Kenneth Wilkinson Discography

In additiona to so many of the best Decca recordings, virtually the entire Lyrita catalog was recorded by Wilkinson. Superb.

Also, the two excellent Readers Digest series with producer Charles Gerhardt: The Treasury of Great Music; The Beethoven Symphonies with Liebowitz.

And a number of the best RCAs, recorded by Decca under contract to RCA, such as:

The Royal Ballet Gala Performances, LDS 6065;
Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto with Heifetz, LSC 2603;
Bizet and Chabrier, LSC 2327;
Witches Brew (Mussorgsky, Saint-Saens, etc), LSC 2225;
Dvorak's Slavonic Dances, LSC 2419;
Gounod's Faust selections, LSC 2449;
Grieg's Norwegian Melodies, LSC 2336;
Rachmaninov's Symphony #2 by Previn, LSC 2899;
Sibelius' Finlandia by Mackerras, LSC 2336;
Vaughan Williams' Symphonies by Previn, LSC 3066, 3170, 3178, 3224, 3282.

Here is some verbiage from Arthur Salvatore's website. I have found this summary to be pretty accurately predictive about the sound of Decca/London releases:

"I have finally (and reluctantly) decided to "spill the beans". Anyone who has read this far will now know what took me years to learn: the real, secret method to find the best pressings of the Decca/London/Argo LPs. It's very simple: Look for a "G" pressing in the "dead wax". "G" stands for Ted Burkett, a Decca mastering engineer.

"Example-Albeniz-Suite Espagnol-London CS 6581-"ZAL-8284-3G"

"Burkett's masterings are virtually ALWAYS superior to the others, though "W" (Harry Fisher) and "K" (Tony Hawkins) are (sometimes) almost as good. I don't know why, though I assume he had superior mastering equipment, because skill alone, even if he was a "genius", can not account for all the sonic improvements I have consistently experienced with his masterings. (Greater purity, transparency and detail, plus a more extended high-end, a lower sound-floor etc.).

"Bottom Line- If there is a choice, always get the G, if not, get the W or K. After that, it's a crap shoot."

Here's a link

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Kenneth+Wilkinson