Music Feature - The Lyrita Story

Lewis Foreman talks to Richard Itter, his producers and engineers and the musicians who made the recordings to tell the story behind The Lyrita record label. Contributors: Richard Itter – founder of Lyrita Recorded Edition Vernon Handley – conductor Nicholas Braithwaite – conductor Alan Rowlands – pianist Andrew Cornall – record producer (now Executive Director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic) John Dunkerley – sound engineer Edward Greenfield – critic Cliff Challenger, Ian Gordon, Peter Williams, Carolyn Wingfield – Radio 3 listeners Playlist: excerpts from: Sir Charles Villiers Stanford – Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, Op. 126, first movement Malcolm Binns (piano) London Symphony Orchestra Nicholas Braithwaite (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 219, Track 3 Heitor Villa-Lobos – Festa na sertao, third movement of Ciclo brasileiro Elizabeth Powell (piano) Lyrita RCS 22, Side 1 Band 3 [mono LP: not yet issued on CD] Gordon Jacob – Elegy for cello and piano Florence Hooton (cello) Wilfrid Parry (piano) Lyrita RCS 2, Side 2 Band 5 [mono LP: now issued on CD with number REAM 2104] John Ireland – April Alan Rowlands (piano) Lyrita RCS 28, Side 1 Band 4 [mono LP: now issued on CD with number REAM 3112] John Ireland – Equinox Alan Rowlands (piano) Lyrita RCS 15, Side 2 Band 5 [mono LP: now issued on CD with number REAM 3112] William Havergal Brian – Symphony no. 6 (Sinfonia Tragica) London Philharmonic Orchestra Myer Fredman (conductor) Lyrita SRCS 67, Side 1 [stereo LP: now issued on CD with number SRCD 295] John Ireland – A London Overture London Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 240, Track 4 George Lloyd – Symphony no. 8, second movement (Largo) New Philharmonia Orchestra Edward Downes (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 2258, CD 3 of 3, Track 2 Frank Bridge – Dance Rhapsody London Philharmonic Orchestra Nicholas Braithwaite (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 243, Track 1 Ernest John Moeran – Symphony in G minor, fourth movement New Philharmonia Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 247, Track 7 William Hurlstone – Variations on a Hungarian Air London Philharmonic Orchestra Nicholas Braithwaite (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 208, Track 9 Gerald Finzi – Intimations of Immortality (words: William Wordsworth) Ian Partridge (tenor) Guildford Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra Vernon Handley (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 238, Tracks 5–14 Sir Hubert Parry – Bridal March, from The Birds London Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 220, Track 9 Sir Edward Elgar – Symphony no. 2 in E flat, Op. 63, third movement (Rondo) London Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 221, CD 2 of 2, Track 3 Herbert Howells – Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 21, first movement Richards Piano Quartet Lyrita SRCS 68, Side 1 Band 1 [stereo LP: now issued on CD with number SRCD 292] John Ireland – Sea Fever (words: John Masefield) Benjamin Luxon (baritone) Alan Rowlands (piano) Lyrita SRCD 2261, CD 1 of 3, Track 8 John Ireland – When I am dead, my dearest Benjamin Luxon (baritone) Alan Rowlands (piano) Lyrita SRCD 2261, CD 2 of 3, Track 22 John Ireland – Prelude: The Forgotten Rite London Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 240, Track 2 Sir Malcolm Arnold – English Dances, Set 1, Op. 27, fourth movement London Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Malcolm Arnold (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 201, Track 4 John Foulds – Dynamic Triptych for piano and orchestra, Op. 88, first movement Howard Shelley (piano) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Vernon Handley (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 211, Track 4 Nicholas Maw – Scenes and Arias (words: anon, c. 1300) Jane Manning (soprano) Anne Howells (mezzo-soprano) Norma Proctor (contralto) BBC Symphony Orchestra Norman Del Mar (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 267, Tracks 1–9 Sir William Sterndale Bennett – Symphony in G minor, Op. 43, fourth movement London Philharmonic Orchestra Nicholas Braithwaite (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 206, Track 6 Sir Charles Villiers Stanford – Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, Op. 126, first movement Malcolm Binns (piano) London Symphony Orchestra Nicholas Braithwaite (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 219, Track 3 Sir Arnold Bax – Symphony no. 2 in E minor and C, second movement London Philharmonic Orchestra Myer Fredman (conductor) Lyrita SRCS 54, Side 2 Band 1 [stereo LP: now issued on CD with number SRCD 233] Ernest John Moeran – Symphony in G minor, first movement New Philharmonia Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 247, Track 4 Ernest John Moeran – Symphony in G minor, fourth movement New Philharmonia Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Lyrita SRCD 247, Track 7