Brahms - Horn Trio : Sonata No. 2 - Joseph Szigeti , Mieczyslaw Horszowski , John Barrow - 180g LP

Product no.: SR90210

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Brahms - Horn Trio : Sonata No. 2 - Joseph Szigeti , Mieczyslaw Horszowski , John Barrow - 180g LP
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Speakers Corner / Mercury - SR90210 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl 

AAA 100% Analogue - Limited Edition - SR90210 Mercury Living Presence

Mastered by Wilem Makkee at Emil Berliner  - Pressed  at Pallas Germany

A real Treat & Highly Recommended - HIFI + Review

Johannes Brahms: Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano in E flat major, op. 40; Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A major, op. 100 - Joseph Szigeti (violin), Mieczyslaw Horszowski (piano), John Barrows (horn)
 
"…The Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti (pronounced 'Zuh-geh-tee'), about whom I wrote at length in this magazine some ten years ago, was one of this century's great artists…his insight into one of the greatest of the great nineteenth-century concertos is still consummately thoughtful and deeply moving. Wobbly intonation is simply the price you pay with Szigeti, early or late. In my opinion, it is a price well worth paying for the intelligence and expressiveness that you are always rewarded with, the Brahms Sonata No. 2 being a case in point." - Jonathan Valin, The Absolute Sound
 
In the 18th and 19th century, a great many chamber-music works for winds were composed with a specific occasion in mind. Brahms’s 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 virtuosic 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.
 
 Well-chosen to complement the carefree Horn Sonata, the B side contains a light and airy performance of the Violin Sonata No. 2 op. 100 which clearly reflects Brahms’s mature compositional style.
 
March  1959 im Ballroom in Great Northern Hotel, New York City, von C.R. Fine
Production: Wilma Cozart

 

Violinist Joseph Szigeti, pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski and John Barrows, horn, perform Johannes Brahms Horn Trio and Sonata No. 2.

Musicians: 
Joseph Szigeti, violin
Mieczyslaw Horszowski, piano
John Barrows, horn

Selections:
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Horn Trio in E flat major, Opus 40 for violin, horn and piano
Sonata No. 2 in A major, Opus 100 for violin and piano

 
 
Brahms - Horn Trio, Sonata No. 2 :Joseph Szigeti : Mieczyslaw Horszowski , John Barrow - 180g LP
 
                               
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As a matter of principle, only analogue masters are used, and the necessary cutting delay is also analogue. All our cutting engineers use only Neumann cutting consoles, and these too are analogue. The only exception is where a recording has been made – either partly or entirely – using digital technology, but we do not have such items in our catalogue at the present time
 
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At the beginning of the ‘90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the reissue policy was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC Compact Classics, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and others, including of course Speakers Corner, all maintained a mutual, unwritten code of ethics: we would manufacture records sourced only from analogue tapes. 
 
Vinyl’s newfound popularity has led many other companies to jump 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 from which to master: CDs, LPs, digital files and even MP3s. 
 
Even some who do use an analogue tape source employ a digital delay line, a misguided ’80s and ‘90s digital technology that replaces the analogue preview head originally used to “tell” the cutter head in advance what was about to happen musically, so it could adjust the groove “pitch” (the distance between the grooves) to make room for wide dynamic swings and large low frequency excursions. Over time analogue preview heads became more rare and thus expensive. 
 
So while the low bit rate (less resolution than a 16 bit CD) digital delay line is less expensive and easier to use than an analogue “preview head”, its use, ironically, results in lacquers cut from the low bit rate digital signal instead of from the analogue source! 
 
Speakers Corner wishes to make clear that it produces lacquers using only original master tapes and an entirely analogue cutting system. New metal stampers used to press records are produced from that lacquer. The only exceptions are when existing metal parts are superior to new ones that might be cut, which includes our release of “Elvis is Back”, which was cut by Stan Ricker or several titles from our Philips Classics series, where were cut in the 1990s using original master tapes by Willem Makkee at the Emil Berliner Studios. In those cases we used only the original “mother” to produce new stampers. 
 
In addition, we admit to having one digital recording in our catalogue: Alan Parsons’ “Eye in the Sky”, which was recorded digitally but mixed to analogue tape that we used to cut lacquers. 
 
In closing, we want to insure our loyal customers that, with but a few exceptions as noted, our releases are “AAA”— analogue tape, an all analogue cutting system, and newly cut lacquers.
 
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