Welcome to Beulah 1993-2023

Beulah quoted

"These are careful transfers which make the most of the material, whereas I suspect that some others just stick an LP or 78s on the turntable and give us what comes out the other end. Beulah’s results are comparable with the fine transfers which Naxos Historical offer. " Brian Wilson at Music Web International

"The Beulah record label has always been one of the most idiosyncratic, and therefore perhaps most interesting, of reissue marques. While the basic character of Beulah remains the same as in its Compact Disc days, the range of its present catalogue, driven now by the ease of downloading, has been extended in remarkable fashion. Browsing the Beulah catalogue is now rather like being in a 78rpm record shop: there are plenty of recordings of short pieces available to whet your appetite for either repertoire or artist, while at the same time there are numerous full length works available if you wish to consolidate your collection with, for instance, major symphonies. All of Beulah's transfers, as might be expected of a distinguished reissue label, are of very high quality." David Patmore writing in Classical Recordings Quarterly

"Beulah releases are available from other suppliers but offer them in lossless sound" Brian Wilson at Music Web International 

Reviewer's Recommendations

David McDade's review of Twentieth Centrury Classics Volume 5

" It would seem inevitable that a label like Beulah was going to be drawn to the classic recordings from the Mercury label which have a claim to be some of the finest of the LP era. The selection of works on this new Beulah release straddles two different Mercury LPs and it demonstrates just how adventurous their recorded repertoire could be.

" Kubelik, a composer himself, had a fine pedigree in the music of his century, a fact sometimes obscured by his recorded legacy being dominated by nineteenth century composers. The casual listener will not be surprised at how good his Mozart with Curzon or his Beethoven with Serkin is but may be surprised to learn just how good a foil he provided for Alfred Brendel in Schoenberg’s thorny piano concerto. It is worth pointing out that the story goes that he was forced out of the Chicago job on account of performing too many modern scores.

"An interesting point of comparison is between this Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and the more celebrated later recording with the same orchestra by Fritz Reiner. They could hardly be more different. Reiner, the Hungarian, is more hard edged, rhythms driven and ensemble so sharp you could cut yourself on it. The Czech, Kubelik, is more concerned with atmosphere and sounds the more Hungarian of the two. An oversimplification admittedly but there is something in seeing Reiner as the modernist and Kubelik as sticking closely to the folk music roots of this music. Reiner’s is, rightfully, considered one of the greatest recordings of all time but the surprise is how little ground this Kubelik version has to concede to it.

"The Bartók is positively populist compared to the other two works that make up the programme. The Bloch is a real rarity. Written in 1925, it has suffered the neglect that has been the fate of a lot of the then fashionable taste for the neoclassical. It is a likeable, warm hearted work.

"Kubelik always had a special way of coaxing a unique sound from the strings and he is at his wizardly best in the Bloch. What could be dull slabs of string chord work resonate with trenchant intensity, each part clearly audible yet seamlessly integrated. "

"Beulah save the best for last with an absolutely stupefyingly good version of the Schoenberg Op16. This work represents in many ways one of the high points of the composer’s expressionist phase before the development of the 12 tone system....Even in the good but necessarily limited sound of this 1953 recording, the colours glow in all their menacing wonder. The way Kubelik maintains the febrile climate across five very different pieces is a remarkable achievement and the precision of the playing matches him at every step.

"It is often the case that recordings that always sounded good respond best to attempts at sonic restoration and so it is here. Mercury were always an audiophile label and the results of their approach sound surprisingly modern to my ears. Beulah’s love affair with this classic era of the LP continues with this release. For all the famously stated desire to capture the ‘living presence’ of the orchestra what I hear is the experience of listening to an album on a turntable with everything possible being done to maximise that experience. Given this view of these albums, Beulah’s methods seem particularly appropriate.

"Do have a listen to these stunning performances."

Read the full review.

New for August

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.

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