Remember Collins Classics?

[otterhouse]

Remember Collins Classics?
I've wrote a small article about Collins Classics and a playlist of some favorite recordings:

http://classicalspotify.blogspot.nl/201 ... otify.html

I can still remember that a Dutch warehouse had these records for 10 guilders each (full price was 52 guilders those days) and I was sò thrilled to afford these CD's...

Curious what you think of the CD's. The Mozart CD with Vasary is my favorite, and trio Zingara, Duke quartet are some fond memories too...

Rolf, Netherlands

[John F]

I remember the label but never got any of the records. Were they related to the publishing company that was acquired by Harper?

[Ted Quanrud]

According to Wikipedia, "Collins Classics was a record label which specialised in classical music. It was founded in 1989. Artists who recorded for the label included Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the Duke Quartet, choral group the Sixteen, Harry Christophers and Joanna MacGregor. In 2008 the label was sold to Phoenix Music International Ltd."

Phoenix still lists Collins Classics as one of its labels with about 40 CDs http://www.phoenixmusicinternational.co ... abelID=315

I have a couple of Cpllins CDs with the* Sixteen

[Tore]

Collins Classics was a wonderful label. It was a terrible loss that they went under. A quick search through my database gave me 37 titles.

They did wonderful work with their recordings of and by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. They also startet the English song series that Naxos continued. Also some great Britten recordings (Complete folksongs and The turn of the screw) and other modern recordinds (Michael Berkeley, Robert Saxton and John Tavener).

Naxos has reissued all of Collins' Maxwell Davies and Britten recordings.

I checked out the link to Spotify. Those albums looks like what's left after all the other albums have been sold or reissued by other labels.
Tore F Steenslid
http://www.steenslid.com
Sotra, Norway

[josé echenique]

My favorite Collins recording was Antonio de Teixeira´s Te Deum with The Sixteen, at over 80 minutes the longest Te Deum on records . This is still available in Coro.

[Lance]

Sure do remember them! I've got 35 of their discs and (you probably won't believe this), but one of my favourites is Peter Maxwell Davies' "An Orkney Wedding" [15242]. I heard a live performance of the work a few years ago with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra - and simply HAD to have this music available to me. Other memorable CDs feature pianist Seta Tanyel in the music of Scharwenka and Moszkowski. I note that some of their recordings have been reissued on the Brilliant label as well as others. A great, and most intersting label.

[jserraglio]

Many titles still available as downloads ($9.99) here:


Collins Classics
Highly respected classical label formed by Pinnacle Entertainment in 1989 in association with Harper Collins. The majority of the recordings were made by the top London orchestras – specifically the London Philharmonic, London Symphony and Consort of London - either at the world famous Abbey Road studios or at leading live venues. Covering a wide range of classics from Bach to Britten and Shostakovich to Sibelius, the label’s 130 albums form a small but important part of recorded music history.

http://www.classicsonline.com/search/Se ... cs&pageno=

[Tore]

Sure do remember them! I've got 35 of their discs and (you probably won't believe this), but one of my favourites is Peter Maxwell Davies' "An Orkney Wedding" [15242]. I heard a live performance of the work a few years ago with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra - and simply HAD to have this music available to me.

An Orkney wedding, with sunrise is a wonderful Works. It has also been recorded by the Atlanta SO on Telarc on a CD titled Britannia.

My first introduction to Maxwell Davies was with a CD-single from Collins of the suite of act 1 of the ballet Caroline Mathilde.

I only wish someone could record his Symphony no. 7. I feel my OCD scream at me by having all the others (1-6 on Collins, 8 downloaded from maxopus.com, 9 recorded of the Proms and 10 from Lso Live).

Tore F Steenslid
www.steenslid.com
Sotra, Norway

[RebLem]

The only Collins CDs I have, to the best of my knowledge, are a partial set of the Shostakovich symphonies by his son Maxim. I still love them.