AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
Speakers Corner / Harmonia Mundi - HM 1050 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl
AAA 100% Analogue - Limited Edition - Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering
Pressed at Pallas Germany
Speakers Corner 25 Years Pure Analogue This LP is an Entirely Analogue Production
Album of the month - "Quickly becoming a cult LP when issued in 1980, this brilliantly inventive set of twelve variations on the 16th-century Portuguese theme 'La Folia'…There are forays into jazz, hoedown, Indian sitar music, and even a quote from Mancini's Pink Panther! The cherry on the icing is to have it back on pristine vinyl again." Recording = 5/5; Performance = 5/5 – Chris Breunig, Hi-Fi News
Gregorio Paniagua and his original-instrument ensemble present a bizarre program based on the ancient tune known as the 'Spanish Follies' and intended to illustrate the 'folly' or madness that has been said to tinge Spanish culture. Mad it is, with a vengeance. Among the original instruments sounding off here are automobiles, pistols and birds." - The Absolute Sound
Arthur Salvatore's review . This record excels in every sonic parameter, and it is full of surprises. The sound stage is large and the sound-floor is extremely low, allowing every last detail to be heard; including the harmonic structure and decay, tonal and dynamic complexity etc.
This recording is a lot of fun. You will want to use it for a demonstration record! 5/5 Sound
Atrium Musicae de Madrid directed by Gregorio Paniagua performing his own La Folia de la Spagna. "All the composers in the world who write their own Folia don’t keep a close account of what they are doing.
They mature patiently like the tree that does not haste his sap; they soak up everything and remain confident in the torments of spring, without anxiety that they might not know another spring. And spring comes and a quiet weariness overcomes them, even if they are patient, carefree and calm, as if all eternity lay before them. They can then love their Folia and their solitude; they endure the pain it causes them and succeed in investing the sound of their complaint with beauty." - Gregorio Paniagua
"Gregorio Paniagua and his original-instrument ensemble present a bizarre program based on the ancient tune known as the 'Spanish Follies' and intended to illustrate the 'folly' or madness that has been said to tinge Spanish culture. Mad it is, with a vengeance. Among the original instruments sounding off here are automobiles, pistols and birds." - The Absolute Sound.
The vast majority of music on this disc is serious and superbly played on a huge diversity of period flutes, percussions and strings but folia it is - unexpected, completely out-of-place music that will surprise you throughout the performance. As I mentioned in the introduction, this recording has earned serious audiophile recognition ever since its release and now the re-edition by Speakers Corner. The reason is that this performance was captured at the peak of Hyperion’s expertise in analog recording which is easily heard. The tonal diversity, instrumental textures, imaging and ambiance cues are of the highest mark, pretty much unlike any other recording I know of even compared to some of the earlier Harmonia Mundi oeuvre which until now was my absolute reference. La Folia goes even further technically, a firework that will tell you everything that is right—or wrong—with your system. 6Moons
Musicians:
Musicians:
Atrium Musicae de Madrid
Gregorio Paniagua
1. Fons vitae / Dementia praecox angelrum Supra solfamirevt
2. Extravagans / Laurea minima / In vitro
3. Oratio pro-folia / Fama volat Citrus - Hesperides
4. Principalis. Fermescens / Indica exacta Adverso flumine
5. Parsimonia aristocraciae
6. Subtilis / De profundis - Extra muros
7. Vulgaris - Sine populi notione Vagula et blandula
8. Nordica et desolata / Aurea mediocritas
9. Nobilissima / Degradans et corruptae
10. De pastoribus / Mathematica dies irae Crepuscularis / Sine nomine / Tristis est anima mea Equites fortis armaturae / Audaces fortuna juvat Sine praeputium / Ecclesiastica
11. Theatralis et hipocritae / Ruralis Alter indica perfecta
12. De tolerentia aetherea / Fuga ficta et carrus triumphalis
20 Years pure Analogue
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!