The Art of the Producer: 12CD Boxset
Decca’s John Culshaw was the most influential recording producer of the 20th century, and even predicted music streaming decades before the launch of iTunes and Spotify. This new 12-CD set marks the centenary of his birth in May and is a unique proposition celebrating the Producer as the Artist. This collector’s trove of gems includes: Copland playing Copland; the first-ever studio recording of Barber’s Adagio for Strings; the 1951 & 1953 Bayreuth recordings; a lost tape of Clifford Curzon; and the first international release of Georg Solti’s 1954 Brahms German Requiem, recorded by Culshaw for Capitol Records. The accompanying booklet includes a 6,500-word essay by Dominic Fyfe and many previously unseen photographs.
Tracklist:
CD 1 – The First Year, 1948/9. Recordings by Mansel Thomas*/Kathleen Ferrier/Aaron Copland*/Erna Sack*/Clifford Curzon*/Georg Solti/Ernest Bloch & Zara Nelsova/Boyd Neel*
CD 2- Birth of the LP, 1950. Recordings by Royalton Kisch*/Don Gillis*/Ellabelle Davis*/Jacqueline Blancard*
CD 3 – Barber conducts Barber, 1950. Cello Concerto (Zara Nelsova)/Medea Suite*/Symphony No.2*
CD 4 – Bayreuth, 1951 & 1953. Highlights from Parsifal/Knappertsbusch (1951) and Lohengrin/Keilberth* (1953)
CD 5 – Concertgebouw, 1951 & Hamburg, 1953. Brahms 3/Szell (Concertgebouworkest, 1951) & Dvorak 7/Schmidt-Isserstedt*(Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra, 1953)
CD 6 – Copenhagen, 1952/3. Haydn Symphonies 48* & 44*/Wöldike and Nielsen 1*/Jensen. Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
CD 7 – Paris, 1952/3. Recordings of Gerad Souzay*/Mado Robin*/Libero de Luca/Jean Borthayre/Janine Michaeau/Raffaele Arié with Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
CD 8 – Coronation, 1953. Recordings by Malcolm Sargent/Jennifer Vyvyan*/Boyd Neel*
CD 9 – Britten & Aldeburgh, 1953. Aldeburgh Festival opening concert*/Britten. Simple Symphony*/Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings* (Peter Pears/Dennis Brain)/Eugene Goossens
CD 10 – Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Frankfurt, 1954. Georg Solti (recorded for Capitol Records) *
CD 11 – Return to Decca, 1955. Mozart Piano Concertos 13 & 20. Katchen/Maag, 1955; Bach Partita No 3. Emil Telmányi, 1953*
CD 12 – Culshaw in his own words 1960 & 1980.
The Birth of an Opera narrated by Culshaw (Solti Tristan, 1960)
Götterdämmerung: a BBC Radio 3 talk, 1980.*
