Whats on your turntable tonight?

Hilliard Ensemble, Cipriano de Rore: "Le Vergine" - Harmonia Mundi HM 1107 (another beautifully engineered recording from Jean-Francois Pontefract)

Italian Madrigals of the 14th Century, Jacopo da Bologna, performed by the Ensemble Project Ars Nova, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi HM 738

A Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Guaraldi Trio, Fantasy 8431 (45rpm Analogue Productions reissue)

Dexter Gordon, Our Man in Paris, Blue Note ST-84146 (45rpm Music Matters reissue)

Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling , Blue Note ST-84083 (45rpm Analogue Productions resissue)

Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman, Island ILPM 9135

Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like a Wheel, Capitol ST 11358 (Cisco reissue)
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Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 - Browning/Leinsdorf/BSO - RCA LSC 2897

Alwyn Fantasy-Waltzes (1956) - John Ogdon - Chandos ABRD 1125

Debussy Jardines sous la Pluie - Ivan Moravec - Connoisseur Society CS 2010 Athena reissue

Holst Planets - Mehta/LAPO - Decca SXL 6529 ORG 45rpm reissue

Maria Callas - Callas Mad Scenes from Anna Bolena, Hamlet, Il Pirata - EMI SAX 2320 Testament reissue

In memory of HP: Dusty Springfield, The Look of Love - Colgems 45rpm Classic Records reissue
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Vaughan Williams, A Pastoral Symphony/In the Fen Country--Boult, New Philharmonia Orchestra-EMI ASD 2393

Exotic Dances from the Opera--Oue, Minnesota Orchestra--Reference Mastercuts RM-1505

Rodrigo, Concerto de Arajuez--Romero, Marriner, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields--Philips 9500 563

Arnold, English Scottish Cornish Dances--Arnold, London Philharmonic--Lyrita SCRS 109--HP was right, probably in the top three orchestral recordings I have on vinyl.

Russ, I absolutely agree about the Malcolm Arnold English Dances, Lyrita SCRS 109. Wilkie nailed this one. It is one of 2 or 3 most natural and accurate representations of a full orchestra in my collection. When people want to understand soundstaging, I pull out this LP. The other LP I bring out is Power of the Orchestra (RCA VICS 2659), also recorded by Wilkinson under contract between RCA and Decca.

For those who may not know: "Wilkie" was Kenneth Wilkinson, recording engineer famous for his work with Decca in the '60s and '70s. His work for Lyrita was freelance and no credits appear on the Lyrita album covers, but he did much of his best work (as in natural sounding, more minimally miked) for that label.
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Correction to the above... Wilkinson's work for Lyrita was apparently not freelance. Lyrita contracted with Decca for their recordings (as did RCA and Readers Digest) and Lyrita's owner, Richard Itter, always requested Wilkinson to engineer the recordings. See this Wikipedia article for more detail:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Wilkinson
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