Archiv Produktion: 1947-2013, Part I

 

NOTE: All of the music on this series of programs came from the recent 55 CD collection dedicated to the history and historic recordings by the Archiv label. We at Millennium of Music wish to express our gratitude to this label as a primary inspiration for our work in the field.

 

We used some or all of the recordings listed below. For information on the complete set:  

 

 

From ArkivMusic.com:

 

In more ways than one, 2013 is an Archiv Produktion year. The beloved Silver Label - the "Early Music Studio of Deutsche Grammophon", as it was called for many years - is being revived in a big way, both in frontline and catalogue. This boxed set traces the history of Archiv from 1947, when the first recordings were made (Helmut Walcha playing Bach organ works), to a "bonus" CD featuring selections from the new 2013 albums mentioned above.A complete overview is appended. In between comes a sequence of albums several of which are new to CD from the great names of the label, from Walcha, Wenzinger and Safford Cape, through Karl Richter, Nikolas Harnoncourt, and Sir Charles Mackerras, on to David Munrow, Ralph Kirkpatrick, Jurgen Jurgens, to Reinhard Goebel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Trevor Pinnock, Paul McCreesh, Marc Minkowski, Anne Sofie von Otter, Magdalena Kozena, and many, many more. The list of artists who have recorded for Archiv is truly astounding.

And the music they recorded represents some of the best, both in terms of repertoire and listening experience, that there has ever been, all the way from Gregorian Chant to Beethoven. This set includes some rediscoveries, such as Harnoncourt's Muffat and Biber, and new musical experiences like the Brandenburg Concertos with August Wenzinger.

The box is as simple and as striking as it could be: in gleaming silver with the large blue Archiv logo embossed on all sides. A large onsert on the top and back of the box details contents and is illustrated with a packshot showing contents. This is an original-cover box, starting with the austere yellow covers of the 1940s and 1950s gradually giving way to the great historical illustrations and images that featured up to the 1990s, when artists at last began to make an appearance (there were no artist photos in the 1950s!)

The 180-page full-color book in an arresting oblong format has articles by journalist Nicholas Anderson and "memoirs" by former directors of Archiv Prof. Andrewas Holschneider and Dr. Peter Czornyj, and Executive Producer Marita Prohmann. The book features many rare photos from Archiv recording sessions as well as other memorabilia.

 

 

 

 

Cantata "Ich habe genug" BWV 82