Britten - Sonata in C : Schumann: Fünf Stücke - Mstislav Rostropovich & Benjamin Britten - 180g LP

Product no.: SXL2298
Britten - Sonata in C : Schumann: Fünf Stücke - Mstislav Rostropovich & Benjamin Britten - 180g LP
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Speakers Corner / Decca - SXL 2298 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue 

Limited Edition - Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering - Pressed  at Pallas Germany

AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
 
Ranked in the top 50 picks of the Absolute Sound's Buyer's Guide
 
Britten: Sonata in C for Cello and Piano / Schumann: Fünf Stücke im Volkston / Debussy: Sonata for Cello and Piano - Mstislav Rostropovich and Benjamin Britten
 
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 
 
Selections: 
 
Britten
1. Sonata in C for Cello and Piano
Schumann 
2. Funf Stucke im Volkston
Debussy
3. Sonata for Cello and Piano

Britten / Rostropovich /Schumann / Debussy - Mstislav Rostropovich & Benjamin Britten - 180g LP

 
                               
20 Years pure Analogue
This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head
 
Are your records completely analogue?
Yes! This we guarantee!
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
 
Are your records cut from the original masters?
In our re-releases it is our aim to faithfully reproduce the original intentions of the musicians and recording engineers which, however, could not be realised at the time due to technical limitations. Faithfulness to the original is our top priority, not the interpretation of the original: there is no such thing as a “Speakers Corner Sound”. Naturally, the best results are obtained when the original master is used. Therefore we always try to locate these and use them for cutting. Should this not be possible, – because the original tape is defective or has disappeared, for example – we do accept a first-generation copy. But this remains an absolute exception for us.
 
Who cuts the records?
In order to obtain the most faithful reproduction of the original, we have the lacquers cut on the spot, by engineers who, on the whole, have been dealing with such tapes for many years. Some are even cut by the very same engineer who cut the original lacquers of the first release. Over the years the following engineers have been and still are working for us: Tony Hawkins, Willem Makkee, Kevin Gray, Maarten de Boer, Scott Hull, and Ray Staff, to name but a few.
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.
 
60 Years Pallas
 
Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany  For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!

 

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