A Culture of Recording: Christopher Raeburn and the Decca Record Company

A Culture of Recording: Christopher Raeburn and the Decca Record Company Sally Elizabeth Drew A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of Music This work was supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council September 2018 1 2 Abstract This thesis examines the working culture of the Decca Record Company, and how group interaction and individual agency have made an impact on the production of music recordings. Founded in London in 1929, Decca built a global reputation as a pioneer of sound recording with access to the world’s leading musicians. With its roots in manufacturing and experimental wartime engineering, the company developed a peerless classical music catalogue that showcased technological innovation alongside artistic accomplishment. This investigation focuses specifically on the contribution of the recording producer at Decca in creating this legacy, as can be illustrated by the career of Christopher Raeburn, the company’s most prolific producer and specialist in opera and vocal repertoire. It is the first study to examine Raeburn’s archive, and is supported with unpublished memoirs, private papers and recorded interviews with colleagues, collaborators and artists. Using these sources, the thesis considers the history and functions of the staff producer within Decca’s wider operational structure in parallel with the personal aspirations of the individual in exerting control, choice and authority on the process and product of recording. Having been recruited to Decca by John Culshaw in 1957, Raeburn’s fifty-year career spanned seminal moments of the company’s artistic and commercial lifecycle: from assisting in exploiting the dramatic potential of stereo technology in Culshaw’s Ring during the 1960s to his serving as audio producer for the 1990 The Three Tenors Concert international phenomenon. The thesis discusses the significance of Raeburn’s connections and background influences in his long career path, while a series of case studies drawn from his archive, illustrating exceptional examples of recording practice and artist cultivation, aim to identify his production ethos in the context of company recording policy and subject to the challenges of a rapidly-evolving industry. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding this study under their Collaborative Doctoral Programme, and to my four original supervisors from the University of Sheffield and the British Library for appointing me to the project. At Sheffield, Dr David Patmore and Dr Dominic McHugh could not have been more enthusiastic, generous and supportive supervisors, and have kept me focused and on track over four years. Our discussions have always been thought-provoking and highly enjoyable, and their insight and innumerable suggestions have been of incalculable help. My thanks also go to Dr Nicolas Bell, formerly of the British Library, who during the first year of my research gave sound advice on how to approach such a vast and amorphous collection as the Raeburn Archive. Having a place to work in the basement of the British Library was both a privilege and a luxury, and made it possible to complete my archiving work efficiently. To Jonathan Summers, Andra Patterson, Chris Scobie and Dr Amelie Roper I extend my thanks for fielding all my questions and explaining the British Library’s protocols. I am indebted to all my interviewees who gave their time, memories and opinions—and hospitality—so freely and patiently, and I give their details in Appendix 5. I would like to thank David, Michael and Antonia Raeburn for their interest in the project and furnishing me with supplementary information. Many others have readily given me access to untapped sources and trusted me with personal papers, and here I single out Pippa Cleeve, Evans Mirageas and Malcolm Walker, whose generosity has had a profound effect on my thesis. I am also grateful to Anthony Pollard for brokering contacts and to Philip Stuart for permitting me to abridge his excellent Decca discography. Thanks also go to Decca for kind permission to use archival photographs, to Dr Silvia Kargl for accommodating me at the archive of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and to WRoCAH for funding my research in Vienna. Writing a doctoral thesis has a major impact on family life. To Aus, Theo, Kit, and to Jenny, my thank yous are insufficient for all you have endured over the last four years, but you’ve willed me onwards regardless. Although she is not here to do the same, my mother, Dorothy Drew, remains my source of inspiration. I miss her love and wisdom very much, and to her memory, I dedicate this thesis. 4 To my mother, Dorothy Drew, 1931–2012 5 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 4 List of abbreviations and notes on translations and archiving ............................................ 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 10 A Raeburn-Decca chronology ........................................................................................ 26 PART 1 The origins of the Decca producer ..................................................................... 37 Chapter 1: The producer’s identity .................................................................................... 37 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 37 1.2 The early artist manager .......................................................................................... 40 1.3 Establishing a new order: the studio and executive producer ................................. 41 1.4 Artistic influence: Victor Olof ................................................................................... 43 1.5 Executive power: Maurice Rosengarten .................................................................. 47 1.6 The dynamics of Decca’s A&R in the 1950s ............................................................. 49 1.7 The producer as critic: John Culshaw and his protégés ........................................... 51 1.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 58 Chapter 2: Cultivating the producer: Christopher Raeburn ............................................... 61 2.1 A cultural heritage .................................................................................................... 61 2.2 The theatre, Mozartian opera and Austria ............................................................... 64 2.3 Raeburn as researcher, author and journalist .......................................................... 71 2.4 Raeburn and Decca in Vienna................................................................................... 78 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 80 PART 2 Deconstructing the Decca producer ................................................................... 84 Chapter 3: The inner world: internal integration ............................................................... 84 3.1 The formation of the ‘team’ ..................................................................................... 84 3.2 Training and hierarchy .............................................................................................. 89 3.3 The division of labour ............................................................................................... 94 3.3 The team in trouble? .............................................................................................. 106 3.4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 114 Chapter 4: The outer world: external adaptation ............................................................ 118 4.1 Perceptions of the role of the studio producer ...................................................... 118 4.2 The producer-conductor axis ................................................................................. 121 4.3 Choosing artists ...................................................................................................... 132 6 4.4 Judging voices ........................................................................................................ 141 4.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 147 PART 3 Production in action ........................................................................................ 151 Chapter 5: Concepts of production .................................................................................. 151 5.1 Drama, truth, illusion: philosophy forged in the studio ......................................... 151 5.2 The producer as godfather: Raeburn and Cecilia Bartoli ....................................... 164 5.3 Collaboration and control: recording Wagner after Culshaw ................................ 179 Chapter 6: Maintaining continuity: Der Rosenkavalier in Vienna, 1968–1969 ................ 195 6.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................

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