'Trust Your Ears': The Mercury Living Presence story is produced by dCS in collaboration with Decca Records.
The series forms part of a wider project to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Mercury Living Presence. Over the past few months, we've been working with Decca to create a range of content exploring the fascinating history of the label, and the role that dCS played in bringing its extraordinary catalogue of classical releases to a new generation of listeners.
Presented by music critic, broadcaster and dCS Classical Choices author Charlotte Gardner, Episode 1 of the podcast series examines how Mercury Living Presence became a leading force in classical music, earning global acclaim for its imaginative repertoire, novel recording techniques and evocative LP releases.
We also uncover the stories behind some of the label’s most beloved and influential recordings, from 1951’s Pictures at an Exhibition (produced with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), to its spectacular recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture, plus collaborations with Byron Janis, Frederick Fennell, Howard Hanson and the London Symphony Orchestra.
The episode features exclusive interviews with Michael Gray, a music historian, and Tom Fine, a mastering engineer, and son of the original Mercury Living Presence producer Wilma Cozart Fine and original recording engineer C. Robert 'Bob' Fine.
You can listen to the episode in full below. 'Trust Your Ears': The Mercury Living Presence story is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
More information about the project, and our collaboration with Decca is available here.
You can find details of recordings featured in the episode at trust-your-ears.simplecast.com
