From the archives
Andrew Mcgregor toasts the diamond anniversary of the influential Harmonia Mundi record label
When French journalist Bernard Coutaz founded a record label in 1958 to explore his new-found fascination for historic European organs, who knew that 60 years on we would be celebrating the anniversary of one of the most important independent labels in classical music. These two boxes have been carefully curated to tell the story. The Age of
Revolutions (Harmonia Mundi HMX 2908904.19; 16 CDS) takes us from those earliest organ recordings to the breakthrough encounter with British countertenor Alfred Deller – at a critical moment in the rediscovery of early music – and his compete recording of Purcell’s King Arthur. Placing the Deller Consort’s plainchant alongside Marcel Pérès’s Ensemble Organum shows us the evolution underway; then there’s René Jacobs graduating as Deller’s countertenor successor to music director in his own right. Time and again we’re reminded of the label’s loyalty: it gave its musicians freedom to explore as they matured, and find wider audiences than they ever could in the concert hall.
The second box The Family Spirit (HMX 2908920.37; 18CDS) goes from ‘The Heirs of Alfred Deller’ to ‘The Operatic Odyssey of
René Jacobs’. Then there’s a celebration of the label’s pioneering pianists from Christophe Rousset to Andreas Staier and Alexander Melnikov; the complete Haydn Seasons from Jacobs and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis from Philippe Herreweghe; the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra’s Mendelssohn, chamber music from Isabelle Faust and friends, song recitals from tenors Werner Güra and Mark Padmore, and the latest groups to sign on: Ensemble Correspondances and Pygmalion.
These boxes are a potent reminder of Harmonia Mundi’s incalculable influence, a source of joy, and hopefully the start of many journeys through the back catalogue. As we raise a glass to celebrate Bernard and Eva Coutaz’s legacy, let’s hope that the current owners’ sense of history and tradition prompts them to maintain the label with the care and pride it so richly deserves.