Martha de Francisco - Surround Sound Interactive Seminar

Martha de Francisco

Martha de Francisco was born to Colombian parents in Mexico City, attended the German school of Bogot·, completed her musical studies in Germany and has travelled the globe as a producer, predominantly for Philips Classics and most recently as an independent producer. After obtaining her Tonmeister degree in Detmold in 1980, and a first year spent as a theatre Tonmeister at the Bavarian State Opera, she was in charge of the Soundstream digital editing and recording studio in G[cedilla]tersloh from 1981 to 1985. There she was a pioneer in the development of digital editing with magnetic disk systems, and she helped introduce digital recording and editing to numerous European record companies.

Martha joined Philips Classics and the Philips Music Group in 1986. As a recording producer with balancing and editing responsibilities, she produced or engineered over 120 disks for the Philips label. She has had long-lasting working relationships with many prominent Philips artists, including Claudio Arrau, the Beaux Arts Trio, Alfred Brendel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Neville Marriner, I Musici, Jessye Norman, Anne-Sophie von Otter, Sir Simon Rattle and many others. Her recordings cover most periods in the history of Classical music. She has recorded in a great variety of venues, ranging from small village churches in Switzerland and Connecticut to the monumental Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, the Moscow Conservatoire and the Vienna Musikverein. Many of her recordings have been distinguished with prestigious awards. After the dissolution of the Philips Music Group in December 1999, Martha became an independent producer for various labels including Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, BIS and EMI.

Her recent recordings in multichannel and surround sound are receiving great acclaim from professional colleagues and from the press. She is a frequent guest at international audio conventions with seminars and workshops on multichannel recording and other topics.

Martha has been master-class guest faculty member at leading international institutes of higher education including the Banff Centre, the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow, the Robert-Schumann Hochschule in D[cedilla]sseldorf and the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague.

In August 2003 Martha joined the Faculty of Music of McGill University in Montreal as Associate Professor for Sound Recording. She continues active as a record producer and engineer for selected artists.

WHAT THE ARTISTS SAY

Alfred Brendel, piano

Martha de Francisco is that rare producer who aims at listening with the ears of the artist she is recording. Our working relationship has been, over a decade, the best one possible. During the sessions as well as within the editing process Martha's expertise is no less welcome than her human presence. The quality of sound she achieved in our recordings of Beethoven Sonatas, Beethoven's Piano Concertos with Sir Simon Rattle and Mozart's Concertos with Sir Charles Mackerras speaks for itself.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

I have worked with Martha de Francisco over a period of ten years on a number of very prestigious and demanding recording projects, mostly for Philips and latterly for Deutsche Grammophon. In my opinion, Martha is one of the very best freelance recording producers in her field, someone who is both intensely musical and professionally of the highest competence and, perhaps most importantly, psychologically astute and always ready to be a caring and supportive presence to all her recording artists and engineers. I cannot recommend her too highly.

Jessye Norman, soprano

It has been my great pleasure to work with Martha de Francisco on several recordings. I have found her musical and technical expertise and knowledge to be of enormous help in the recordings process. She is an accomplished and dedicated professional.

Gustav Leonhardt, conductor, harpsichord

As a conductor during a recording you are busy coordinating everything that happens, but you cannot always judge how a performance was at a certain moment. Martha has a very sharp ear for musical balance and sound and just for perfection, a little imperfection she hears immediately and makes a note. But she also feels if something special happens musically.

Sir Neville Marriner, conductor

Martha de Francisco has worked with me for many years and has become an invaluable colleague in the production of recordings, both artistically and technically. Her musical sensitivity and perception is largely responsible for the success of her work, and will endorse and enhance any professional operations she may promote.

HÂkan Hardenberger, trumpet

Martha's ability for precise listening is remarkable and she is also extremely sensitive to the needs of the musical performance. She has an acute awareness of the psychological relationship of the artist to the stress of making a recording and is able to help the performer overcome it. You feel you can fully trust her judgement.

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