Appendix 1
Opera recording: practices at Decca from the 1950s to the 1990s
Although this is not a history book, there are a few occasions where describing how things were done during a previous era can be useful in understanding how those iconic recordings were achieved and how older practices compare with where we are today. Recording opera in the studio, especially in the way it was done at Decca during this period, is an extremely expensive undertaking. For financial reasons, a great deal of opera recording today is captured live from a theatre, even if there is subsequent editing between performances (see Chapter 16).
Philosophically, it is possible to approach recording opera much as one would an oratorio, without taking into account the ...
