Records and Recording.(Inside the Recording Studio: Working with Callas, Rostropovich, Domingo and the Classical Elite)(Book review)

Inside the Recording Studio: Working with Callas, Rostropovich, Domingo and the Classical Elite. By Peter Andry with Robin Stringer and Tony Locantro. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008. [x, 222 p. ISBN-13: 978-0-81086026-1. $45.] Illustrations, selective discography, index.

The role of the record producer was for many years a nebulous concept. For the first half of the twentieth century, the job was primarily one of scheduling and organizing the sessions followed by making sure that all went smoothly in the studio. With the advent of recording onto tape and the ability to edit and splice various takes together to create a "perfect" recording, the job of the record producer became nearly as important as the performers themselves. Peter Andry has joined the ranks of producers who have given us a look at their work and the relationship between performer and recording producer. John Culshaw, of Decca, gave opera lovers the first glimpse into this profession in his two books Ring Resounding (New York: Viking Press, 1967) and Putting the Record Straight (New York: Viking Press, 1981). Suvi Raj Grubb wrote Music Makers on Record (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1986) detailing his time as a producer for EMI. Peter Andry, unlike his afore-mentioned colleagues, had very important careers with both of these recording companies. Like his predecessors, Andry has been discreet, and he continues the practice of the record producer in never embarrassing a performer. This is a task which these gentlemen try to fulfill; however if the reader is familiar with the music industry it is often possible to discern the identity of the unnamed performer.

The story of Andry's career is told in terms of various important performers. Each chapter is titled for a performer or group of related performers. The chapters are almost separate essays and occasionally the same anecdote will appear in two separate chapters. It is interesting to compare Andry's relationship with Otto Klemperer or Daniel Barenboim with Grubb's relationship to the same gentlemen. Andry is less discrete in ...