The Well-Tempered Ear

Hyperion Records to stream music — finally

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By Jacob Stockinger

It is a case of answered prayers.

The Ear very much wanted to hear the critically acclaimed recordings of late piano pieces by Brahms and Chopin nocturnes by the British pianist Sir Stephen Hough. But they were unavailable for streaming. (You can hear appeal excerpts from the release along with critical acclaim in the YouTube video at the bottom. Click on Watch on YouTube.)

So I was considering buying the expensive recordings in CD format.

Until Friday. Now I don’t have to worry or spend money. And neither do you if you use a streaming service.

For the first time in its history, Hyperion Records will start streaming its classical catalogue. This weekend streamed both of the Hough recordings.

Here is a story with more details: https://www.classical-music.com/news/hyperion-records-to-stream-for-the-first-time/

That means consumers who use a streaming service such as Apple Music, Idagio, Spotify, Presto, Total and Amazon will finally have access to some terrific artists and outstanding recordings.

Specifically, Hyperion — the home to many fine and well-established artists (below) has been acquired by Universal Music Group and will be issued on Decca and Deutsche Grammophon labels.

Clockwise from top left are: Violinist Alina Ibragimova, pianist Andrey Gugin (who won the Sydney International Competition), pianist Angela Hewitt, pianist Stephen Hough, conductor Martyn Brabbins and cellist Steven Isserlis. (Image courtesy of Hyperion Records)

Hyperion was something of a longtime hold-out when it came to the streaming platform. However, as Hyperion’s managing director Simon Perry explains, times have changed for the privately owned, independent label.

“The world is moving very quickly towards a different way of accessing music,” he says. “This seems to be the way forward, as it’s what people want. It also became clear to us that we needed to make sure that our artists had representation on streaming platforms, so we decided it was time to get involved.”

The Ear is very big fan of Hough, who has performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra several times and offered a master class at the UW-Madison.

He also relishes listening to Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt’s outstanding and prize-winning performances of Baroque keyboard works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, and François Couperin as well as her complete Beethoven and Ravel cycles. She has performed at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Cellist Steven Isserlis has also performed at the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Union Theater. And the prolific supervirtuoso pianist Marc-André Hamelin has performed Ravel and Richard Strauss with the symphony. (I particularly like his several volumes of piano sonatas by Haydn.)

One of my favorite string quartets — the Takács String Quartet, which has also performed at the Wisconsin Union Theater — will also have its catalogue of great quartets by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert available. Its new recording combines works by Dvorak and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

If you go to the Hyperion website (bel0w) and click on More, you can see an impressive lists of performers: https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk

The initial batch to be streamed will feature 200 releases and by spring of 2024 will gradually work its way through the entire Hyperion back catalogue of more than 2,000 recordings, off music from the 12th century to the 21 century, that date back to the label’s founding in 1980.

What do you think of Hyperion’s move to streaming?’

Who are your favorite Hyperion artists?

What are your favorite Hyperion recordings?

The Ear wants to hear.