My understanding is that the contract Classic had was for the recordings they did and no more. Apparently either Wilma Cozart or Philips declined to allow Classic to do any more, for reasons unknown to me. Too bad, as they are spectacular and there are a lot of better performances and pieces of music out there in the Mercury catalog than Hi Fi a la Espanol and Balalaika Favorites. As far as if there's a future in high end vinyl, I hope there is, but given the close-out pricing I've seen on a lot of the Classic RCA reissues I don't know if there's enough of us out there interested in this product to make this a viable business for Classic and other high quality record companies (witness the now defunct Wilson Audio vinyl and the Reference Mastercuts reissues). There still seem to be some Testament and Alto reissues of the EMI and Decca catalogs, although they seem to be slowing down too. Hopefully this will continue to be a small niche product; otherwise, keep combing those used record bins!
Why no more Mercs? Is the end near?
Asked a question in another thread but posted in wrong place! Essentially, I would like any information as to why Classic stopped issuing Mercury Living Presence. In my opinion it was worth pursuing much more than the current re-fi MOFI stage that they seem to be entering. Since DCC is gone (See current Music Direct catalog) and the future ressurection (?) of MoFi taking so long, and, the flourishing of on-line auction houses expanding,is there a future in issuing high-end vinyl? Note: I started this thread because I'm interested in hearing from my fellow consumer music/audio lovers. If you're involved with these companies, please restain yourself. Hope that dialog is informative and fun. Hope to hear.
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