[78-L] Newton Classics, Heritage CD labels - info ??

[Stewart, Joseph R]

Thomas Stern asked,
"Can someone give me some information about these two CD labels - they seem to be inactive/defunct, but their product is available from various sources.
Were they PD operations, or licensed material?
  The one Newton release I've seen is pressed and has trilingual notes, the one Heritage looks to be CD-R with brief English notes.
Is there a comprehensive list of their releases anywhere ?"

Thomas, the Heritage Records website www.heritage-records.com/ is at least still up and running.  And yes, their releases do seem to be in CD-R form, to judge by the titles we've received here at KSMU over the past several years.  The website quotes "Gramophone," "BBC Music Magazine," and other reviews of their releases from as late as early 2015, so they LOOK like they're still operating.   Just checked their listing for one reissue (Huguette Dreyfus playing the Bach Keyboard Partitas) that talks about its original release on Denon, and that "the performances appear on the Heritage label, courtesy of SLG."  (SLG is "Savoy Label Group."  According to Warner Music Group's website, SLG is the U.S. arm of Nippon Columbia, which now controls the Denon catalog....) So they seem to have officially licensed THAT recording from its original owners, at least!
     New info on Newton does seem to have dried up as of about November 2011--no more new posts to their Facebook page or Twitter account--and their website no longer works... but as you said, various distributors and retailers (Naxos, Presto Classical, even Amazon) are definitely still selling items from their catalog.  www.naxosdirect.com/labels/newton-classics-4221, for instance, lists a total of 211 titles. Newton apparently did license reissue material from the original labels, and their production values were fully professional.  

Randy Stewart
Arts Producer
KSMU
901 S. National
Springfield MO 65897