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Reliving the event

Jon Tolansky reviews and compares recordings in the Music Preserved of various works with experts.

Remastering old recordings

The tapes in Music Preserved's collection date back many decades and were often made in less than ideal circumstances, mostly off-air. How to make these recordings more presentable to modern listeners?

Sir Charles Mackerras - A Centenary Celebration

Music Preserved (MP) commemorates the great and internationally acclaimed conductor Sir Charles Mackerras at his centenary with two podcasts drawing on live performance recordings exclusively housed in the MP Charles Mackerras Collection. They are presented by Sir Charles’s biographer the distinguished author, scholar and broadcaster Nigel Simeone in discussion with the admired conductor and writer Thomas Higgins, who, after playing as an oboist under Sir Charles’s baton for many years, subsequently collaborated closely with him in the reconstruction of Sullivan’s presumed lost Cello Concerto. There are also interview clips with Sir Charles, provided by the podcast producer Jon Tolansky. (Image courtesy of the Charles Mackerras Archive)

The Covent Garden Opera - the evolution of greatness

Jon Tolansky explores the development of the Covent Garden Opera from its foundation by David Webster in 1946 through to 1961, when Georg Solti took over as Music Director.