John Culshaw: The Art of the Producer - The Early Years (1948-1955)

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.

Contents:

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)
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
Nielsen - 1*/Jensen. Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

CD 7: Paris, 1952/3
Recordings of Gérard 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*