I enjoyed viewing your presentation. I started listening to Lyrita recordings after reading about them in the Absolute Sound. I still listen to the LPs and never purchased a compact disc. This past month a Hi-Fi and record store in the area posted on Facebook they are going out of business and the owner is selling his classical record collection. He had many of the early monural Lyrita recordings in the RCS series for sale for $5 each. I bought twenty of them, many were Bax, Ireland, and Alwyn.
@@markevans7969 thanks for the lovely feedback, that sounds a fabulous score, especially envious of the Bax piano mono’s! I’ve recently been enjoying the opportunity to explore the Lyrita’s I’ve picked up over the years and was particularly impressed by the superb quality of recording of the solo piano compositions by Moeran on the B side of SRCS 42 well worth picking up if you haven’t got it already.
@@analogueanorak1904 Superb recommendation regarding SRCS 42. I did find a copy of this LP in a Phoenix, AZ record store called Wax Tracks in 1986. I'm going to give this a spin tonight.
I can remember buying Lyrita recordings back in the 70's and 80's and the recordings (sound wise) were so much better than the main stream labels at the time. They regularly had good reviews in the HI Fi news and were frequently given top ratings for recorded sound. I have a few Lyrita recordings on CD and they sound really good. One of my favourites is the Arnold English, Scottish and Cornish dances etc.
@@Andrew_from_Oz_Vinyl_Landscape I couldn’t agree more. It’s only recently it dawned on me how many superb recordings around this period featured the English Chamber Orchestra. I’ve added it to my need to make a video about that list. Due to my snail like speed of working I reckon that will come out around 2037!
I recently got hold of some ex-BBC archive records and there's a whole BUNCH of Lyrita Record vinyl. I'll most likely split the one's I'm keeping but there's tons of dupes, so if you're interested in any shoot me a message and maybe we could agree on something (I don't plan on selling them separately, so I'll bundle them together), otherwise they'll be on eBay within the week. I got into Lyrita by accident, probably through Vaughan Williams (I have a ton of his records) but after discovering Walter Leigh, I absolutely fell in love with this label. I now only focus on buying & collecting Lyrita in terms of classical labels go, then pick and choose from other labels. Thanks for the video. Love seeing more information about this label, they're brilliant.
@@Ejlectronics6 Thanks ever so much for the generous offer. As I’ve been really lucky with coming across several small collections my current list of planning to get is pretty small and specific but I will mention them just in case. Holst Mystic Trumpeter/Lure (128) and Somerset/Hammersmith (56) and Maconchy (116) are my current list of ones Im looking out for. I read about the archive sale sounds like you had a great score and good luck with ebaying the lots and making some music fans really happy. Are you happy for anyone interested reading these comments this week to contact you via this thread prior to you getting them on eBay? Just thought I should mention the mistake on my video as far as different pressings which is detailed in the comments. I said the discs with hand etched codes were EMI made but they are Nimbus pressings of late Decca masters you probably know this already but just in case.
@@analogueanorak1904 Update! Got the records home safely. I have a few copies of Somerset/Hammersmith(56) and I can pick you out the best one. I don't have 128 nor 116. I have a lot of other various ones. I could send you an email with them all if you want? A lot of BAX, John Ireland, Elgar. Just let me know.
@@Ejlectronics6 Thanks that’s great. I am interested in checking the list. I have added an email address to the business section of my profile. Please let me know if anything else I need to do.
@@jennifermartin8628 Thanks, its lovely to hear from a fellow Lyrita collector. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to come across in the wild 4 small affordable collections and it’s only on retirement I’ve been able to give these recordings the time and attention they deserve.
I started buying Lyrita LPs in 1972 and they were always great. Today I have only a handful on vinyl but almost all they have released on CD. I agree that the covers on CD are disapponting and can't understand why they changed them. The LPs were hard to find here in Sweden and they came and went quickly.
@@thomasroth4533 Thanks for your comments. I’m not sure why, I did notice when I put together the playlist for this video that the Wren churches engraving from the first John Ireland orchestral album had been used. This seems to be an exception but potentially gives clues why, I will do a search as it seems unlikely this is the first time this has been queried.
@@analogueanorak1904 I can't recall seeing this topic before and I think it is very strange to change covers like that. Quite a lot of the music on Lyrita has been recorded by Chandos and the Lyrita's stil shine. They are better both as interpretations and recorded sound. Boult was a genius and one of my absolute favorites is the Howells and Butterworth album, and the Frank Bridge. Both with Boult. Have you heard Boult's 50s recordings of the Schumann symphonies? Absolutely stunning. Boult studied the symphonies with one of Clara Schumann's pupils. Old Pye recordings so they are not audiophile, but he best sounding is the release by First Hand Records.
@@thomasroth4533 Thanks for the recommendation. I have got a fair amount of early 1950’s Gold and Orange Decca LXT’s and it’s the recordings with Boult (nearly always engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson) that stand out excelling the limitations of the technology of the time. A large part of it is Vaughan Williams so I am interested in listening to some of his Schumann. The album art for most of the covers of those records has a superb 1950’s aesthetic using printed letterpress techniques are rarely matched by later Decca album art due to massive reductions in the budget for the art department. I do hope to get a video done about those at some point as in their own way they are as gorgeous as the Lyrita’s.
Killer basslines do get us revved up, do they not? A typically superb and sincere presentation, Simon, stressing Itter’s informed collaboration with Decca’s best techies (who knew?) and with due homage to (neglected) Maestri Hugo Rignold and Norman Del Mar. Lyrita’s missionary service to Ireland, Holst and Bax notwithstanding, the imprint’s dedication to Ernest J. Moeran-a fabulous Lyrita « boutique series » with glamourous period cover art-is even more collectable, and not coincidentally more Irish than (suburban London’s) John Ireland.
@@user-er3sf7qn3p Thanks Robert. This video has definitely ticked off an important part of my RU-vid content bucket list. Del Mar may be doing another small cameo in my next video but coincidentally as a reward for getting this video done yesterday for the first time I listened to most of my Moeran I had picked up over the years all I can say is Blimey!
Thanks for this. Shame a lot of them aren’t on streaming except as bleeding chunks. Could I suggest that you show the album cover in full for longer? It’s too quick for me. No disrespect but I’d rather see them than you 😂 Especially as the covers are, as you say, quite wonderful (I say that as a designer…)
@@jbaldwin1970 LOL, as the young uns say, you are right in earlier videos I think I did a better job of displaying the covers and they are so beautiful. I did take some good quality shots of the full covers which I didn’t use in the end. I’m planning to do a short video addendum focusing on some issues with the bit I did on different vinyl pressings so I promise to use them at the end of that video. Keith Hensby responsible for these works of art does still paint and his work is on display www.peterbarkerfineart.co.uk if your interested sadly the nocturnal best ones have all sold already.
The picture shown for EMI pressing is incorrect. The stamper info is the same, in that picture, as the equivalent Decca. That LP was probably a Nimbus pressing using Decca stampers. In the letters section of the Absolute Sound Richard Itter was quoted as saying that Nimbus pressings are always the ones with a raised section of vinyl on the outer edge of the label. “Nimbus England” in the lead out groove simply means that the stampers were made by Nimbus.
@@jackhill7140 Thanks for this information that the post 1979 pressing situation is more complex that I thought as far as dead wax clues. I’ll have a more detailed look through my later pressings plus Scott from TPM has a Lyrita collection and may be able to clarify about the EMI’s.
@@analogueanorak1904 There are also Philips pressed Lyritas and can be identified by the "Made In Holland" on the edge of the labels. You can find a letter to TAS in Vol. 14, Issue 60, July/August 1989 describing the differences between pressings.
@@jackhill7140 Thanks that’s really helpful I know Scott has a complete set of TAS whereas I have none! also I looked back at the Lewis Foreman CRQ Lyrita article which does mention “a post-Decca period of 7 years, Lyrita lost all its production disc stampers, housed at Decca, this was the time when CD was on the horizon”. I interpreted that to be 1980 but it could be later which would then open up Nimbus pressing using Decca stampers.
BTW, I have the entire Lyrita catalogue in mostly Decca pressings. I've always loved this label and I thought you did a great job with your contribution.
@@jackhill7140 Thanks it was a tricky one to do but one I really wanted to do. I did initially want to also cover the Kingsway session from Nov 1967 that included Ireland/Moeran/Bax/Holst pieces but in the end I think it would have been information overload. I suspect if I do return again to Lyrita I will likely pick one at most 2 composers Moeran/Bridge maybe?
Very interesting video. I have been collecting the CD's for a while now, but have run out of space to store them! I have therefore decided to stream them from Qobuz. The quality is excellent. Unfortunately, the LP's have been out of my reach. British music at its best. Thank you.
@@nigelmasters8552 Thanks for the lovely feedback it sounds like you have far more extensive knowledge of the digital Lyrita than I have which consists of one! I had to admit to myself that I was never going to find an affordable Arnold English dances on vinyl and was impressed by the CD version. If you have the time do you have any recommendations as far as the digital only Lyrita output as after I really get to grips with my Lyrita vinyl I do want to look into this?
Thank you for this wonderful and informative video. Very intriguing and illuminating on this small audiophile label. We are absolutely impoverished of Lyrita records on this side of the pond. They seem to be rarer than hens teeth to find in the wild. You may know already but there is a wonderful youtube channel called @ClassicsAndVinyl, excellent full album needle drops played on high quality equipment. Lot's of works by lesser known British composers. He has a great playlist of Lyrita records including the Bax #6 : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CD97l7aejzw.html
@@VinylBliss Thanks for the lovely feedback. I didn’t realise Lyrita was so scarce in Canada. I have duplicates of the Holst album from the video and Finzi Intimations of Immortality both Decca pressings both however came from HM Moore’s in London before it closed and have a blank white cover with just a sticker with handwritten details, probably they misplaced the proper covers. They sound fine and i am happy to send them over as a gift if you are interested as I need to downsize but i am as bad as Scott at actually achieving that!
@@analogueanorak1904 Oh goodness thank you for the generous offer but I also need to digest so much of what I have and try my best to downsize also. I have an embarrassing amount of recently purchased records that have been little more than spot checked for sound quality. If you must donate them please give to a local young person starting out their collection. I do have the Lyrita Lollipops album that can keep me satiated utill I find some in the wild here!
@@user-oc2fw1rd6j Thanks I definitely need to improve my knowledge on the digital side. I don’t think I have any George Lloyd yet if you have the time any Lyrita GL recommendations?
I have the 12 symphonies on 8 CD-Rs and the 4 piano concertos on 2 CD-Rs. They are very good, and i would be interested in more Lloyd (his sacred works and works for piano) but i am afraid to buy more CD-Rs. I had 3 faulty CD-Rs. Amazon sent me another copy of them, but i just hate CD-Rs. Maybe i will buy Lloyd's other works as flac downloads (for ex from Presto's website).
