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Fri, 2 Jun 2000 10:49:08 +0200 |
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Robert Clements <[log in to unmask]> wrote (with regard to Lyrita):
>I gather that apart from spending his own money on the project, the
>eccentric director tended to sit quietly in the recording booth; not
>interfering, but sweating on every note.
And then contradicts himself with:
>Just about everything Lyrita did was sponsored, by the way (ie, in real
>terms, they took very little risk with their recordings); which makes
>their lousy reissue policies doubly culpable....
I have no knowledge of the "sweating" nor can I comment on the reissue
policies (of which I know nothing) and, in a way, I don't really want to
get drawn into this.
However I was the Lyrita distributor during the period from about 1980
and came to know the owner of Lyrita as well as anyone could. If such
sponsorship applied to "just about everything" why, then, was this not
mentioned on all the LP covers as frequently as this would have required?
That's usually all that the sponsors seek. Things became very difficult
indeed for Lyrita when Decca gave up their distribution and manufacture
and left them with a vast stock of LPs which slowed down greatly the move
toward CD issues in the early days.
Lyrita recorded three of the symphonies of George Lloyd with Edward Downes
and I feel sure that in general terms Lyrita paid for them. The first
performance of the 4th Sym. in July '81 was "...made possible by the House
of du Maurier" though no mention is made of their support for the recording
made 3 years later. The recording of the 5th, however, was made "...in
association with the RVW Trust."
George came to me for help because Lyrita did not wish to continue.
Nothing George ever told me suggested that sponsorship had been a feature
of the Lyrita issues. My relationship with George began with the recording
of his Piano Concerto No.4 (Stott/LSO/Lloyd - now on Albany) which George
himself paid for. He went on from there to finance the remainder of his
oeuvre himself.
It is occasionally too easy or tempting on this list to make sweeping
statements based on little information or hearsay and where those falling
victim to the criticism are unable to reply. The owner of Lyrita has done
a remarkable job, the financial circumstances surrounding which are a
matter for him alone.
John G. Deacon
Home page: www.ctv.es/USERS/j.deacon
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