Credits:

Herbert von Karajan, Philharmonia Orchestra, Clara Haskil

Description:

Richard Itter (1928-2014) played a valuable role in British recording history. He had always been interested in recording, and recorded the broadcasts of the BBC Wrotham transmitter, a British broadcasting station established in 1951 (VHF/FM broadcasting began in 1955), for his personal use only, using the best equipment available at the time. From 1952 to 1996, approximately 1,500 broadcast recordings were made, and are still treasured today as a valuable collection. In 1959, Itter also established a private label, Lyrita Recorded Edition, which actively introduced “unknown British composers” such as Iceland and Finzi, whose works were not released by major labels (HMV, Decca, etc.). In the 1970s, the label added premiere recordings of symphonic works and concertos by Bax, Moran, Olwyn, Bridge, Rawstone, Lovra, and others, many of which are licensed