|
| |
Mark Elder (centre) with Andrew Keener
(right) at the Hallé Orchestra's own-label sessions for Elgar's First
Symphony,
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
(September 2001) |
 |
 As a
recording producer, I attach equal importance to several inseparable
factors. Musicianship attached to a good pair of ears is of course essential.
Just as pertinent, however, is a recognition that a good producer possesses 'people skills' in the environment of the studio and the ability to relate to, be stimulated by,
and gain the musical and personal trust of a wide variety of human beings who
happen to be musicians. A thorough knowledge of the central repertoire is also
vital in order to gain an artist's trust.
 Without any one of these, a recording producer is, I feel, not completely
equipped to do the job, not least in today's
reduced world of recording classical music, in which an end result of
distinction and the highest possible quality matter more than ever.
 My love of,
and affection for, music and musicians remains undimmed after twenty-five years. From
my days as a music undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh, I realised
that, as a non-performer, there would be something vicarious about my life as a
musician.
Photos above: Hyperion
sessions for Schubert's Piano Trio no. 1 with the Florestan Piano Trio at
the Henry Wood Hall, London
(December 2000) |
 |
Photo right >
Producing sessions for Britten's Opera
"The Rape of Lucretia" with members of British Youth Opera and
the conductor Peter Robinson
(January 2001) |
|
|
< Photos left
Recording the Takács String Quartet at St George's, Bristol
(Volume I of a complete Beethoven cycle for Decca), July 2001
Engineer: Simon Eadon |
|
Photo right >
Sessions for Harmonia Mundi at Potton Hall, Suffolk,
for Virtuoso Encores for clarinet and piano
(L>R: Andrew Keener, pianist Nigel Clayton, clarinetist Joan-Enric
Lluna and assistant engineer Nick Williams)
Engineer: Simon Eadon |
|
Please click pictures to enlarge
|
|
<Photo left by Simon Eadon
The cellist Alban Gerhardt (fingers in ears) at Hyperion sessions in
Caird Hall, Dundee (December 2004), with conductor Carlos Kalmar and
Andrew Keener.
Cello Concertos by Dohnányi, Enescu and d'Albert with the BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra. |
|
Photo right by Simon Eadon>
Left to right: Marc-André Hamelin, Andrew Keener, Andrew Litton at
Hyperion sessions in Caird Hall, Dundee (April 2003).
Shostakovich and Shchedrin piano concertos with the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra. |
|
|
|
<Photos left by Peter Avis
Sony Classical sessions at the Philharmonie, Berlin (January 2005)
With Michael Tilson Thomas (centre) and engineer Arne Akselberg.
Tchaikovsky with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra |
Please click small pictures to enlarge
Top
|
