Archiv Produktion
Parent companyDeutsche Grammophon
Founded1948 (1948)
GenreClassical music (Early and Baroque music)
Country of originGermany
LocationBerlin
Official websitedeutschegrammophon.com

Archiv Produktion is a classical music record label of German origin. It originated in 1949 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a subsidiary of DGG, specialising in recordings of Early and Baroque music. It has since developed a particular focus on "historically informed performance" and the work of artists of the Early music revival movement of the 20th and 21st centuries.[1]

The first head of Archiv Produktion, serving in the position from 1948 to 1957, was Fred Hamel, a musicologist who set out the early Archiv Produktion releases according to 12 research periods, from Gregorian Chant to Mannheim and Vienna.[2] Hamel's successor 1958-1968 Hans Hickmann was a professor at the University of Hamburg who focused on Bach and Handel.[3] The next director was Andreas Holschneider (1931–2019) from 1970-1991. In December 1991 Holschneider gave an interview to Gramophone where he defended the entry of Archiv Produktion and "authentic instrument" specialists such as John Eliot Gardiner into Romantic territory of Schumann and Berlioz.[4] The label's next head was Peter Czornyj (b. 1956) from 1992.[5]

In parallel, the Decca Records also acquired the rights to the recording catalogue of the French-Australian music publishers Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre in 1970 and began to issue early music recordings using the l'Oiseau-Lyre brand.

Key artists and recordings

1940s

  • Archiv Produktion's first recording was of Helmut Walcha playing Bach, 1947, released in 1948. Walcha went on to make two complete series of Bach's organ output (excepting a few minor pieces), one in mono recorded in 1947-52, one in stereo in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Both sets were released by Archiv to wide acclaim and have later been reissued on cd.
  • Fine Krakamp making solo harpsichord recordings in 1948 of Buxtehude & Krieger.

1950s

  • Ralph Kirkpatrick (harpsichord, many recordings of Bach and Handel)
  • Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under August Wenzinger

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

References

  1. ↑ Hoffmann, Frank (2004). "Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG)". Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Routledge. p. 586. ISBN 9781135949501. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  2. ↑ Dorottya Fabian Bach performance practice, 1945-1975: a comprehensive review 2003
  3. ↑ Interview "Sunken Musical Treasure" Billboard 4 May 1968
  4. ↑ "Around the yellow label", Gramophone interview (archived link)
  5. ↑ Martin Elste Meilensteine der Bach-Interpretation 1750 - 2000
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