Biddulph
Music & Arts
Pristine Classical
APR
Romophone

Biddulph Recordings was first founded in 1989 by renowned violin dealer Peter Biddulph and violinist and former editor of the The Musical Times and The Strad, Eric Wen. These two were joined in 2003 by Sarah Woodward who has been running the Gramophone Award Winning Historical vocal label Romophone.

Primarily a string label, Biddulph recordings has reissued historical recorded performances and established comprehensive editions of its artists. Due to the fine quality of the transfers, Biddulph Recordings has received the support and co-operation of such artists as Yehudi Menuhin, Ruggiero Ricci, Nathan Milstein and Zino Francescatti in re-issuing their early recordings.

Biddulph Recordings has branched out over the years to develop further critically-acclaimed collections of music.  A catalogue of piano recordings, which began with the release of six discs featuring the master pianist Alfred Cortot, includes re-issues of Wanda Landowska, Percy Grainger, Myra Hess and Wilhelm Backhaus. Biddulph has also established a large collection of historical orchestral recordings, featuring some of the twentieth century’s greatest conductors such as Sir Thomas Beecham, William Mengelberg and Leopold Stokowski.

To access the Biddulph Recordings website please click here.

"Releases from Music & Arts are among the cream of historical reissues." -- David Patmore, International Record Review

Since its foundation in 1985, the American CD label Music & Arts has earned a worldwide reputation for innovative projects and outstanding artistic as well as technical quality. 

Their product, which includes original digital recordings of classical and jazz genres as well as historical issues, has been distributed in 22 markets on five continents.

On this site we feature gems from their historical catalogue.
For their complete offerings, see www.musicandarts.com

Pristine Classical is perhaps the world's foremost online record company specialising in historic recordings of classical music, together with jazz and blues. Founded in February 2005 by Andrew Rose of Pristine Audio, it now carries hundreds of recordings in a variety of formats to download and order on CD, as well as an online streamed audio service which holds hundreds of additional recordings which are available to subscribers only.

Pristine Audio has been a pioneer of new technologies, not just through online distribution, but also in the latest audio remastering technologies, with sonic breakthroughs such as Andrew Rose's revolutionary XR remastering process, and recently Ambient Stereo processing, bringing rave reviews from around the world.

From October 2008 Pristine Audio's roster of world-renowned remastering engineers is further enhanced by the start of a monthly series of restored transfers by Mark Obert-Thorn, one of the most respected experts in the field over the last two decades.

To access the Pristine Classical website please click here.

Within the relatively short time APR has been in existence it has won an enviable reputation as a quality label devoted predominantly - though not exclusively - to piano recordings, both new and historic.

In particular APR has won countless laurels for the high standard of its 78rpm restoration work - "Transfers of genius" to quote one critic - as well as the detail and content of its tri-lingual booklets - "Presentation is, as always with APR, immaculate" - to cite another accolade. These features have been recognised by the award of numerous international honours, not least an unprecedented 9 Grand Prix by the Liszt Society of Budapest in recent years.

In September 2004, following the retirement of its founder, Bryan Crimp, APR changed hands, though the aspirations of the label remain unchanged. APR is now based in London, England and has entered into a worldwide distribution agreement with Hyperion records which should significantly improve the availability of its titles across the globe.

To access the APR website please click here.

Romophone was founded in 1993 and specialises in the remastering of historical vocal recordings. It is devoted to preserving the legacy of the great singers in complete editions of their recordings.

Romophone’s catalogue features almost 60 titles, among which are the complete recordings of some of the century’s most famous singers, including Amelita Galli-Curci, Claudio Muzio and Rosa Ponselle. Other singers who feature in the catalogue are Beniamino Gigli, Lauritz Melchoir and John McCormack.

At present the catalogue is not fully available, however if you would like any further information please contact Sarah Woodward on 01626 872128.