Early Music America Summer 2005 13

“I am a child of the early music move-ment,” says Jean-Paul Combet, founderof Alpha Productions, a classical musicrecord label based in Paris that special-izes in early music. “I came to music asan organist and discovered early musicin the ’60s and ’70s, a golden age. WhenI think about music, I think of Buxte-hude, Pachelbel, orCouperin: this is myworld.”

Alpha, founded in1998, is a reflection ofthat world – “I am thefirst listener of AlphaProductions – as amatter of fact, thediscs are just for me,”Combet declares. Thelabel has a lushlypackaged catalog that’sa mix of familiar andunfamiliar repertoireperformed by youngartists. Each Alpharecording is more thanjust a certain numberof minutes of music.“When I started thelabel, I was not satis-fied with the production of currentCDs on the market,” Combet says. “Myidea was to produce recordings in theway a specialized publisher produces artbooks, being sure to take care overevery stage, from conception to the fin-ished article. Today, if there is any half-heartedness at any stage in the makingof a disc, it is doomed. In art, you haveto be an extremist.

“Making a disc has become techni-cally too easy,” he continues. “Anyonecan produce a recording for himselfand put it on the market. Consequently,the disc as an object has lost some ofits prestige and value, unlike books,which have managed to preserve theircommunicative power. Alpha aims toput the presentation of the object on apar with the quality of its content, thus

using it to give a foretaste of the musiccontained within. That is why wedevote so much space in the booklet tothe analysis of the accompaning paint-ings (written by Denis Grenier of LavalUniversity, Quebec) and to the record-ing session photographs of the musi-cians (taken by Robin Davies).”

Repertoire is amajor factor for anyrecord label, andAlpha has walked thishigh-wire skillfully. “Iwant to approachwell-known, or evenvery well-knownworks like the GoldbergVariations, and givethem a touch of origi-nality that makes peo-ple sit up and listen asif they are hearingthem for the firsttime,” Combet says.

The first Alpharecording featuredVincent Dumestreand Le Poème Har-monique – two of theyoung, cutting edge

artists on the Alpha roster, which cur-rently also includes, among others,harpsichordist Céline Frisch and theensemble in which she performs, CaféZimmermann, the ensemble L’Arpeg-giata, and violinist Hélène Schmitt.

“Artistically we are going through aperiod that is both extraordinary andworrying,” says Combet. “Almost every-where in the world we meet youngmusicians who are the fruits of theefforts that have been made over thepast 20 years to provide good training.They’ve got everything going for them:virtuosity, mastery of playing tech-niques and styles, imagination, creativity.They sometimes need an artistic direc-tor to channel their energy and helpthem to achieve their aims, but on thewhole the potential is wonderful. But I

Profile: Alpha Productions

A small French label that aims to please itself

“Today, if there is anyhalf-heartedness at anystage in the making of a

disc, it is doomed. In art, you have to be

an extremist.”– Jean-Paul Combet

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14 Summer 2005 Early Music America

feel worried because we have reached aphase where the opportunities of enter-ing the market under good conditions,whether in concert or on recordings, arebecoming few and far between, and Ifear that many of those artists – as aresult of public training policies – willgrow bitter and resentful as a conse-quence of constantly meeting withrefusal.”

Combet is committed to growingwith the young artists he has signed andto working with the veterans he admires.“I had a professional relationship withGustav Leonhardt for a decade, workingwith him as a concert organizer. When Ibegan to produce recordings, we spokeabout projects, but he said, ‘No, I don’tlike CDs. I don’t want to make anymore. It’s over.’ Two years later, he cameto me and wanted to make a CD, ‘It willbe the last one. After that, it’s over.’After that disc we made three more ‘lastones,’ with more to come.”

In January 2005, Alpha pulled off astartling coup for a relatively young andsmall record label by winning the covet-ed Midem Classical Music Record Labelof the Year award. With the award anddistribution in more than 25 countries(including the United States, via ForteDistribution), Combet is optimistic inwhat has been a pessimist’s market. “Ican only speak from our own experi-ence,” he says. “Market growth has beenconstant for almost seven years now.I’m convinced that for a very long timeto come there will still be demand forhigh quality products, beautifully pre-sented. Although digital music isexpanding, I believe that when one isaddressing human beings and notmachines, one must think in terms ofpleasure. As far as that goes, it is reallymuch more pleasant to search through agood library or record collection than torummage through a hard disc.”

Visit Alpha Productions’ French website at www.alpha-prod.com, or see a listof Alpha discs distributed by Forte atwww.fortedistribution.com.—Craig Zeichner

Profile: AlphaProductions

16 Summer 2005 Early Music America

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