4 Tape Machines and 1 Cutting Lathe: Remixing Karajan’s Mahler 6 at Emil Berliner Studios
Go behind the scenes at the most complex mix yet for the Original Source Series
Batch #7 of the Original Source Series from Deutsche Grammophon is almost upon us, with Karl Böhm conducting Mozart’s Requiem and Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 to be released next week, and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet plus Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy from Claudio Abbado in Boston due the week after.
Also coming out on February 14th is Herbert von Karajan’s truly monumental recording of Mahler’s 6th Symphony, which I consider to be his finest Mahler recording along with the live 9th from the end of his career. (It's one of the highlights of his entire catalogue). The moment I knew that Emil Berliner Studios had developed the capability to remix and cut directly from 8-track masters (as they had done for the Karajan/Bruckner Symphonies box set) this recording shot to the top of my want list for Original Source reissue.
It turns out that restoring this recording to sonic glory was a little more complicated than simply firing up the old 8-track and cutting lathe.
Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer at work in Emil Berliner Studios
In this video, Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer walk you through the process of remixing and recutting this complex project, which had to seamlessly integrate separate tapes of church bells and cow bells that were made for the original sessions and live performances.
Cow bells and church bells, you say?
Well, it is Mahler after all…
You can order this record, plus all the other original Source titles, at DG's German site here, and at Acoustic Sounds and Elusive Disc in the US.
