Decca Legends series

Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:17 pm

I am sitting here enjoying an audio time warp-- the Decca Legends series disc that is a smapler of many of the discs of that series (Decca 466 264-2).

While some venues are obvious (King's College, VPO in Sofiensaal, LSO in Abbey Road, piano duo at Kingsway, etc) there are some others that are mysteries. Does anyone here know the venues of Suisse Romande/Ansermet or the name of the church for the Montreal/Dutoit? A surprise to some may be that the CSO Mahler 8 was done in Vienna while on tour, unfortunately without the presence of the fabulous CSO chorus-- the only one (aside from Shaw's) that could stand toe-to-toe with that brass section.

Even more fascinating-- can anyone name the producer/engineer teams for each? None are attributed!!!?! Culshaw is a safe guess for early Sofiensall, but the engineers were not always the same. There are some pictures in the booklet I have never seen before, also (showing great vintage gear!). Chris Raeburn is seen in several (and Jimmy Lock), but Culshaw is nowhere to be seen.

This is a great disc to have for the music, and to hear how producing tastes have changed over the years-- even at Decca, whose house sound was always proudly "vivid." It would make an interesting thread to compare the Decca sound to the polar opposite-- Telarc (with EMI and Chandos in between?)

Rich

Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:17 pm

Speaking of old Decca- a must for any classical recordist is the documentary "The Golden Ring" that the BBC did of the Solti/Vienna Wagner Ring recording. Unbelievable documentary and it is available on DVD these days.

--Ben

Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 2:41 pm

I can't answer your questions Rich, but it does bring up a good point. All those years of not properly crediting the people who did the production on so many recordings.

Of course, there are some more recent recordings (CD rereleases, etc) that give plenty of credit to where credit is due, but to paraphrase Barbra Streisand: These things didn't get recorded by themselves!

Having worked on both sides of the glass, I have always felt that the recording/mixing/editing/mastering folks are just as important as the players, in most cases. It's a collaborative effert, indeed. But as we still see the stampedes at the end of movies in theaters as soon as "the end" comes on the screen, few still give a damn about who made it happen, and that's a shame.

There are some great (nameless) recordings out there; wonderful examples of a craft I wish I knew more about, esp the people who did them, and HOW they did them. So many of these guys just aren't around any more, sadly...

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