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| DG/Archiv Produktion | |
|---|---|
| Name | DG/Archiv Produktion |
| Parent | Deutsche Grammophon |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Founder | Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft |
| Genre | Early music, Baroque, Renaissance, Medieval |
| Country | Germany |
| Location | Berlin |
DG/Archiv Produktion
DG/Archiv Produktion is a historic classical record imprint associated with Deutsche Grammophon, specializing in historically informed performances of Baroque music, Renaissance music, and Medieval music. The label played a central role in the revival of period performance practices linked to figures from Nikolaus Harnoncourt to David Munrow and ensembles such as The English Concert and Concentus Musicus Wien. Its catalog intersects with major institutions and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Salzburg Festival, and archives of British Library and Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Archiv Produktion was established as an imprint of Deutsche Grammophon in the post-war period to document early repertoires neglected in mainstream Philharmonie programming and commercial recording. Early projects drew on scholarship from Gustav Leonhardt, Paul Sacher, and Hans Redlich and collaborations with research libraries such as Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and Vatican Library. During the 1950s and 1960s the label issued landmark sets featuring musicians like Nikolaus Harnoncourt and ensembles including Concentus Musicus Wien and Pro Cantione Antiqua, often in association with conductors and musicologists such as Alfred Deller, David Munrow, Julius Röntgen, and Cecil Sharp. The imprint expanded through partnerships with producers and engineers connected to Philips Records, Decca Records, and studios in London, Paris, and Vienna.
Through the 1970s and 1980s Archiv Produktion consolidated its identity amid figures such as Ton Koopman, Christopher Hogwood, Trevor Pinnock, John Eliot Gardiner, and William Christie, who linked the label to projects involving J.S. Bach, Henry Purcell, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Georg Friedrich Händel. The label’s stewardship moved with Deutsche Grammophon through corporate reorganizations involving Universal Music Group and catalog integrations with Philips Classics and EMI Classics. More recent history saw collaborations with contemporary interpreters like Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Paul McCreesh, and institutions such as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for historically informed projects.
Archiv Produktion’s profile is defined by complete editions, thematic box sets, and scholarly liner notes produced in cooperation with specialists like Christopher Hogwood and Gustav Leonhardt. The repertoire emphasizes canonical composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Claudio Monteverdi, Arcangelo Corelli, Domenico Scarlatti, Heinrich Schütz, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, while also reviving lesser-known figures such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Heinrich Isaac, John Dowland, Francesco Cavalli, Josquin des Prez, and Orlando di Lasso. Programs often juxtapose major liturgical works for Easter, Christmas, and All Saints’ Day with secular forms like madrigal, cantata, oratorio, motet, and concerto grosso.
The label produced landmark recordings of large-scale cycles (for example, Bach: St Matthew Passion, Bach: Mass in B minor, Handel: Messiah) as well as chamber repertory such as sacred concertos and chamber cantatas. Archiv Produktion also issued editions drawing on archival sources from Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Sächsische Landesbibliothek, and the British Library’s manuscript holdings. The imprint’s catalog includes work with period instruments: baroque violin, theorbo, harpsichord, viol consort, and historical winds like trumpet (natural) and oboe d'amore.
Key soloists and conductors associated with the label include Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman, Christopher Hogwood, John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs, Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie, Trevor Pinnock, Paul McCreesh, and Christophe Rousset. Ensembles and choirs featured prominently are Concentus Musicus Wien, The English Concert, Les Arts Florissants, Monteverdi Choir, Academy of Ancient Music, Tölzer Knabenchor, Pro Cantione Antiqua, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, La Chapelle Royale, and La Petite Bande. Vocal soloists who recorded for the imprint include Alfred Deller, Emma Kirkby, Derek Lee Ragin, Simon Keenlyside, Dawn Upshaw, Nancy Argenta, Nigel Rogers, Joan Sutherland, and Montserrat Figueras.
Archiv Produktion emphasized collaboration between musicologists, performers, and engineers such as those from Decca Studios and Abbey Road Studios to recreate authentic sonority. Production practices included use of period instruments, historically informed pitch (e.g., A=415 Hz), temperament systems like meantone temperament and well temperament, and performance conventions documented by scholars including Charles Burney and Johann Joachim Quantz. The label’s recordings often relied on archival research from collections in Bibliothèque nationale de France, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and Vatican Library to establish urtext editions, sometimes consulting critical editions published by Bärenreiter, Breitkopf & Härtel, and Oxford University Press.
Engineers applied microphone techniques tailored to smaller ensembles and acoustic venues such as church of St. Nicholas, Prague, St Martin-in-the-Fields, and historic chapels at Hampton Court Palace and Versailles. Mastering decisions balanced warmth and clarity, with reissues appearing on vinyl LP, compact disc, and digital platforms coordinated through Universal Music Group’s distribution networks and catalog initiatives like Deutsche Grammophon Complete Edition.
Archiv Produktion releases received numerous accolades: prizes from the Gramophone Awards, Diapason d'Or, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Edison Award, International Classical Music Awards, and nominations for the Grammy Awards. Landmark recordings (e.g., historically informed Bach cycles) garnered critical praise in outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Die Zeit, and Gramophone (magazine). Musicologists and critics including Joshua Rifkin, Hector Berlioz scholars, and Susan McClary debated aspects of authenticity and editorial practice revealed in Archiv Produktion releases, contributing to evolving standards acknowledged by institutions like Royal Academy of Music and Juilliard School.
Archiv Produktion was instrumental in shaping the early music revival, influencing ensembles, conservatoires, and festivals across Europe and North America. Its projects informed curricula at Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. The label’s emphasis on primary sources and period performance influenced the practices of orchestras and choirs including Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Les Arts Florissants, and Academy of Ancient Music and inspired scholarship at University of Oxford, Harvard University, and University of Cambridge. Through recordings, broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, Deutschlandradio Kultur, and touring partnerships with venues like Carnegie Hall and Konzerthaus Berlin, Archiv Produktion helped establish historically informed performance as a mainstream strand of classical music culture.
Category:Classical record labels Category:Early music