Irish classical CDs labelled with love

The Lyric FM label has been putting out a wealth of great Irish music since 2004, writes ARMINTA WALLACE

WE HEAR so many gloomy noises emanating from the classical recording industry these days that it’s easy to imagine it has been all downhill since somebody first thought of plonking Herbert Von Karajan in front of the Berlin Philharmonic, giving him a baton, and getting them to play Beethoven symphonies.

But it hasn’t. The behemoths of the business may be – literally – cracking up, but there are plenty of small, nippy labels doing a great job of bringing music to our ears. Here in Ireland, RTÉ Lyric FM has had its own label since 2004, and has assembled an impressive catalogue which ranges from collections of songs to full-length operas, electro-acoustic music to string quartets.

It’s a tiny operation run by Lyric producer Eoin Brady, who cheerfully admits that when he joined the radio station, he knew nothing about recording and little enough about classical music. “I was into trad – Martin Hayes was just starting his rise at that stage – and also English folk,” he explains. “John Martyn and Richard Thompson, people like that. The Doors, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen. A bit of jazz. A bit of hip-hop. I was always picking stuff up and trying it out.”

The idea for the label began after he recorded a CD as a promotional tool for Lyric's Lunchtime Choiceprogramme, followed by a radio series for schools called A, B, C Sharp. "I realised two things," he says. "The first was that if classical music is packaged properly, it will sell. You won't sell 1,000 CDs in the first month – but you'll sell 10 every month for years to come. The second thing is that Irish musicians are brilliant. I mean, let's face it, they're never going to be mobbed going down Grafton Street. No one's going to send a limousine to drive them around, or anything like that. But their dedication is incredible."

Working with a board which helps decide on which projects to accept, Brady is currently producing three CDs a year. “Our criteria are, basically, ‘Is the musician or the music Irish?’ And ‘Is there a market out there for it?’ There’s no point in doing a CD of opera arias when there are millions of those out there already, selling at €5.99 each.”

The Lyric CDs sell for €17.99, and can be downloaded, along with the sleeve notes on high-quality PDF, from various websites including Classics Online (classicsonline.com).

“Because we only do three a year I want to get absolutely the best quality that we can, right through from the performances to the packaging,” says Brady. “The traditional cover design for a classical CD is 19th-century landscapes, or a serious face. I try to do something different – and I try to get sleeve notes with a personal feel.”

He is also a stickler for engineers and equipment. A big headache, it turns out, is the lack of suitable recording venues in Ireland.

“Since the Celtic Tiger – God rest its soul – it’s really hard to find good places to record duos and small ensembles. For bigger gigs we have a box at the National Concert Hall, but we can really only use it for the orchestras because it’s too expensive for us to hire independently. Small venues that used to be good now tend to have motorways built next to them.

“For one project, we had picked out four possible churches in Cork, but three of them were in the middle of building sites. Jackhammers, trucks going past, the whole works. Eventually we went to the beautiful medieval cathedral in Cloynes, in East Cork. It was June, but it was freezing. I had to go to the local pub and borrow three radiators.”

The cold wasn't the only challenge. "We had this great Gramophoneaward-winning producer, Andrew Keeler. And he and the engineer were, like, 'There's a bird'. I was going, 'What bird?' Anyway, a bird had flown in through a tiny crack in one of the windows, so we had to shoo him out. And then I had to climb 30 feet up a ladder to tape up the whole window. There were no other volunteers. Andrew said, 'I've got vertigo.' The engineer said, 'I'm too old.' The musicians said, 'Our hands – our hands . . .'"

Such are the adventures of a record producer. But there are compensations. In at least one case Brady can also claim to have influenced not just the sound of the recording, but that of the music itself. In May 2004 he brought the composer Ciarán Farrell to Skellig Michael with a view to commissioning a setting of Paddy Bushe's poem, Hopkins on Skellig Michael. "It was a really beautiful day. We climbed all the way to the saddle where the monks used to go on retreat, and I think that idea of climbing – up and up and up – has really made its way into the music."

The next release on the Lyric label will be music by the Belfast-born composer Ian Wilson, Winter Finding,which will be available at the end of next month. It will be followed by a selection of zarzuela and light opera from soprano Celine Byrne, and a programme of choral music, One Day Fine, from the National Chamber Choir

MUSIC AND LYRIC Six of the best

DEIRDRE GRIBBIN: Venus Blazing(CD 125) Opening with a musical portrayal of the barren, parched highlands of the planet Venus, this violin concerto from another Belfast-born composer glows like the planet in an evening sky.

IRISH BAROQUE ORCHESTRAplay Bach (CD 110) Recorded at Maynooth on a sunny summer's day – and all that warmth and light is right there in the music.

MASTERS OF TRADITION (CD 117)Smile-inducing 2-CD collection from the trad archives – including Frank Harte's unforgettable rendition of The Lambeg Drummer.

CLÍONA DORIS: A Pale Yellow Sky (CD 115) Trust me, you have never heard a harp sound like this. Amazing.

HICCUP (CD 123) Ear-opening collection of new music commissioned by RTÉ Lyric FM from 2003 to 2008 – and five of the composers are women. Check out Jürgen Simpson's other-worldly Sigilum, a work for performer and tape derived entirely from a 28-inch gong. You can get a free copy if you write to Lyric at Cornmarket Square, Limerick, or email lyric@rte.ie.

CATHERINE LEONARD AND HUGH TINNEY: Beethoven sonatas (CD 111) Aha! Beethoven at last! Leonard and Tinney (pictured) take him at a sparkling pace.