Hall of Fame : a missing category
Sun, Sep 23 2012, 3:31PM
Some producers took an important place in the classical records history.
I think an almost equal place has to be attributed to the greatest sound engineers. Their collaboration with great musicians had produced reference recordings.
Among the most notorious :
Wilkinson, Goodall, Parry, Lock for Decca
Bob Fine for Mercury
Lewis Layton for RCA
Mon, Sep 24 2012, 11:08AM
#2
RE: Hall of Fame : a missing category
I am mainly concerned in what is inside the record and
how it comes to my ears.
Good engineering is a great advantage for the musicians.
If Solti's recordings at the beginning of the sixties were not recorded
by the Decca team what had happen to his career ? There were at that time a lot
of conductors for Wagner and Strauss.
Conversely, we are never told of the records Fritz Reiner makes before
his RCA sessions. Does he become suddenly a better conductor ? No, simply he
had stunning recordings from his sound engineer.
The jacket design can be more or less appealing (poor Bartoli !). It can
be
decisive to buy the record but I don't stay 70 minutes looking at it.
Mon, Sep 24 2012, 2:18PM
#3
RE: Hall of Fame : a missing category
Maybe, we don't need any..."Halls" (of "Fame" or otherwise) at all. "Halls" may always have..."holes" or "loopholes"...
Two tips: a) The product speaks by itself. In a very good one, people will notice enough to appreciate accordingly.
b) People forget easily. They can hardly remember even the artists involved through the years. We should be happy that, still, we may speak for Solti's monumental (probably the most successful and the greatest) achievement in recording history. However, how many still remember Crespin's, Widgassen's or Hotter's contribution to this endeavour.
Instead of "Halls", let's do simply our homework, if we're still interested.
Parla
Mon, Sep 24 2012, 3:12PM
#4
RE: Hall of Fame : a missing category
Wander44,
Perhaps you remember, in EMI's Les Introuvables series there was an issue Les Introuvables de Walter Legge. So someone in what used to be EMI agrees with you!
Incidentally, it looks as though EMI Classics will not go to Universal. One condition of the sale is that EMI disposes of EMI Classics separately. There was a rumour that Naxos may take it over.
Chris
Mon, Sep 24 2012, 10:44PM
#5
RE: Hail of Famine : the missing link
....and what about those who have designed the actual CD cases. The 'jewel case' was good but my favourite is the gatefold cardboard sleeve with an attached plastic holder inside. A design of genius. Any recordings that extended to two CDs used to come in large jewel cases until the hinged single CD case came along, again brilliant. The flimsy cardboard box that DG have used to package the Nina Stemme Fidelio is probably the worse packaging ever, however I do like Nina Stemme so I will forgive DG. There are alot of issues to consider before you even get to the music. I think some of these have been unjustly overlooked and each one deserves its own 'Gramophone Hall of Fame' catergory.
Tue, Sep 25 2012, 8:52PM
#6
RE: Hall of Fame : a missing category
Very good point in your Sepember 23rd post, wander44 - add Andrew Keener and Tony Faulkner for Hyperion.
Fri, Sep 28 2012, 5:40AM
#7
RE: Hall of Fame : a missing category
Producers is a HoF category
Fri, Sep 28 2012, 11:58AM
#8
RE: Hall of Fame : a missing category
Producers but NOT sound engineers.
Fri, Sep 28 2012, 11:45PM
#9
RE: Hall of Fame : a missing category
You should be happy that even "Producers" are included. This is not the Oscars; it is an artificial "Hole" of Fame!..
Parla
....and what about 'cover art' or photography. I've just been playing some of Norrington's Schubert. What a painting on the booklet cover, 'View of the river Rhine' 1853 Klunenbrosch. I may have bought the 2CD set anyway as it was very cheap on Amazon, but still, what a picture. I wonder, would anyone have bought and kept buying Karajan CDs into the 80's if the front cover hadn't been of his grinning airbrushed teutonic mugshot looking up to the heavens, eyes closed.