Who Is Your Favorite Recording Engineer?
Ramon Khalona
Titanic ExplorerŠ wrote:
>
> I like the 70's Christopher Parker (EMI-!!!)
> instead of Decca and RCA Victor, how about yours?
>
Probably Tony Faulkner. His work for Peter Maag's digital recordings
and for Colin Davis's RCA Sibelius cycle seems exemplary to me.
--
Ramon Khalona "Die Sechste ist die Keckste"
Carlsbad, California - Anton Bruckner -
Titanic ExplorerŠ
I like the 70's Christopher Parker (EMI-!!!)
instead of Decca and RCA Victor, how about yours?
Titanic ExplorerŠ
titani...@geocities.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"In faith, I will."
- Romeo, William Shakespeare
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adam C. Komisaruk
>Probably Tony Faulkner. His work for Peter Maag's digital recordings
>and for Colin Davis's RCA Sibelius cycle seems exemplary to me.
I always wondered about this guy, who I believe just won a Grammy....I knew a
Tony Faulkner when I worked for radio station WKCR-FM in New York about ten
years ago. He appeared to be in his early twenties, and had his hand in a
number of New Music-related projects, including publicity for record labels.
Could this possibly be the same person, based on what you know about him?
Matthew Vaughan
In article <komisaru.2...@ucla.edu*>, komi...@ucla.edu* (Adam C.
Komisaruk) wrote:
No. I don't know much about Tony Faulkner, but he's pretty legendary and
has been a top producer/engineer for RCA for years.
....................................................
MATTHEW VAUGHAN
matthewv at best dot com (damn spammers...)
http://www.best.com/~matthewv/
....................................................
Tony Movshon
"Titanic ExplorerŠ" <titani...@geocities.com> writes:
> I like the 70's Christopher Parker (EMI-!!!)
> instead of Decca and RCA Victor, how about yours?
My favorite engineer of all time, hands down, is Kenneth Wilkinson,
whose wonderful work is available on Decca and occasionally on other
labels (most notably Chesky, where he did all the recordings
originally commissioned by Readers Digest, in a complex RD/RCA/Decca
deal). Wilkinson worked from the early 50s (listen to the Collins/LSO
Sibelius cycle for an example of his fine mono-era work), and was one
of the first engineers to appreciate that stereo is far more useful
for giving ambience and depth to sound than it is for instrumental
spotlighting. He did many recordings for Decca in England from the 50s
through about 1980, though I don't know exactly when he retired. A few
randomly chosen examples of his best work: the Leinsdorf Walkure, the
Dorati Creation, the Curzon/Kertesz Mozart concertos, and many many
others. Wilkinson's stereo recordings are almost always impeccably
balanced, clear and "present", yet always preserving the ambience of
the hall. Wilkinson was more responsible than anyone else for
establishing the Decca/London "house" sound, which in my view has
consistently been the most natural and best of all the major labels'.
Wilkinson had a unique knack for establishing the right way to record
in any particular hall. Compare, for example, the sound he
consistently got from Kingsway Hall in London with the generally
inferior results the EMI crews obtained in the same hall during the
same years.
Among engineers now working, Tony Faulkner seems to be most similar to
Wilkinson, and has done some excellent work for Hyperion, RCA, and
others.
Tony Movshon
Center for Neural Science New York University
http://www.cns.nyu.edu mov...@nyu.edu
Mario Taboada
Tony Movshon:
<<Wilkinson's stereo recordings are almost always impeccably
balanced, clear and "present", yet always preserving the ambience of
the hall. Wilkinson was more responsible than anyone else for
establishing the Decca/London "house" sound, which in my view has
consistently been the most natural and best of all the major labels'.>>
Indeed. For a superb example of how to record chamber music, check out
Wilkinson's work on the famous Katchen-Suk-Starker recordings of the
Brahms piano trios and cello sonatas for Decca. For once, the recording
is of a level comparable to the quality of the music and of the
performances. One more reason to include K-S-S in the Hall of
Fame...which I hereby modestly propose.
Regards,
Mario Taboada
Kalman Rubinson
Ramon Khalona (rkha...@adnc.com) wrote:
> Probably Tony Faulkner. His work for Peter Maag's digital recordings
> and for Colin Davis's RCA Sibelius cycle seems exemplary to me.
Yes. Listen to what he did with the Hanover Band on the Schumman Symphonies and compare
that to their Nimbus recordings.
Kal
Phoenix
How 'bout Rudy Van Gelder who produced demonstration-quality
recordings under some of the worst location conditions, live and
studio. For some of his more "serious" recordings, he was listed as
"Dr. Ruden Van Gelder" (hint, hint: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve,
Vanguard -- ok, I cheated). Also, Max Wilcox's early work for RCA
receives special status. Wilkinson is a close second. The Katchen/Suk
Brahms recording should be required listening for every recording
engineer. All three sonatas were all pressed onto a single LP (over 33
min./side) without sacrificing those marvellous sonics. Anyone know if
he was responsible for the Curzon/Szell Brahms D. Minor concerto on
Decca? Excellent balance and "bloom".
Phoenix
Chuck Nessa
Actually, RVG, as Dr. Rudolph Van Gelder recorded a number of chamber music
dates for Vox in the late '50s and early '60s....Kohon Quartet, etc.
CN
ed brookes
pho...@spamx.eudora.com (Phoenix) writes: > On Fri, 17 Apr 1998 10:24:22 +0000, Mario Taboada
Yes, on the Curzon/Szell Brahms No 1 PC, Wilkie was engineer, John Culshaw
was Producer, and Kingsway Hall (May 62) was the location.
ed.
Phoenix
On Fri, 17 Apr 1998 14:00:12 -0400, Chuck Nessa <cne...@earthlink.net>
wrote:
>Actually, RVG, as Dr. Rudolph Van Gelder recorded a number of chamber music
>dates for Vox in the late '50s and early '60s....Kohon Quartet, etc.
>CN
>
>Phoenix wrote:
>
Yowza! The first time I saw RVG's name in his "Dr." incarnation, I
split a gut. I believe it was the Kohon's reading of the 1st
Schoenberg quartet on Vox...a few others I don't recall. A far cry
from his Rollins, 'Trane, Rollins, et al. dates. Didn't come close,
however, to the awesome "Blue Note Sound" that was his trademark.
Perhaps because the Kohon's didn't record in RVG's New Jersey
basement? Wonder if the good "Dr." is still with us? (proly the wrong
ng in which to ask)
Phoenix
Tony Movshon
pho...@spamx.eudora.com (Phoenix) writes:
> On Fri, 17 Apr 1998 10:24:22 +0000, Mario Taboada wrote:
> >Tony Movshon:
> >
> ><<Wilkinson's stereo recordings are almost always impeccably
> >balanced, clear and "present", yet always preserving the ambience of
> >the hall. Wilkinson was more responsible than anyone else for
> >establishing the Decca/London "house" sound, which in my view has
> >consistently been the most natural and best of all the major labels'.>>
> >
> >Indeed. For a superb example of how to record chamber music, check out
> >Wilkinson's work on the famous Katchen-Suk-Starker recordings of the
> >Brahms piano trios and cello sonatas for Decca. For once, the recording
> >is of a level comparable to the quality of the music and of the
> >performances. One more reason to include K-S-S in the Hall of
> >Fame...which I hereby modestly propose.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Mario Taboada
>
> Also, Max Wilcox's early work for RCA
> receives special status. Wilkinson is a close second. The Katchen/Suk
> Brahms recording should be required listening for every recording
> engineer. All three sonatas were all pressed onto a single LP (over 33
> min./side) without sacrificing those marvellous sonics.
Wilcox is OK, but he's not in the same league as Wilkinson; much less
consistent.
> Anyone know if
> he was responsible for the Curzon/Szell Brahms D. Minor concerto on
> Decca? Excellent balance and "bloom".
Yes, he was.
Heybrook
Professor Johnson with Reference Recording is my favorite recording engineer.
Matthew Vaughan
In article <6h86nh$e25$1...@plug.news.pipex.net>, ed brookes
<ed.br...@argonet.co.uk> wrote:
> pho...@spamx.eudora.com (Phoenix) writes: > On Fri, 17 Apr 1998
10:24:22 +0000, Mario Taboada
> > <matr...@sprintmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Anyone know if
> > he was responsible for the Curzon/Szell Brahms D. Minor concerto on
> > Decca? Excellent balance and "bloom".
> >
>
>
> Yes, on the Curzon/Szell Brahms No 1 PC, Wilkie was engineer, John Culshaw
> was Producer, and Kingsway Hall (May 62) was the location.
Speaking of Kingsway, didn't I hear they were resurrecting it?
Kalman Rubinson
I'd like to commend Peter McGrath for his Audiofon and Harmonia Mundi
(France) recordings. Balance, clarity and presence.
Kal
Alrod
>I like the 70's Christopher Parker (EMI-!!!)
>instead of Decca and RCA Victor, how about yours?
To my taste, many of those recordings are a mite airless and
claustrophobic, as if recorded through a mattress. My favorite is the
Voluptuary King himself, Kenneth Wilkinson.
Wilkie also probably has more imitators than any other classical
engineer.
Alrod
Piotr Kaminski
Titanic Explorer© a écrit:
> I like the 70's Christopher Parker (EMI-!!!)
> instead of Decca and RCA Victor, how about yours?
>
Interesting thread - may I throw in Claus Strüben who worked for the
East German label Eterna and its Western partners, doing some amazing
jobs : space and transparence.
PK
David
I can only mention two engineers by name who I know to have floated my
boat: John McClure, who recorded most of Stravinsky's recorded
performance, and Andrew Kazdin, who recorded most of Boulez's NY Phil
recordings for CBS. Would that we had the engineers who recorded some
of Reiner's early stereo recordings today instead of the digital goo of
DGG's latest recordings.
-david gable
Tony Movshon
Actually, these guys are both producers rather than engineers. See the
other running thread on producers ...
Roy Parrish
Of the present day engineers:
Mike Clements - EMI
Ralph Couzens - Chandos
Robert von Bahr - BIS
Tryggvye Tryggvason - Conifer (and others)
Regards,
Roy.
Roy Parrish
Tony Movshon wrote in message <6hd01t$iv2$1...@news.nyu.edu>...
>
>In article <35399C...@midway.uchicago.edu>, David
<dga...@midway.uchicago.edu> writes:
>> I can only mention two engineers by name who I know to have floated my
>> boat: John McClure, who recorded most of Stravinsky's recorded
>> performance, and Andrew Kazdin, who recorded most of Boulez's NY Phil
>> recordings for CBS. Would that we had the engineers who recorded some
>> of Reiner's early stereo recordings today instead of the digital goo of
>> DGG's latest recordings.
>
>Actually, these guys are both producers rather than engineers. See the
>other running thread on producers ...
I have the 1996 recording of John Adam's El Dorado (Halle Orchestra/Kent
Nagano) on Nonesuch. The fillers, Berceuse Elegiague and Black Gondola were
recorded at Abbey Road. The ENGINEER was John McClure. I assume it's the
same one, are there any others?
Regards,
Roy.
Chuck Nessa
McClure and Kazdin were the producers, not the engineers. The head engineer
for most of the East Coast Columbias was Bud Graham, with an able assist
from Bob Waller.
CN
David wrote:
> I can only mention two engineers by name who I know to have floated my
> boat: John McClure, who recorded most of Stravinsky's recorded
> performance, and Andrew Kazdin, who recorded most of Boulez's NY Phil
> recordings for CBS. Would that we had the engineers who recorded some
> of Reiner's early stereo recordings today instead of the digital goo of
> DGG's latest recordings.
>
> -david gable
Tony Duggan
Roy Parrish wrote:
>
> Of the present day engineers:
>
> Mike Clements - EMI
AKA "Mr. Bear" in his early work. So called because of a HUGE
fur coat that he was very fond of and would turn up at sessions
wearing.
> Tryggvye Tryggvason - Conifer (and others)
Yes, I'm glad someone mentioned him. He did the Wyn Morris Beethoven
cycle for IMP and the Elgar/Payne Symphony No.3 for NMC.
I'd also like to put in a eord for Bob Auger whose work extends back
as far as Mercury Living Presence, Nixa, Pye Golden Guinea and Unicorn
where he recorded Horenstein. He also did the Leinsdorf Strauss Salome
for RCA.
--
Tony Duggan (Staffordshire, UK)
scri...@dial.pipex.com
Matthew B. Tepper
Tony Duggan wrote:
>
> Roy Parrish wrote:
> >
> > Of the present day engineers:
> >
> > Mike Clements - EMI
>
> AKA "Mr. Bear" in his early work. So called because of a HUGE fur
> coat that he was very fond of and would turn up at sessions wearing.
At least he didn't squash-them-all-flat!
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/index.htm
My main music page --- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/berlioz.htm
And my science fiction club's home page --- http://www.lasfs.org/
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
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Tony Movshon
Tony Duggan <scri...@dial.pipex.com> writes:
> I'd also like to put in a eord for Bob Auger whose work extends back
> as far as Mercury Living Presence, Nixa, Pye Golden Guinea and Unicorn
> where he recorded Horenstein. He also did the Leinsdorf Strauss Salome
> for RCA.
Um, well, the sound Horenstein got from Unicorn was pretty crappy,
actually. And the Leinsdorf Salome was nothing special, soundwise.
Andre T. Yew
"Roy Parrish" <R.Pa...@btinternet.com> writes:
>Of the present day engineers:
>Mike Clements - EMI
Ooh ... I'm listening to one of his recordings right now --- Britten's
Prince of the Pagodas conducted by Oliver Knussen on Virgin --- and have
long admired the natural, unforced recording quality of this work. This
is one of those rare recordings whose music and recording quality are
both excellent. I was wondering if anyone was going to mention him.
>Ralph Couzens - Chandos
I don't like the Chandos sound --- too reverberent, cold, and hard.
>Robert von Bahr - BIS
Like Chandos, except not as reverberent.
Keith Johnson at Reference Recordings and Craig Dory at Dorian (especially
for chamber groups) are two of my favorites. Whomever did the remasterings
for the Sony Masterworks Heritage series has got to be congratulated as well
--- so far that series has by a wide margin surpassed anything reissued on
Mercury and the RCA Living Stereo series, soundwise.
--Andre
--
PGP public key available
Ernest Jones
How about producers?.Cant do much better than Culshaw,Legge,and Raj!
John Nye
In terms of their collaborations with engineers, Legge and Raj weren't
consistent. I don't recall many Legge productions with outstanding
sound. Bishop/Parker team was superior to Raj plus. On the other hand,
I have never heard a poorly recorded Gerhardt/Wilkinson session.
So producers need to be matched with engineers when considering sound.
So of course there are Layton/Mohr, Fine/Cozart.
And Joanna Nickrenz teamed up well with Marc Aubort for Nonesuch and
later RCA.
Tony Duggan
Tony Movshon wrote:
>
> Tony Duggan <scri...@dial.pipex.com> writes:
> > I'd also like to put in a eord for Bob Auger whose work extends back
> > as far as Mercury Living Presence, Nixa, Pye Golden Guinea and Unicorn
> > where he recorded Horenstein. He also did the Leinsdorf Strauss Salome
> > for RCA.
>
> Um, well, the sound Horenstein got from Unicorn was pretty crappy,
> actually. And the Leinsdorf Salome was nothing special, soundwise.
The Mahler Third has problems in the lower strings department, certainly.
It sounds as if the microphones are out of phase. But the First is OK.
It is some years since I heard the Leisndorf Salome, maybe I'm recalling
it through misty-ears.
Alan Swindells
In article <6hdg30$3kv$2...@uranium.btinternet.com>, "Roy Parrish"
<R.Pa...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> Of the present day engineers:
>
> Mike Clements - EMI
> Ralph Couzens - Chandos
> Robert von Bahr - BIS
> Tryggvye Tryggvason - Conifer (and others)
Good list, but...
IIRC Mike Clements is co-proprietor (I think I've got that
right) of Floating Earth, who freelance for all sorts of
labels.
Similarly Trig is a freelance. You'll hear is work on DG, for
example, where Ollie Knussen is conducting.
--
Regards: Alan * alan...@argonet.co.uk *
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tony Duggan
Alan Swindells wrote:
>
> In article <6hdg30$3kv$2...@uranium.btinternet.com>, "Roy Parrish"
> <R.Pa...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
> > Of the present day engineers:
> >
> > Mike Clements - EMI
> > Ralph Couzens - Chandos
> > Robert von Bahr - BIS
> > Tryggvye Tryggvason - Conifer (and others)
>
> Good list, but...
>
> IIRC Mike Clements is co-proprietor (I think I've got that
> right) of Floating Earth, who freelance for all sorts of
> labels.
Yes, with Mike Hatch.
Ernest Sjogren
Well, it isn't the gentleman who recorded the Cleveland Orchestra
under George Szell for Columbia.
-- Ernie Sjogren
"Titanic Explorer©" <titani...@geocities.com> wrote:
>I like the 70's Christopher Parker (EMI-!!!)
>instead of Decca and RCA Victor, how about yours?
>
>Titanic Explorer©
>titani...@geocities.com
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>"In faith, I will."
> - Romeo, William Shakespeare
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
>
>