Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury co-founder Irving Green passes

[Don Cox <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 10/07/06, Roger and Allison Kulp wrote:
> Pardon my ignorance,but did EMI buy out the Pye/Nixa catalogue,or just
> the Barbirolli stuff ? 

They released Nixa titles that were not by Barbirolli, such as the
London Baroque Ensemble. There was a bunch of reissues marked "Phoenixa"
around 1991.

AFAIK they bought the whole Nixa classical catalogue. Fellside (Lake) are reissuing
the jazz catalogue, but I think this is under license from EMI.


> While Mercury issued some of it,most of it,was
> issued on Vanguard.There was also,the Nixa/Pye/Wetminster axis.All of
> which,is just as confusing,as the Columbia/EMI/Philips business,which
> I have yet to completely figure out.
>  Roger Kulp
> 
> Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>  Who put them out on CD? Did they revert back to the European
> original copyright owner? Mercury may have leased them for XX years or
> for US market only back in the day. I really don't know anything about
> those pre-original releases.
> 
> There's still one more twist in the Mercury classical history. Some of
> the material original done by Mercury by arrangements with other
> companies reverted out of Philips hands after a certain amount of
> time. For instance, the Halle/Barbirolli recordings, which were owned
> by Pye and eventually EMI and were put out on CD from Pye's master
> tapes. Another example was the Ricordi opera recordings, which were
> put out on CD by EMI. Last I checked, most or all of the Halle
> recordings were no longer in print from EMI but some were on
> compilations put out by the Barbirolli Society. I do not know the
> status of the operas, which were originally put out by EMI in the late
> 1980s, but I suspect some or all are out of print now.
> 
> -- Tom Fine
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steven Smolian" 
> To: 
> Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 5:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury co-founder Irving Green passes
> 
> 
>> The Ehrling Sibelius Symphonies are so good that I hunted them down
>> on CD. It's still my favorite 4th, the gritiest and, I think, along
>> with Luonotar, the greatest of of his works.
>> 
>> Steve Smolian
>> 
>> ---- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Tom Fine" 
>> To: 
>> Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 5:23 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury co-founder Irving Green passes
>> 
>> 
>>> Hi Roger:
>> 
>> The guy who probably knows most about this is Michael Gray. I know
>> very little about pre-original
>> Mercury classical records. They were mostly taken out of print
>> quickly after Mercury started
>> rolling their own. I have a few of them from the very dawn of LPs.
>> They're in 78-style album
>> jackets and seem to be made of shellac or something much thicker
>> and heavier and less flexible
>> than typical vinyl. I've never played them, just keep them for
>> historical reasons. Not even sure
>> what titles I have since they're deep in the shelves.
>> 
>> -- Tom Fine
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Roger and Allison Kulp" 
>> To: 
>> Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:37 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury co-founder Irving Green passes
>> 
>> 
>> I was going through my pre-Living Presence Mercury Classics
>> Lps,yesterday,and I had forgotten,they had put out the (only ?)US
>> pressings,of the early Sixten Erhling, Swedish Lps.The ones that
>> predate the EMI monos.(I own two of these.)But one noteworthy
>> record I own,is the Mercury-sourced,American Broadcasting Company
>> Quartet,recording of "Death and The Maiden".A quick Google,only
>> mentions the recordings with Reginald Kell,who is obviously not
>> part of this record.I am not sure if this has ever been reissued.
>> Roger Kulp
>> 
>> Don Cox wrote:
>> On 07/07/06, Tom Fine wrote:
>> You are correct. There were probably 50 more CD's that could have
>> been done (perhaps more if one considered being completist on the
>> mono stuff, which was an unlikely track because there was specific
>> and limited interest in the pre-1956 catalog and that interest was
>> addressed with the handful of mono reissues). Universal decided to
>> discontinue the reissues in 2000 after scaling back the previous
>> two releases. Many of the titles are still in print in the US but
>> seem to be taken out of print in most other markets, which is
>> pretty idiotic since they sold extremely well in the Orient and
>> Europe. A good classical issue is like an annuity -- keep it in
>> print and it will keep sending checks to the home office.
>> 
>> While there are probably some on this list who are passionate
>> about
>> small-group and chamber music, in Mercury's case it never sold as
>> well
>> as the orchestral and band recordings, so it was considered at
>> the
>> bottom of the pile for reissues. Solo and concerto stuff like
>> Janos
>> Starker and Byron Janis were big sellers originally and were big
>> sellers on CD. Point is, the reissue was a commercial undertaking
>> (and
>> was very profitable), so what was reissued and in what order was
>> considered very carefully.
>> 
>> It seems to me it is time some of the classic recordings (in all
>> genres)
>> were recognised as cultural treasures, so that reissues like these
>> could
>> be subsidised by UNESCO, the big Foundations, or Governments in
>> various
>> countries, just as art galleries and opera houses are subsidised.
>> 
>> While there may sometimes be a profit to be made from reissues,
>> often
>> there is not. Or only enough to support a one-man-and-dog record
>> company,
>> with consequent poor distribution.
>> 
>> There are many recordings that should be permanently available to
>> all,
>> in the highest possible engineering quality, for the same reason
>> that
>> anyone can walk into the National Gallery and look at the
>> pictures.
>> 
>> Regards
>> -- 
>> Don Cox
>> doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
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Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx