New for April

Many music lovers miss the sound from vinyl pressings. Many others have yet to discover how great the sound can be. Most of our albums are mastered from vinyl LP pressings and earlier recordings (generally before 1953) from 78 rpm discs. It is our ability to recreate, in the digital age, the sound from the disc era that many of our customers find most enjoyable.

Unlike modern digital recordings tracks in our albums do contain some distortion, and the occasional surface noises, but for many listeners these "defects" are soon forgotten.

Our albums are available from many download and streaming sites.

We highly recommend downloading from where you can download or stream in high quality, for the same price as iTunes medium quality.

Beethoven 250

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in Bonn on 16 December 1770. A crucial figure in the transition between the classical and romantic eras in classical music, he remains one of the most recognized and influential musicians of this period, and is considered to be one of the greatest composers of all time.

View all our Beethoven 250 albums.

ffrr at 75

On 8 June 1945 Decca released their full frequency range recordings to the record buying public. It was exactly a year since Decca started recording in ffrr and during  that year they engaged Sidney Beer's National Symphony Orchestra to make recordings in ffrr.

Read Dr. Tony Wakeford's history of the development of ffrr

To mark the 75th anniversary of the advent of ffrr we are releasing four albums by the National Symphony Orchestra during March and April.

New albums

What the Critics Say

Brian Wilson at Musicweb International has written an article reviewing our 10 Beethoven 250 albums, the 4 ffrr Pioneer albums and two more albums in our Philharmonia 75 series.

"This is my pick of the ffrr reissues."

"Stanford Robinson used to be a staple of the old BBC Light Programme, but this balletic recording of the Nutcracker Suite shows him to have been a talented conductor of more than the middle-of-the-road fare that he used to present. The surfaces are pretty clear here and the recording very full-blooded for its age.

" Ida Haendel had recorded before she made the Saint-Saëns recording on 3PS59 and the Tchaikovsky here, but these were her first recordings with an orchestra, and they made an understandably very strong impression. Her later Tchaikovsky recording remains available with the Brahms Violin Concerto on Testament, but the 1945/6 account sits well in the company of the other recordings on this Beulah release."

Brian Wilson at Musicweb Interntional

"Three classic composer-conducted recordings in Beulah’s usual very good transfers. The Violin Concerto, though surprisingly good for its age, sounds a little dated sound-wise alongside more recent recordings such as Tasmin Little’s with the BBC SO and Edward Gardner but the performance remains the benchmark against which to judge all others.

" Again, for Belshazzar’s Feast, while more recent recordings are well worth considering, not least Bryn Terfel and Andrew Davis on a budget-price Apex CD, with Vaughan Williams’ Job, a superb bargain foraround £6 (0927443942),Walton’s own recording remains extremely valuable.A powerful performance of a powerful work, which has come up sounding well and an excellent alternative to the download-only Warner twofer Walton conducts Walton. This is my clear favourite among these Beulah reissues."

Brian Wilson at Musicweb Interntional

"The Humperdinck is delightful and Les Préludes are impressive, but the highlight of 4PS58 must be the two Mozart Horn Concertos from the complete set recorded shortly before the accident in which Dennis Brain was killed on his way home from the Edinburgh Festival. These classics of the gramophoneare worth the modest price of the whole programme.

"I’d almost forgotten the Karajan recording of the Tallis Fantasia, though I reviewed the Warner reissue, with Britten. The Philharmonia’s playing is spot on and the interpretation falls far less short of the classic Barbirolli recording than I expected. I’d still go for the Barbirolli on my Desert Island, but if you were hearing the work for the first time you’d be just as enthralled by Karajan. Keep the volume at a reasonable level – in louder passages the strings above the stave sound rather shrill; otherwise, this is a good way to round off an attractive release.If anything, the sound is better than on the Warner transfer. As for the Barbirolli, it was recently reissued with his classic Elgar Introduction and Allegro and Serenade for Strings, outstanding value on Beulah 1PS42"

Brian Wilson at Musicweb Interntional

"'...Arrau bringing to the scores many profound insights’.Rob Maynard was also impressed by the ‘very fine’ accounts of both concertos, ’.

"I enjoyed Arrau and Giulini far more than reviewers had in the 1960s; after all, Giulini recorded a notable Brahms Symphony No.1 for Columbia, so the accusation of being out of step with his music does’t hold up."

"Nor would Giulini’s Haydn be a first choice; it’s big-band  Haydn,  more  like  Beecham  than  modern recordings,but I did enjoy hearing everything on this tribute reissue and commend it to your attention.The recordings have transferred well."

Brian Wilson at  Musicweb International

"Barbirolli’s Elgar, too, is pretty special, not least his classic recording of the Introduction and Allegro and other works(Beulah 1PS42). His Enigma Variations appeared on ASD548, with Cockaigne, to high praise and though I would probably choose Pierre Monteux’s recording from this period , there’s very little between them; this represents the Philharmonia of the period at its best – up there with their Beethoven for Klemperer. Both recordings have come up very well in these new transfers."

Brian Wilson at Musicweb International

"This is not strictly part of Beulah’s Beethoven 250 reissues; rather, it’s Volume 12 of their Beecham conducts series. I reviewed the two previous releases in Autumn 2017, making Beecham’s Berlioz Te Deummy Reissue of the Month (10PDR4) and liking his Tchaikovsky Symphony No.2 (11PDR4).

"Rubinstein’s clean-cut playing should be no surprise to those who love his Chopin –a composer about whom I tend to be ambiguous until I hear Rubinstein. Beecham was a great fan of the pianist –he once trod on the toes of an opinionated young man who mentioned his tendency to play wrong notes –and they produce together a Beethoven Fourth that can still be enjoyed. There are no Beecham naughty tricks – perhaps Rubinstein’s influence – and, though Beecham’s naughty can be nice, the comparatively plain interpretation here is by no means uninteresting; it’s just that Rubinstein makes the solo part sound easy.

"The ‘little’ Eighth Symphony also fares well at Beecham’s hands and though the recording of any of these works would hardly pass muster as newly minted –in some ways, the 1947 sounds a little better than the 1954 –in this transfer it all sounds good enough to enjoy the performances."

Brian Wilson at Musicweb Interntional

Brass and Military at Beulah

Visit our new Brass and Military music page

Jazz at Beulah

Visit our new Jazz page