Even if I do not have nor remember all the references and dates, I can remember the records I made with André Charlin, at a time he was at the end of his brilliant career and I was a very young conductor (only having done 4 or 5 LP's before).
In my life, I have recorded in all situations and for all the media (cinema, radio, publicity, songs, jazz, etc.) From the sixties until the eighties I supervised many recordings for friends, musicians or conductors in France and Germany. No sound engineer has ever impressed me like André Charlin (the young man I was, I considered him a monument, an admiration born when I was 9 or 10 years old, with my recordings from Les Discophiles Français).
In the beginning of the sixties I was working (for classical music) with a small and young company called SFP (Société Française de Productions Phonographiques). We made some of our recordings in Salle Adyar, which was a little theatre in the XV° arrondissement of Paris that Charlin liked very much. There was a Steinway he had selected in the Netherlands, on the arrival by boat from USA (was he with Yves Nat or Marcelle Meyer, I do not remember what he told me, but I think that the choice was for Nat and for the complete recording on Beethoven sonatas. Was it Nat who spoke of a "piano 'putain' (prostitute) playing even before you touch it!"?)
The theatre was small, the stage was perfect for a chamber orchestra but there was no cabin for recording (Charlin was in a little passage behind the stage). The acoustic was rather dry, but very clear and precise, qualities you find in the best of Charlin¹s recordings. This in contrast to the louder German sound of the time, the normally "bad" French sound too clear and too dry or the excellent English sound, which was sometimes considered too 'neutral' at the time.
My first meeting was in 1964, for the recording of Haydn¹s 44th symphony and concerto for violin and cembalo. I was 26 years old at this time and very impressed to be in front of this tall, heavy, white-haired man, so confident in himself, with his two extraordinary engines: the microphone-head together with an antediluvian (home made?) tape recorder running at 78cm p/m (or was it at 72?). To start it the first time, Charlin knocked it violently and it started!
Nothing special happened during this first session (Symphony) but for the concerto, Charlin wanted the violin far from the cembalo (for a stereophonic effect, but overall to balance the thin sound of the cembalo with the more resounding violin. The violinist did not accept it saying he did not hear the cembalo and changed his place, nearer the cembalo and Š the microphone. He won the fight and Charlin did not try to find another arrangement. The result is that on the recording the violin sounds closer than the cembalo!
However Charlin was very pleased with this experience and we discussed other possible common projects, but I was engaged with SFP and maybe was Charlin not financially strong at this time (or less strong than before!). I must add that Charlin had a Hungarian immigrant assistant, Cristina Domotor, who was a very competent tape editor.
After that experience, I recorded the vocal and instrumental works by Villa-Lobos. The third session was funny, the recording was supposed to start at 9 A.M. and everybody was there, except André Charlin. At ten, I called the record company and at 11 Charlin arrived. He had forgotten the session! At twelve the recording could begin, fortunately the cello octet and the soprano were still ready...
For the recording of "4 Concertos baroques" the recording was made in the Swedish Church, near Pigalle. The acoustic had a loud echo.
For the Telemann Concerto for flute and treble, the acoustic of Adyar was destroyed by a theatre "décor" which softened everything, and with a theatre tree in the centre of the musiciansŠ The musical and sound results were bad.
I also supervised recordings of the Brahms sonatas for violin (photo) and piano pieces by several pianists.
I only discussed with A. Charlin during these sessions, but he was very curious and interested in our repertoire. I remember when his catalogue was sold (was it by one of the distributors) and we discussed with SFP about it. However, SFP was itself not very rich and I was very sad of the way the company disappeared.
After that, I have had several experiences with mainly five different sound engineers (two independent ones the ADES company and French E.M.I. sound engineers and with several studios in France and Germany) but never had an experience to equal those with this "artisan-bricoleur de génie" (inspired craftsman-tinkerer).
That's all. Quite nothing, but it can add a little stone to your building...
Sincerely yours.
Henri-Claude Fantapié
Chef d'orchestre
