The American Mercury company came along at a propitious time, the 1950s and 60s. The 12-inch LP was the breakthrough technology from 1950, and Mercury was one of the first on board. They also embraced stereo recording early too, adopting it by the mid-50s. A husband and wife team ran the company: sound engineer Bob Fine and repertoire manager Wilma Cozart Fine.

Antal Doráti. Photo © Eloquence

Bob’s way of recording an orchestra was unfussy, and as natural as possible. In the mono days, he suspended one microphone above the conductor, and left it up to the musicians to balance their sound. When stereo came in, he used three microphones, left, right and centre. There was no fiddling, minimal mixing, and the ambience of the room was a crucial factor in how well the sound reproduced. While the team had problems with some rooms, their best recordings are still vivid and exciting nearly 70 years later.

A decade ago, CDs of mixed Mercury programs were released in three large box sets. These are probably hard to find now, but Eloquence has reissued most of the original recordings again in boxes...