Volume 29, Number 8 · May 13, 1982
Electronic Maestros
By David Hamilton
On and Off the Record: A Memoir of Walter Legge
by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Scribners, 292 pp., $17.95
Putting the Record Straight
by John Culshaw
Viking, 362 pp., $17.50
The legend 'Produced by X' began to appear regularly on classical recordings only around 1960, though of course the function it denotes had existed long before and was performed anonymously by people called 'recording director' or 'artist and repertoire man' ('A&R' for short). Under whatever title, the producer supervised the progress of the recording session in both its musical and technical aspects, and sometimes had a part in planning the particular conjunction of performer and music. In some quarters, the tradition of public anonymity still prevails; Volker Straus of Philips, who with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw produces the most persuasive current orchestral recordings, is not named on jackets or labels.
Review, 2239 words
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