I first became interested in historic recordings through my parents.
When I was a child, they would sometimes bring out some heavy black discs, and play them. The music, heard through the crackling surfaces, intrigued me. Ever since, I have sought out early recordings, which offer fascinating insights into music-making in an earlier, perhaps more relaxed, age.
My parents, who still own a varied collection of 78s, introduced me to Furtwangler, Toscanini, Weingartner, Stokowski and Koussevitzky, as well as British conductors such as Constant Lambert and Basil Cameron. Intrumentalists included Heifetz and Marguerite Long, while the lighter side of music was represented by Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops, Albert Sandler and Marek Weber.
In those days, artists left relatively small legacies (when compared to figures such as Karajan). I am keen to share these precious documents of a more relaxed period of music-making, which will also (hopefully) bring pleasure to others.