Om Kvällen, Op.17/6 [orch. Jussi Jalas]; Var det en dröm, Op.37/4 [orch. Jalas]; Höstkväll, Op.38/1; Demanten pa Marssnon, Op.36/6; Flickan kom ifrån sin alsklings mote, Op.37/5 [orch. Ernest Pingoud]; Arioso, Op.3; Varen flyktar hastigt, Op.13/4; Se'n har jag ej fragat mera, Op.17/1; Men min Fågel märks dock icke, Op. 36/2 [orch. Pingoud]; Pa Verandan vid Havet, Op.38/2; Den Forsta Kyssen, Op.37/11 [orch. Nils-Eric Fougstedt]; Svarta Rosor, Op.36/1 [orch. Pingoud]; Säf, säf, susa, Op.36/4 [orch. Ivar Hellmann]; Kom nu hit, Dödl, Op.60/1
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano)
London Symphony Orchestra
Øivin Fjeldstad
Recorded February 1958 at Kingsway Hall, London
Alan Reeve & Gordon Parry – Engineers
John Culshaw – Producer
Remastered at Air Studios, London by Tony Hawkins & Ray Staff
Speakers Corner LP SXL 2030
Bizet
Carmen – Suite No.2 [adapted by Ernest Guiraud]
L’Arlésienne – Suite
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet
Recorded in April & May 1958 at Victoria Hall, Geneva
Roy Wallace – Engineer
James Walker – Producer
Remastered at Air Studios, London, by Tony Hawkins & Ray Staff
Speakers Corner LP Decca SXL 2037
Mozart
Piano Concerto in F, K459
Piano Concerto in B flat, K595
Clara Haskil (piano)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra [K459]
Bavarian State Orchestra
Ferenc Fricsay
Recorded in September 1955 at Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, by Harald Baudis, and May 1957 at Herkules-Saal, Munich by Werner Wolf
Wolfgang Lohse & Otto Gerdes – Producers
Remastered at Emil Berliner Studios
Speakers Corner LP DGM 18383
Richard Strauss
Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan
Recorded in January & March 1973 at Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, by Günter Hermanns
Dr. Hans Hirsch – Producer
Remastered at Emil Berliner Studios
Speakers Corner LP, DGG 2530 402
Messiaen
Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Luben Yordanoff (violin), Albert Tétard (cello), Claude Desurmont (clarinet) & Daniel Barenboim (piano)
Recorded April 1978 in Masion de la Mutualité, Paris, by Klaus Scheibe
Günther Breest – Producer
Remastered at Emil Berliner Studios
Speakers Corner LP, DGG 2531 093


Turning now to the sound. When Speakers Corner issued Crespin’s disc of Berlioz and Ravel (SXL 6030) the sound was an improvement on the original, the singer's voice reproduced with startling realism, and much the same can be said of this remastering. There is no added gloss, just Flagstad's big voice perfectly captured, warts and all. Its sheer vibrancy and presence puts to shame even the very finest high resolution digital downloads. The orchestra is not so well defined. At the beginning of side 2 the woodwinds and gong are very imposing, but the string tone – while rich – needs more edge. Part of the problem is the balance, which very much favours the singer (it was only with Solti's Das Rheingold that Decca really learnt how to balance voice and orchestra in stereo). Rather strangely it becomes more natural on the last three tracks where the strings and harp are more audible. The overall balance is well-nigh perfect, with the sound emanating from the rear of the speakers, and the sense of width, depth and height is exemplary. Those modern-day producers who are obsessed with creating aircraft-hangar-like acoustics, might care to note that the venue's ambience and reverberation time are perfectly captured.
The Ansermet was also recorded in 1958. Both the original and this remastering are bass-light, and the reasons for this are not difficult to detect. Decca used half-speed mastering, but even with this, the Westrex cutting heads would have had problems with a tape carrying very deep bass. There is also the suspicion that some recording teams did not realise exactly what stereo sound could do, and unnecessarily cut the bass-response. Knowing that the Air remastering engineers strive to reproduce faithfully what is on the master-tapes, one can assume that the problem lies therein. Different teams also produced different sound, and all of the 1950s' Geneva recordings are brighter than those made in London or Vienna. There is also on the middle tracks of side 2 some wow and flutter, which may indicate that the tape was compromised. The sound does however have clarity, depth, width and excellent focus, the brass is powerfully incisive, the strings have bite, the woodwind are – given their quality – all too present!
Deutsche Grammophon LPs (Gesellschaft was dropped in late 1971 after the creation of Polygram) were not noted for their sound quality, and its catalogue did not feature many collectible artists, but Kai Seamen of Speakers Corner told me that they are very popular with far-east collectors, So it seemed sensible to look, in brief, at a comparative rarity, the Haskil disc, and a seventies' disc from that ubiquitous, èminence grise, Herbert von Karajan. To DG's credit, they also championed contemporary, and, at the time, little-recorded music; hence the inclusion of the Messiaen.

Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra is best known for its tremendous opening, but the rest is a bit of a let-down. Karajan loved this composer's music. On this LP you have all of the conductor's hallmarks; smooth, glossy sound and an almost complete lack of genuine emotion. The performance does, however, have sweep and power, and Karajan is able to make even the longeurs sound passably interesting. Both of Fritz Reiner's Chicago Symphony Orchestra versions (RCA) have more individuality and command, but Karajan is amongst the-best-of-the-rest.

The re-pressed LPs have been compared with early German pressings. Unfortunately the sound on the Haskil is decidedly drab on both. The dynamic range is very limited (the orchestra sounds about twenty-strong, and the piano is too prominent. The only slight difference is that the later pressing has a slight halo of reverberation around the piano, which is probably just a product of the equipment used, as opposed to being intentional.

On the Messiaen, the clarinet has lost some of the original's mellowness, the whole image is more defined, and whether this a good or bad thing, is debatable. Depending on mood, sometimes one sounded better, sometimes the other. However, both are preferable, having greater presence, fullness and flow, to the CD transfer, and it almost goes without saying, that one can say the same about all of these LPs.
- Speakers Corner Records
- Feature Review: Speakers Corner LPs [Mozart & Bruckner/Eugen Jochum … Ravel & Berlioz/Crespin & Ansermet]
- Feature Review: Speakers Corner LPs [Mendelssohn/Maazel … Schubert/Beaux Arts Trio … Mahler 9/Guilini]
- Feature Review: Speakers Corner LPs [Liszt Piano Concertos/Richter … Tchaikovsky/Markevitch … Parsifal from Bayreuth/Knappertsbusch]
- Feature Review: Speakers Corner LPs [Martha Argerich's Debut Recital … I Musici … A Midsummer Night’s Dream … The Sleeping Beauty]
- Feature Review: Speakers Corner LPs – Bach [Janos Starker] & Shostakovich [Sviatoslav Richter]
- The Vinyl Renaissance – Speakers Corner LPs: L'histoire du soldat [Markevitch] & Beethoven Cello Sonatas [Rostropovich & Richter]