Hyperion Records sold to Universal

[Gareth Vaughan]

That's all well and good, Eric, for the current catalogue (which, granted, is by no means insubstantial). However, the real sadness, as Alan points out, is that with Universal owning the label there will likely be no new recordings. That's not the way Universal works.

[Alan Howe]

I agree 100% - and that's Hurwitz's major omission. No more RPCs, RVCs or RCCs. What we particularly adore Hyperion for is (presumably) no more.

[Richard Moss]

I'm sure it's not a problem but also maybe we should spare a thought for their leading performers such as Howard Shelley & co.- I'm sure they will have many other opportunities elsewhere BUT...?

Hurwitz lauding the marketing and possibilities for re-packaging the back catalogue etc. may be a good thing to help newcomers to appreciate the wealth of 'unsungs' recorded by Hyperion but is little consolation to those of us who eagerly looked forward to the next RPC issue, having already hoovered up what we needed for the existing catalogue.

Anyway, here's to the ongoing good health of the remaining champions of 'unsungs'- CHANDOS, CPO, Dutton et al.

When one door closes, another often opens,,,

Cheers

Richard

[eschiss1]

Gareth- not disagreeing. At best I was modifying an earlier view of mine which detected no silver lining in cloud chromatography, not trying to be positive.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I'm sure it's not a problem but also maybe we should spare a thought for their leading performers such as Howard Shelley & co.- I'm sure they will have many other opportunities elsewhere BUT...

Absolutely. And many of them chose to record for Hyperion precisely because it was independent and they did not like the way the big corporate labels treated their artists.

[Gareth Vaughan]

At best I was modifying an earlier view of mine which detected no silver lining in cloud chromatography,

Oh, quite, Eric. I understand what you are saying.

[Alan Howe]

Does anybody want a 'huge cube' of Hyperion reissues? I mean does anyone actually buy these monstrosities?

[Mark Thomas]

Clearly they do, otherwise the likes of Universal and Warner wouldn't keep issuing them. Just not people like us who are, we must recognise, a small subset of an already small market.

[Alan Howe]

Clearly people do, as you say!

I suppose what I was getting at was that a Hyperion 'mega-cube' of, say, RPCs would have pretty-well zero interest for us because we've already got them all, or at least all the ones we actually want.

[terry martyn]

I think the series of the Classical Piano Concertos and the Romantic Cello Concertos never really caught on. Even the Romantic Violin Concerto  series appears to have been interrupted for a while. And,at least to me, there have been signs that there has been a falling-off of late of the RPC series (cf the Elmas and the Reinecke).

[Ilja]

I can't agree with that conclusion, if I'm honest. Any venture that involves creative decisions takes risks. And yes, not everything works, but I don't think that's been more the case recently than before in the RPC series.

[John Boyer]

Just not people like us who are, we must recognise, a small subset of an already small market.

Well put, Mark.  The wealth and breadth of Hyperion's catalog amazes me the more I think on it.  From the chat here you'd think they were just the RPC/RVC series, but they covered everything from the Renaissance to the 20th Century in a way that other labels seemed to miss.  And they had some of the best graphic design out there -- I can recall choosing Hyperion discs among competitors for a given work just for the cover art -- although this is something that was missing from their RPC/RVC series, which were visually the dullest things they did.  Speaking of series, then there was Graham Johnson's Schubert and Schumann editions, with their remarkable documentation.  As I write this I have volumes 25 and 30 of the Schubert in front of me: the first, Die Schoene Muellerin, with 76 pages of English notes and the second, Winterreise, with 111 pages.  These weren't booklets, they were full fledged books.  No one else did anything like it.

I will miss Hyperion, but for far more than RPC.

[Richard Moss]

I would echo John's comments.  My particular favourites outside RPC are Leslie Howard's 4-disc set of the complete piano & orchestra works of Liszt and the Schubert Symphony 10 (and other symphonic fragment completions) by Brian Newbould,, but I'm sure everyone will have their own personal; favourites.  This note is not to start a  list of all our favourites but rather to echo the (potential) loss of an exceedingly comprehensive and high-quality resource of both sound and text.

If anyone hears what is to become of the wonderful Hyperion legacy - never mind any dearth or otherwise of future issues - please keep us 'ignorami' updated.

Best wishes

Richard

[eschiss1]

I also hope this doesn't in the briefer term mean that even Hyperion discs announced as recorded and for release in the next 4-odd months are doomed.

[Gareth Vaughan]

John is absolutely right to highlight Hyperion's production standard in terms of artwork and booklet notes; they were some of the highest (if not the highest) I have encountered in the CD world. And, of course, the breadth of repertoire issued was outstanding.