Epstein has an obvious flair for feeling out how the ambience of a given space will translate through the recording process and eventually sound in the comfort of a listener’s home. His memory retains an extensive and detailed repertory of the personalities of particular studios (a good studio, Epstein insists, must have its own “character”), concert halls and churches (which are especially suitable for chamber music). “The venue becomes part of the instrument.” Yet, in all cases, “the goal is exactly the same: to replicate what one perceives as a natural concert hall sound.”
As for the widespread assumption that live performance generates a greater spark than a pristine studio environment does, Epstein suggests the matter isn’t so simple: “Clearly there’s a certain adrenaline that comes out when you have audience. But as a producer, you start to hear how much the musicians are playing out to make sure they reach the last rows. I think there’s an aggressive quality that you hear projected which is sometimes misconstrued as excitement or energy. So I prefer not to record live unless it’s to document a specific event that is historically worthy.”
Epstein’s mentor, Tom Frost, produced some famous examples of the latter with the return of Vladimir Horowitz to Carnegie Hall. Epstein points to his own Horowitz albums as one of his favorite projects of his career. “I was asked to choose from his Carnegie Hall performances between the mid-’40s to the early ’50s — many with duplicate repertoire . . . three albums’ worth of material. My main interest was in selecting great performances, even if the surface noise was less desirable. We agreed that we didn’t want to clean the original lacquers up to such a degree that it would change the sound of the piano. It was important to keep the integrity of the piano sound as Horowitz would have heard it.”
A fascinating twist on archival recordings can be found in Epstein’s recent projects employing the software designed by North Carolina-based Zenph Studios. The Zenph technique allows for “re-performances” based precisely on aging originals but retooled in state-of-the-art digital sound. Epstein first worked with this software in the landmark anniversary reissue of Glenn Gould’s 1955 Goldberg Variations (Sony, SACD multichannel). He has since applied it to Art Tatum’s Piano Starts Here and the recent Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff (culled from original performances from the ’20s to the ’40s in New York and Hollywood).
Rachmaninoff à la Zenph also appears on the latest Sony crossover release featuring Joshua Bell. Epstein says that crossover, as with any genre, has its share of good and bad (and, he acknowledges, very bad). But in his work with Yo-Yo Ma and associates, the producer has tended to promote cross-pollination rather than the dumbing down of styles. Epstein grows animated when bringing up Bell’s CD, At Home with Friends, which pairs the violinist with numerous singers (including Sting and Josh Groban), instrumentalists and — thanks to Zenph — the past. One of the tracks has Bell (taking the role originally played by Kreisler) performing the slow movement of Grieg’s Third Violin Sonata in partnership with “re-performed” Rachmaninoff. “It sounds so natural to me that I’m very pleased with it,” says Epstein. “And I think the eclectic range of the album as a whole works because it’s all so beautifully played.”
Along with the rapid evolution of sound technology, Epstein is concerned with the paradoxical de-sensitization attributable to today’s all-pervasive recording media on the internet. “Kids are exposed to much more music than ever before, which is great. But it’s mostly through mp3 and other technology that has been dumbed down to present material for the masses. When I was young, we talked about hi-fi — turntables and stereo systems — the way kids now talk about computers.”
The loss is palpable. “I think the vast majority of people are not aware of the incredible ideal of recording technology that is available. The search for high-fidelity reached a peak around the turn of the century with super-audio CD, which allows for high resolution in surround sound. What I’m hoping is that with the advent of broadband throughout the world, it will become easier to download recordings of much higher quality. Perhaps this will resuscitate the era of high fidelity. After all, digital recording changed the whole playing field as it evolved. It’s a much better vehicle for music now than it was back in the early ’80s.”
