Best of British October 2018

The release of this four-CD set of works for solo string instruments and orchestra pays tribute, as does the recently issued box-set of ‘British Piano Concertos’, to the imagination and vision of the late Richard Itter and his pioneering Lyrita label. For many, Lyrita was the British music label and was loyally supported by various ‘in house’ conductors, among them Adrian Boult, Nicholas Braithwaite, Norman Del Mar and Vernon Handley. Many of the recordings offered here are from the old Lyrita analogue and early digital catalogue but there are a few recordings made during the label’s short revival between 1993 and 1996 which were not issued until more than a decade after they were made. The set makes for fantastic value for money, each CD containing well over 70 minutes of music, and the performances are generally of tremendous vibrancy and quality.

Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). The band became one of the world's most commercially successful, with worldwide records sales of over 100 million…

Prudence was one the most important bands on the Norwegian prog scene in the '70's, which included the likes of Aunt Mary, Junipher Greene, Titanic, Popol Vuh (Ace), Ruphus, Folque and HØST. They fused rock with old party/dance music from Trøndelag and (on their last album) sang in their local dialect, and thereby created a rock style dubbed Trønderrock.