Henry Lytton - Recordings

Recordings

Lytton made many recordings between 1901 and 1905, including songs from The Sorcerer, Iolanthe, Merrie England, A Princess of Kensington, A Country Girl, The Toreador, The Earl and the Girl (his recording of "My Cosy Corner Girl" from this musical was a strong success) and many others. By the time HMV began using D'Oyly Carte principals in its recordings of the Savoy Operas, however, Lytton’s voice was not thought suitable for the gramophone. Of the many HMV recordings issued in the inter-war years, he was included in only Princess Ida in 1924 (acoustic) and 1932 (electrical), The Mikado in 1926, The Gondoliers in 1927, and H.M.S. Pinafore in 1930. He also sang Ko-Ko in a 1926 BBC radio broadcast of The Mikado and appeared in the same role in a four-minute long silent promotional film made of the D'Oyly Carte organisation in 1926. On most of the other recordings of the period, George Baker replaced him in the patter roles. Twenty-five of Lytton's recordings were collected on the LP The Art of Henry Lytton.

A photograph of Lytton and D'Oyly Carte colleagues with the huge recording horn used in the acoustic recording process can be seen here.