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The archiphon®
label
Historical recordings are enjoying an unexpected revival. The most important 78s as well as numerous live recordings are available on CD. This development, though certainly making a positive impact, is not without dangers: the market of historical CDs tends to be ruled by the same laws as the commercial record market, oriented to the great stars within the frame of traditional repertory and the mass public's average taste.
The archiphon series intends to fill in historical gaps. The only selection criteria will be the documentary or discological value. That means presenting lesser known, but historically important musicians, and showing neglected sides of famous artists.
The label was created ein 1987 by the
Verein
für musikalische Archiv-Forschung, a non-profit society of
musicologists and serious collectors.
After the dissolution of the Verein in 2001 the archiphon label
was taken over by its former distributor, Note 1 GmbH, Heidelberg.
In 2006 Note 1 GmbH stopped the production and distribution of archiphon CDs. In order to prevent a total loss of the label's repertoire, Dr. Werner Unger, who created the label as president of the Verein für musikalische Archiv-Forschung, took over the remaining stock at Heidelberg and now is continuing archiphon via Internet.
archiphon uses high quality modern equipment for restoration, both digital and analog. The principal task is to obtain a natural, musical sound. Therefore surface noise is not suppressed by strong filtering especially of higher frequencies, which might interfere with musical information.