The man who made it all possible: Archiphon founder Dr. Werner Unger. An avid LP collector, he is also a musical scholar and served on the Faculty of Musicology at the University of Strasbourg, teaching a course on the history of recording and its technological, socio-economic and esthetic aspects and impacts.
Archiphon, whose origins date back 40 years, has recently issued three extraordinary sets devoted to conductor Otto Klemperer, the label’s main focus. However, its catalog is far more extensive and richer than most collectors are aware, with important releases dedicated to the likes of Dinu Lipatti, Carl Schuricht, Gerhard Taschner, Leo Blech, Eugen Szenkar, Enrico Caruso, Eduard Erdmann, Otto Ackermann, and Rudolf Kolisch, and the Kolisch Quartet.
The Archiphon story begins in 1982 with Dr. Werner Unger’s founding of the Verein für musikalische Archiv-Forschung (Association for Musical Archive Research), a non-profit society for musicologists and serious collectors. In 1987 the Society launched its own label with an LP series preserving “live” performances by Otto Klemperer and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Two years later, Archiphon issued its first CDs featuring Carl Schuricht in concert leading Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis Op. 123 and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 Op. 68. In fact, Archiphon was the first to publish Schuricht radio recordings, long before SWR Classics began their own edition. Archiphon was also the first to issue Dinu Lipatti’s almost completely unknown “live” broadcast of Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3, albeit only the slow movement, before EMI finally released the entire performance with Paul Sacher and the Orchester des Südwestdeutschen Rundfunks.
An intrepid collector of classical music on vinyl, Dr. Unger – not unlike the late and sorely missed Allan Evans of Arbiter Cultural Traditions – has always been something of a musical archeologist, alert to material of unpromising provenance that proved, in fact, to be of extraordinary value. The Werner Unger archive now consists of:
- c. 2,500 LPs
- c. 3,000 CDs
- c. 800 78rpm shellac records
- c. 400 reel tapes
- c. 1,000 cassettes
Launched in 2006, visitors to Archiphon’s website should not be deterred by its somewhat unprepossessing homepage, for within is vast trove of musical riches, as well as some fascinating documentary material that has been made free to the general public. Archiphon CDs can still be had, though the label now prefers an print-on-demand model, given the overall decline of the CD market. Instead, one can download titles from their catalog from a number of platforms.
Dr. Unger’s life-long dedication has resulted in the most extensive archive of “live” Klemperer material ever assembled. Though he will always be associated first and foremost with the Philharmonia, Klemperer also conducted many of the world’s leading orchestra. On Archiphon he can be heard in concert with the following:
- BBC Symphony Orchestra
- Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
- Budapest Symphony Orchestra
- Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
- Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
- New York Philharmonic Orchestra
- L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
- Orchestra di Torino della RAI
- L’Orchestre National de l’ORTF
- Philadelphia Orchestra
- Philharmonia Orchestra
- Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
- Vienna Symphony Orchestra
In addition, Archiphon’s website freely provides several different Otto Klemperer discographies as well as detailed 16-page chronological biography of his life and career. All of it constitutes an invaluable contribution to music and to the recorded legacies of some of the greatest artists of the last century. Dr. Unger is now enjoying his retirement years and Archiphon will henceforth be sheperded by Musica.de CEO Markus Steffen. We look forward to future releases from one of the most enterprising historical labels now before the public, Archiphon.
The Editor would like to thank Jon Tolansky, Dick Bruggeman, Markus Steffen and Werner Unger for their assistance with this profile.
A Listener and Buyer’s Guide, Recent Releases and Selections from Archiphon’s Catalogue in Issue 5 – available in your subscriber account – on page 33.