Ted Perry, 71; Hyperion Records Founder Had Wide Classical Tastes

Ted Perry, whose Hyperion Records explored a wide range of classical music, has died. He was 71.

Perry died of lung cancer Sunday in a London hospital, said Mike Spring of Hyperion.

Perry, who had worked with several record companies in Britain and Australia, founded Hyperion in 1981 and drove a cab to keep the struggling operation going.

While driving, he heard a broadcast of songs by 12th century German abbess Hildegard von Bingen, and contacted the artists. The resulting 1981 recording, “A Feather on the Breath of God,” was a success and put the company on a sounder footing.

It remains one of the company’s bestsellers. “It pays for all my mistakes,” Perry once said.

Notable Hyperion projects include Leslie Howard’s 95-CD survey of Franz Liszt’s solo piano music, a project that took 14 years; a 37-CD set of Franz Schubert’s lieder, with Graham Johnson accompanying a range of singers; and the English Orpheus series of 48 CDs that explores obscure English repertory from 1600 to 1800.

Hyperion built up a catalog of 1,000 titles, reflecting Perry’s wide but specific tastes.

“I am not interested in Italian opera, although I like Puccini because I do have a sentimental streak; I am not generally interested in 20th century music after Janacek; and I am not fond of French harpsichord music like D’Anglebert; the twiddles just get on my nerves. They even have twiddles on the twiddles,” he said in 1990.

Perry, who was divorced, is survived by a son and two daughters.