Concert Artist/Fidelio Recordings was a British

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, situated in

Royston, Hertfordshire Royston is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Hertfordshire, District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, which brush ...

, England, and owned and operated by

William Barrington-Coupe William H. Barrington-Coupe (born William Halford Barrington Coupe, 1931 – 19 October 2014 and known as Barry) was a British record producer and music impresario. Married in 1956 to concert pianist Joyce Hatto, he was jailed for a year in 1966 ...

. It is best known for selling unauthorized copies of commercial recordings by other artists as the work of pianists

Sergio Fiorentino Sergio Fiorentino (22 December 1927 – 22 August 1998) was a 20th-century Italian classical pianist whose sporadic performing career spanned five decades. There is quite a bit of footage of his playing that survives, in addition to audio record ...

and Barrington-Coupe's wife,

Joyce Hatto Joyce Hilda Hatto (5 September 1928 – 29 June 2006) was an English concert pianist and piano teacher. In 1956 she married William Barrington-Coupe, a record producer who was convicted of Purchase Tax evasion in 1966. Hatto became famous very ...

. Barrington-Coupe's long history in the music world includes time with Saga Films and Records and pop record producer

Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted in the development of recording practices like over ...

. The company issued recordings from 1955 until 2007.

Fraudulent recordings

The Concert Artist label received increased attention in its final years as it released over 100 CDs of highly acclaimed piano recordings attributed to

. After a great deal of speculation, discussion and allegations, on 26 February 2007 Barrington-Coupe admitted fraud and plagiarism regarding his recently deceased wife's recent recordings. Joyce Hatto CDs released by Concert Artist are in fact plagiarised commercial recordings by other pianists on different labels. Some light editing and processing had been made to the Concert Artist releases in an effort to disguise the original recordings origin. Some of the Concert Artist recordings attributed to Sergio Fiorentino have also been positively identified as previously released commercial recordings by other pianists. The Concert Artist release of Chopin's Mazurkas attributed to

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

has been the subject of continuing debate since before the "Hatto hoax". Subsequent analyses of the Cortot recordings have concluded that there are "ample grounds for suspicion" that the recordings are not authentic, but the actual source recording has never been identified.

Featured artists

Wilhelm Backhaus Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (26 March 1884 – 5 July 1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much ...

, William Bennett,

Alexander Brailowsky Alexander Brailowsky (16 February 1896 – 25 April 1976) was a Russian-born French pianist who specialised in the works of Frédéric Chopin. He was a leading concert pianist in the years between the two World Wars. Early life Brailowsky was bor ...

, Wolfgang Böhm,

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

, Philip Challis, Leonard Cassini,

, Adrian Creighton,

Aeolian String Quartet The Aeolian Quartet was a highly reputed string quartet based in London, England, with a long international touring history and presence, an important recording and broadcasting profile. It was the successor of the pre-War Stratton Quartet. The qua ...

, John Denman, Arthur Dennington,

Ernst von Dohnányi Ernst von Dohnányi (Hungarian: ''Dohnányi Ernő'', ; 27 July 1877 – 9 February 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. He used a German form of his name on most published compositions. Biography Dohnányi was born in Pozsony ...

, D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, English National Opera Orchestra, Sir

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, Paula Fan,

Albert Ferber Albert Ferber (29 March 191111 January 1987) was a Swiss pianist who had an international performing career that spanned four decades and took him across the world. Training Albert Ferber was a classical pianist and teacher. He was born in Lucer ...

, Paul Freeman,

Walter Gieseking Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made inte ...

, Grigory Ginsburg, Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra,

Vernon Handley Vernon George "Tod" Handley (11 November 1930 – 10 September 2008) was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mother into a musical family in Enfield, Middles ...

Beatrice Harrison Beatrice Harrison (9 December 1892 – 10 March 1965) was a British cellist active in the first half of the 20th century. She gave first performances of several important English works, especially those of Frederick Delius, and made the first or ...

, Sir

Hamilton Harty Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a w ...

, Henry Holst,

Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz; yi, וולאַדימיר סאַמוילאָוויטש האָראָוויץ, group=n (November 5, 1989)Schonberg, 1992 was a Russian-born American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all ...

, Edward Kilenyi, René Köhler (long suspected by many to be a fictitious conductor used for the misattributed Hatto recordings and now proven to be),

London Mozart Ensemble London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

Alan Loveday Alan Raymond Loveday (29 February 1928 – 12 April 2016) was a New Zealand violinist. A child prodigy, he became leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a soloist and leader with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He was a professo ...

Witold Malcuzynski Witold may refer to: *Vytautas the Great (ca. 1350–1430), ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania *Witold (given name) Witold is a masculine Polish given name. This name derives from the Lithuanian “Vytautas” composed of two elements: “vyt ...

, Mark Manning, Ozan Marsh,

Frank Merrick Frank Merrick CBE (1886–1981) was an English pianist and composer in the early 20th century.Obituary, ''The Times'', 21 February 1981, p. 14 Life Merrick was born in Clifton, Bristol, Clifton, now part of Bristol, the son of musical parents.Me ...

Benno Moiseiwitsch Benno Moiseiwitsch CBE (22 February 18909 April 1963) was a Russian-born British pianist. Biography Moiseiwitsch was born to Jewish parents in Odessa, Russian Empire (today part of Ukraine), and began his studies at age seven with Dmitry Klimo ...

Ignace Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...

Sergei Rachmaninov Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

Artur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist.

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...

Albert Sammons Albert Edward Sammons CBE (23 February 188624 August 1957) was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation rest ...

, Oda Slobodskaya, Siegfried Schubert-Weber,

Lionel Tertis Lionel Tertis, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame and a noted teacher. Career Tertis was born in West Hartlepool, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants ...

, Rosemary Tuck, Nicholas Zumbro

References

British record labels Classical music record labels Record labels established in 1952 Musical hoaxes {{UK-record-label-stub

Fraudulent recordings

Featured artists

See also

References