{"id":19505,"date":"2022-10-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=19505"},"modified":"2022-10-06T11:40:29","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T09:40:29","slug":"timepiece-this-month-in-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/2022\/10\/04\/timepiece-this-month-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Timepiece: This month in history"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TIMEPIECE: <\/strong>This month in history <\/em><\/h4>\n\n

Georg Solti rounds off his monumental Ring recording<\/h2>\n\n

NOVEMBER 1965 <\/span><\/h3>\n\n
\"\"
King of the Ring<\/em>…: <\/strong>Georg Solti conducted an all-star Wagner cast <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Late in the afternoon of 19 November, 1965 \u2013 aFriday \u2013 the Hungarian conductor Georg Solti steered the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra through the placid concluding measures of Wagner\u2019s Die <\/em>Walk\u00fcre, <\/em>the final downbeat landing at precisely 5.30pm. It was the end of an epic journey to make the first complete studio recording of Wagner\u2019s Der <\/em>Ring <\/em>des <\/em>Nibelungen, <\/em>a cycle of four operas lasting 15 hours in total. <\/p>\n\n

That journey had started seven years earlier on 24 September, 1958, when sessions to record Das <\/em>Rheingold <\/em>\u2013 the curtain-raiser to Wagner\u2019s tetralogy \u2013 began in the Sofiensaal, Vienna, a converted 19th-century steam bath known for excellent acoustics. The road to that opening session had, however, itself been difficult. Decca, the company making the recording, needed considerable persuasion that a complete <\/span>Ring <\/em>cycle made sense commercially. Would enough copies ever be sold, they wondered, to cover the enormous financial investment required to complete the project?<\/span><\/p>\n\n

When Das Rheingold <\/em>was eventually released as a three-LP boxed set in March 1959 (price \u00a36), Decca executives got their answer. The critics raved about the new recording and, crucially, it began selling in substantial numbers globally, even becoming a popular hit in the US. \u2018There it was in the <\/span>Billboard <\/em>charts of the best-selling LP albums,\u2019 reported <\/span>Rheingold\u2019s <\/em>producer John Culshaw, \u2018surrounded by Elvis Presley and Pat Boone, and without another classical recording in sight.\u2019<\/p>\n\n

Culshaw himself was a major reason why Das <\/em>Rheingold <\/em>was so stunningly triumphant. Seeing exciting possibilities in the new technology of twin-channel, stereophonic recording, he totally rethought how opera should be presented to the armchair listener. Culshaw\u2019s \u2018theatre of the mind\u2019 involved careful placement of singers across the stereo spectrum, mimicking stage positions and movements. <\/p>\n\n

One critic hailed Siegfried as \u2018the finest recording of opera we have had so far\u2019 <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

\"\"
Master of detail:<\/strong> Decca producer John Culshaw <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Wagner\u2019s own directions were a crucial point of departure in Culshaw\u2019s calculations. The score of Das <\/em>Rheingold <\/em>requires 18 tuned anvils for the Nibelheim episode, a stipulation usually ignored in the theatre. Culshaw took it seriously: 18 anvils were duly found, and 18 players hired to hit them. The thunderclap heralding Rheingold\u2019s <\/em>final scene also got the Culshaw treatment, and was one of several \u2018sound effects\u2019 rendered with unprecedented fidelity on the finished recording. <\/p>\n\n

Das Rheingold\u2019s <\/em>commercial success induced Decca to sanction a continuation of the Ring <\/em>project, and recordings of Siegfried <\/em>(1962), G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung <\/em>(1964) and Die <\/em>Walk\u00fcre <\/em>(1965) followed. Acclaim for each instalment was again virtually universal, with many commentators declaring that entirely new standards were being set both artistically and sonically in the presentation of opera on record. One critic hailed Siegfried <\/em>as \u2018the finest recording, as such, of opera that we have had so far\u2019. In G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung, <\/em>Culshaw had special steerhorns made for Act Two, adding to what one reviewer called \u2018the alchemy of Decca\u2019s magnificent, stunning, overwhelming new recording\u2019. <\/p>\n\n

Perhaps the biggest factor of all in the Decca Ring\u2019s <\/em>success was the outstanding quality of the singers. Kirsten Flagstad, Hans Hotter, Gustav Neidlinger, Wolfgang Windgassen, Birgit Nilsson, Christa Ludwig, R\u00e9gine Crespin, Gottlob Frick \u2013 all featured prominently, drawn from a classic generation of post-war Wagner performers. Culshaw\u2019s \u2018incomparable engineers\u2019 (as The <\/em>Times <\/em>called them) also played a crucial role in capturing performances which, in their extremes of dynamic and expression, often severely stretched the analogue tape technology of the period. <\/p>\n\n

Today, the Decca Ring <\/em>stands as a monument to a golden era of recording history, when grand operatic projects were deemed possible and then bought in large numbers. When the complete cycle was released on 19 LPs in 1968, the eminent critic Andrew Porter called it \u2018the gramophone\u2019s greatest achievement\u2019. Over half-a-century later, there are many who continue to share his verdict. Terry <\/em>Blain <\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

Also in November 1965\u2026 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\u2026and king of the ring:<\/strong> Ali (r) defeats Patterson <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6th: <\/span><\/strong>The French composer <\/span>Edgard Var\u00e8se <\/span><\/strong>dies at the age of 81 in New York. A student of the composers D\u2019Indy, Roussel and Widor in Paris, Var\u00e8se went on to forge much of his career in the US. Works such as his groundbreaking Ionisation <\/em>for 13 percussionists (1931) demonstrated his emphasis on rhythm and timbre, while his pioneering later works earned him the sobriquet \u2018The Father of Electronic Music\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11th: <\/span><\/strong>Within hours of each other, <\/span>Aeroflot Flight 99<\/span><\/strong> and <\/span>United Airlines Flight 227<\/span><\/strong> crash while attempting to land at Murmansk Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport respectively. Thirty-two of the 64 passengers and crew of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-124 are killed, as are 43 of the 91 people on board the American Boeing 727. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12th:<\/span><\/strong> The famous 330-year-old <\/span>Manneken Pis<\/span> <\/strong>statue in Brussels is stolen. Ripped away from its pedestal on the corner of Rue du Ch\u00eane and Rue de l\u2019\u00c9tuve, only the feet and ankles remain. An anonymous phone call will later reveal that it is lying in the city\u2019s Charleroi Canal, from where it is retrieved by divers and taken to Brussels City Museum. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

22nd:<\/span><\/strong> In Las Vegas, <\/span>Muhammad Ali <\/span><\/strong>successfully defends his world heavyweight boxing title against Floyd Patterson, himself a former champion. The superior Ali toys with Patterson for much of the fight, which the referee stops in the 12th round. One reporter describes the spectacle as like watching someone \u2018pulling the wings off a butterfly\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

25th: <\/span><\/strong>The British pianist<\/span> Dame Myra Hess<\/span><\/strong> dies aged 75. A renowned performer of composers ranging from Bach to Schumann, she became nationally famous during The Blitz by organising more than 1,500 lunchtime concerts at the National Gallery in London. Her last concert was at the Royal Festival Hall in September 1961.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

GETTY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TIMEPIECE: This month in history Georg Solti rounds off his monumental Ring recording NOVEMBER 1965 Late in the afternoon of 19 November, 1965 \u2013 aFriday \u2013 the Hungarian conductor Georg Solti steered the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra through the placid concluding measures of Wagner\u2019s Die Walk\u00fcre, the final downbeat landing at precisely 5.30pm. It was the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19501,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"14","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"14","purple_seq_number":"2","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"2","purple_source_article":"article_14-2.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_14-2.xml","purple_source_issue":"November-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"November-2022","purple_external_id":"November-2022-14-2","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"November-2022-14-2","purple_issue_code":"|0000086188||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086188||","purple_android_product":"com.im.bbcmusic.380","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.bbcmusic.380","purple_ios_product":"com.im.bbcmusic.380","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.bbcmusic.380","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"5b9287a1-9911-4f59-a9d7-30a805560f3d","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-10-06T09:40:34Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"f3446933-3fee-45b6-910b-25ecbcf518d5","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-10-06T09:40:34Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A80RpMz_uRbaRCyXsvPUY1Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[35],"tags":[13],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249.jpg",1369,917,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249-768x514.jpg",768,514,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249-1024x686.jpg",800,536,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249.jpg",1369,917,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/09\/c14c9c3d-a46d-4482-810c-3d7728ccd2bc-e1664452833249.jpg",1369,917,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"TIMEPIECE: This month in history Georg Solti rounds off his monumental Ring recording NOVEMBER 1965 Late in the afternoon of 19 November, 1965 \u2013 aFriday \u2013 the Hungarian conductor Georg Solti steered the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra through the placid concluding measures of Wagner\u2019s Die Walk\u00fcre, the final downbeat landing at precisely 5.30pm. 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