Hyperion back in the classical vinyl game
By Roy Gregory
Highly regarded, multiple award winning, UK-based record label Hyperion Records has recently announced the release of a short run of limited edition vinyl records. Five titles will be pressed in runs of 1000 each. Four of those recordings have never been released on vinyl before, while the fifth is arguably the disc that secured the financial health of the label – 1982’s massively successful (and heavily audiophile approved) A Feather On The Breath Of God, the recording that introduced the wider world to both Abbess Hildegard of Bingen and the voice of Emma Kirkby.
Founded in 1980, Hyperion covered every genre and era of classical music, but specialised in the lesser-known British repertoire. It quickly established a reputation for superior recording quality, a reputation that survives today. Universal Music Group acquired the label in 2023 and the emergence of limited vinyl releases follows UMG’s current policy for both DGG and Decca. Historically, Hyperion has gravitated towards the piano repertoire, with recent artists including Stephen Hough, Marc-André Hamelin and Angela Hewitt, all of whom are included amongst the vinyl record releases. The fifth disc is particularly fascinating – at least for me – with Alina Ibragimova playing Mendelssohn Violin Concertos, accompanied by Jurowski and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Release date is the 13th of September and the full line up is as follows:
Mendelssohn – Violin Concertos Op.61 and Op.64
Alina Ibragimova, Vladimir Jurowski, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
A Feather On The Breath Of God, Hildegard of Bingen
Emma Kirkby, Christopher Page and the Gothic Voices
Chopin – The Complete Waltzes
Stephen Hough
Shostakovich – Piano Concertos 1 and 2
Marc-André Hamelin, Andrew Litton, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Bach – Goldberg Variations
Angela Hewitt
It is a fascinating selection for a number of reasons. Including the Hildegard of Bingen disc is certainly brave: original LP pressings are neither rare nor expensive, inviting direct comparison between the new re-issue and the original record. Hewitt has quietly carved herself an excellent reputation, especially for Bach and Mozart, so her reading of the Goldbergs should offer an interesting comparison with Ólafsson’s recent clear vinyl DGG release. Ibragimova, so long a stellar performer of smaller, chamber works has recently graduated to the larger stage – at least as far as her recordings go. Her recent Shostakovich (also on Hyperion) is superb and I can’t wait to hear these earlier Mendelssohns (from 2011).
Vinyl purists will doubtless turn their noses up at the digital provenance of these recordings, but that just saves the rest of us from indulging in quite such an undignified scramble to lay hands on them. One assumes that this is an exploratory exercise and that future releases will depend on the success of these. Hyperion don’t have the huge, international stars available to a label like DGG on which to hang their vinyl releases, but they have, sensibly, gone for their established performers and mainstream programme material. Long may it continue.
