics longest running artist collaboration.

Reunited with Max Wilcox, the producer who recorded their legendary sessions with Artur Rubinstein at RCA and featuring one of the seminal monuments to French quartet literature, the Guarneris exquisite interpretation and performance makes this one of the best recordings of Ravels quartet ever made.

Beautifully recorded, this album is the culmination of 37 years of extraordinary talent, success, and emotional commitment from one of the greatest quartets in history.

Track Listing:
I. Allegro moderato
II. Assez vif - Très Rhythmé
III. Très lent
IV. Vif et agité

Carl Adams has been a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania since 1979 teaching flute, jazz Improvisation and is a member of the IUP Faculty Woodwind Quintet. Active on both the classical and jazz scene, Adams has performed with the U.S. Military Academy Band, the Keystone Wind Ensemble and the Akron and Johnstown Symphonies. Solo recital appearances include the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, Carnegie Recital Hall and the Chautauqua Institution. He performs in a tri-state area with the Carl Adams Jazz Quartet and has appeared at the Pittsburgh Jazz Society, Nemacolin in Woodlands, Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Westin-William Penn (Pittsburgh) and in benefit concerts for the Westmoreland Symphony.

James Rupp is a veteran of the great 'big bands' of Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson and Glenn Miller, including tours of the United States and Europe. Jim has recorded television specials with the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Bobby Floyd Trio and live albums with the Woody Herman and Glenn Miller Orchestras.

Jerry Tachoir is acclaimed by critics for his talent, versatality, and his studious grasp of the jazz idiom and brings an exciting and engaging dimension to his performances. He has been an active member of the Ludwig/Musser clinic staff since 1972. His most requested clinic features include improvisational techniques, harmonic awareness, and vibe technique.

The connection of the percussion ensemble with jazz/rock/popular music seems a logical one given the inclusion of various percussion instruments as integral parts of this music. The drumset, of course, was present from the beginning of jazz and rock. The vibraphon has long been a favorite jazz instrument and the xylophone was a favorite ragtime solo instrument in the early part of the 20th century. Ethnic percussion instruments from Latin America, Africa and other cultures have long been used in the jazz/rock/pop Idiom.

Musicians:
Dr. Gary J. Olmstead, conductor
Carl Adams, percussion
James Rupp, percussion
Jerry Tachoir, percussion

Perhaps the real beauty of MicaÆs talent is that she keeps things rough around the edges by design: no polished beats when big fat dirty ones will do, obvious choruses eschewed for intricate yet subtle melodies that grow and grow.

Mica studied violin, viola and composition at the Purcell School before being offered a scholarship to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study composition. Her talent as a young composer has not gone unnoticed with Mark Anthony Turnage commissioning her to write an orchestral piece for the London Philharmonic Orchestra to be performed at the Royal Festival Hall on April 29th.

For live shows Micachu plays with her band the Shapes: a three-piece fronted by Mica (vocals, guitar, electronics and Hoover), Raisa Kahn (keys) and Marc Pell (drums). Armed with just her beat up, half sized guitar and hidden beneath a mop of hair, MicaÆs understated appearance belies her startling musical prowess. MicachuÆs Matthew Herbert produced debut LP Jewellery is the aural equivalent of a chameleon: a multi-coloured, multi-layered conflation of ground breaking sounds and ideas.

Track Listing:
1. Vulture
2. Lips
3. Sweetheart
4. Eat Your Heart
5. Curley Teeth
6. Golden Phone
7. Ship
8. Floor
9. Just In Case
10. Calculator 11. Wrong
12. Turn Me Well
13. Guts

One of the choice audio aphrodisiacs of the '60s and '70s, the Mystic Moods Orchestra mixed orchestral pop, environmental sounds and pioneering recording techniques into a unique musical phenomenon. Audiophile Brad Miller was devoted to capturing sound as accurately as possible and in the '50s he began recording some of the last steam locomotives running. In order to sell his railroad recordings, Miller formed the Mobile Fidelity label. The concept of the Mystic Moods Orchestra didn't occur to him until the mid-'60s, when a late-night San Francisco DJ played one of Miller's albums and an easy listening album simultaneously on the air. When he received surprisingly positive feedback to his joke, he told Miller, who was suitably inspired to collaborate with arranger/composer Don Ralke on the first Mystic Moods Orchestra album, 1965's One Stormy Night. Released through Philips, it became the label's most popular release that year and throughout the rest of the '60s and '70s, Miller and producer Leo Kulka repeated that success with Mystic Moods Orchestra releases like Nighttide, More Than Music, and Another Stormy Night. The album covers and titles made it clear that the music was intended for romance.

Miller continued to pursue higher levels of sonic perfection, releasing more environmental and railroad recordings, as well as Mystic Moods reissues on his own Soundbird label. More importantly, in the late '70s, Miller founded the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. There, he implemented half-speed mastering techniques and the highest quality vinyl and cutting machines to produce albums with pristine sound quality. Many labels licensed Mobile Fidelity's process for reissues.

Another Stormy Night features a potpourri of the most popular music from the earliest albums, sequenced in a very special way to create yet another fabulous mystic mood encounter. It is truly a most pleasurable listening experience and now available for the first time in HQ 180-gram LP.

Cisco Music's 180-gram issue of Another Stormy Night contains new artwork and original tape mastering for superior representation of Miller's singular audio aesthetic and maximum mood enhancement for your system. This special pressing will be strictly limited and numbered for collecting!

Track Listing:
1. Far From the Madding Crowd
2. Autumn Leaves
3. Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)
4. Minstrel Boy
5. Symphony
6. A Dream
7. Love Theme from "Tristan and Isolde"
8. My Own True Love
9. Crystal Morning (Dawn Has Broken)
10. Sayonara

CONCERTO IN A MAJOR
Fanna 1 No. 106 (Pincherle 234)
(realized by Malipiero)

Band 1 - 1st movement: Allegro molto
Band 2 - 2nd movement: Largo
Band 3 - 3rd movement: Allegro

CONCERTO IN C MINOR ("IL SOSPETTO")
Fanna 1 No. 2 (Pincherle 419)
(realized by Ephrikian)

Band 4 - 1st movement: Allegro
Band 5 - 2nd movement: Andante
Band 6 - 3rd movement: Allegro

SIDE TWO

CONCERTO IN C MAJOR
Fanna 1 No. 3 (Pincherle 88)
(realized by Maderna)

Band 1 - 1st movement: Allegro
Band 2 - 2nd movement: Largo
Band 3 - 3rd movement: Allegro

CONCERTO IN A MINOR
Fanna 1 No. 5 (Pincherle 236)
(realized by Maderna)

Band 4 - 1st movement: Allegro molto
Band 5 - 2nd movement: Largo
Band 6 - 3rd movement: Allegro

Recorded during the Summer of '56 at Goldwyn Studio Stage 7, this record proves to all of the skeptics that classical music was alive, and doing quite well in the Hollywood of the 50s. Capitol combined Benjamin Britten's witty guide to the orchestra's instruments with Ernst von Dohnanyi's sublime Variation's On A Nursery Tune. Conductor Felix Slatkin and pianist Victor Aller (The "5th" member of the legendary Hollywood String Quartet) coax a level of inspiration from an orchestra culled from Hollywood's best studio musicians that is unheard of in today's recordings.

Track Listing:
1. Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra(Benjamin Britten 1913-1976)
2. Variations On A Nursery Tune (Ernst Von Dohnanyi 1877-1960)

Original Analogue Recording Japanese Pressing

Track Listing:
Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967)
Hary Janos, Suite
1. Prelude - The Fairy Tale Begins
2. Viennese Musical Clock
3. Song*
4. The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon
5. Intermezzo*
6. Entrance of the Emperor and His Court
7. Dances of Galanta
2 Arias from "Hary Janos" (Paulini & Harsanyi)
8. Szegeny Vagyok* (Poor Am I Still)
9. Hej Ket Tikom* (Once I Had A Brood of Chicks)

EMI waited many years to get these legendary artists together for this recording and the result was one of the greatest recordings this work has ever received.

Produced by Peter Andry and pressed on 180g Audiophile Vinyl.

This latest issue has been newly cut at EMI's Abbey Road Studios from the original stereo EMI Master tapes.

"Even in these days of star-studded casting on record, the line-up for this latest version of the Triple Concerto is nothing short of breathtaking. So breathtaking I was worried that my expectations would run ahead of all possible achievement. But not so. This is a marvelous performance that will clearly remain a classic for years to come." - Edward Greenfield, Gramophone, September 1970

Features: 180g Audiophile Vinyl
Cut from original EMI Master Tapes at EMI's Abbey Road Studios
Features original album artwork, including original insert of notes

Musicians:
David Oistrakh, violin
Sviatoslav Richter, piano
Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, conductor


Track Listing:
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Triple Concerto
Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 56
1. Allegro
2. Largo
3. Rondo alla Polacca

In spite of the varying degrees of popularity of Mozart’s numerous piano concertos, no one would seriously consider ranking them by quality. It would certainly prove an impossible task, for each and every one of these intense yet often playful compositions could be considered the most perfect of its genre. In view of this, one should concentrate on each work’s highly individual character and this can hardly be more contrasting than in the present two pieces. Thanks to the joyous, energetic disposition of No. 19 in F major, K. 259, it appears to be filled with the exuberant spirit of Mozart’s Viennese period – a time when he amazed audiences with his dexterity at the keyboard. As a contrast, the mood of the late No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595, which was performed in a small circle, is introvert and mellow. The old adage that Mozart’s final concerto was a gesture of farewell and filled with a premonition of death is certainly not substantiated by Haskil and Fricsay’s performance. Through the subtle and flowing clarity of her piano part under the tense and elastic opposition of the orchestra, the soloist banishes the question of the end of time into the background and so pays hommage to the relaxed and self-assured mastery of the Salzburg composer.

Musicians:

• Clara Haskil (piano)
• Bayerisches Staatsorchester
• Ferenc Fricsay (conductor)

Recording: September 1955 at Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, by Harald Baudis and May 1957 at Herkules Saal, Munich by Werner Wolf
Production: Wolfgang Lohse / Otto Gerdes

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Opinions differ as to whether Mahler’s Ninth is a work filled with world-weariness and the pain of leave-taking or whether it is – more strictly speaking – a piece of absolute music. What is certain is that this gigantic composition is one of the last tonal masterpieces which was written on the threshold to modernism. It is no wonder, therefore, that numerous recordings exist – many of which are filled with extreme pathos. Among the plethora of recordings of this late Romantic work, the present interpretation by Giulini and his excellent Chicago Symphony Orchestra stands out for many reasons. Giulini tackles the enormously expressive score with clear analytical reasoning, without becoming merely a dull executor of the musical notes. His performance is filled with transparency even in the finest and smallest melodic elements and glows with a warm and expansive timbre. Even what is often heard as brutal and dynamic in the weighty brass section is here given a more poignant and fateful sound.

It is left to the listener to judge the aesthetic value of this particular performance of the Ninth, but its sheer musical quality is beyond reproach.

Musicians:

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Carlo Maria Giulini (conductor)

Recording: April 1976 in Medinah Temple, Chicago, by Klaus Scheibe
Production: Günther Breest

Format: 2LPs 33rpm / gatefold sleeve, booklet

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.