Cliff's Classics

My love affair with recorded music began at age eight, when my parents took me for afternoon tea to the house of a friend of theirs. This friend had a collection of records - all 78 rpm's which occupied an entire wall, and a huge gramophone with louvered doors to control the sound. He was kind enough to ask me what I'd like to hear, which happened to be Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik I had never heard such "high fidelity" before, and vowed then that someday I too will be the proud owner of a record collection, and be able to listen to anything I wanted, anytime.

Fast forward a few decades, when in 1960 I started Baroque Records Co. Of Canada in Montreal, specializing in out-of-the-way Baroque music that other labels had overlooked. This worked out well, and after moving to Los Angeles, I launched Orion Master Recordings incorporating the best of the Baroque Records catalog and adding - over the next 20-odd years - a few hundred more albums.

Cliff Coleman, who had been reviewing all new releases from Orion since 'way back' invited me to share my opinions on Cliff's Classics and I now have my own section on this Website. As you may have already guessed, my specialty is Early Music, progressing back from the Baroque to Renaissance, Gothic and even earlier music. A couple of years ago, I started a musical group - the Orion Early Music Ensemble - devoted to the performance of Ye Erlie Musicke - obscure works by composers most of you never heard of.

Many of the recordings originally released on Orion Master Recordings and Baroque Records labels are now being re-released by one of our partners, ClassicsOnline and will soon be available for download through this Website.

Shaloha (Shalom + Aloha).