It all started that Dr. John Stopford†, Press Officer for Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft mbH (DGG) at that time, recruited Matthias Spindler in July 1997 as substitute for a colleague on sick-leave and so he started to work as free-lancer for various departments (a.o. Press Relations, Advertising & Production Service, Editorial Department, International Marketing, Art Directors Department, A&R Production). In November 1999 he received a full-time contract as an employee working for the newly restructured A&R department.
From 1999 until 2004 Spindler held the position of Production Administrator (later retitled Recording CoOrdinator and mentioned in the CD booklet). As such he planned and organised recording sessions all over the world and was responsible for the smooth running of the recording process. Spindler hugely enjoyed working in a fruitful collaboration with Executive Producers (Christopher Alder, Martin T:son Engstroem, Christian Gansch, Dr. Ewald Markl† and – not least – Dr. Marion Thiem) on recordings of internationally acclaimed artists and orchestras. — CDs with Claudio Abbado†, Martha Argerich, Pierre Boulez†, Myung-Whun Chung, Elvis Costello, Sir Colin Davis†, Plácido Domingo, Valery Gergiev, Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Kurt Masur†, Albrecht Mayer, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anna Netrebko, Anne Sofie von Otter, Seiji Ozawa†, Maria João Pires, Mikhail Pletnev, Maurizio Pollini†, André Previn†, Thomas Quasthoff, Sir Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich†, Gil Shaham, Sayaka Shoji, Jian Wang, John Williams, Krystian Zimerman as well as Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, London Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Russian National Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, etc. These were almost exclusively studio recordings in some of the best concert halls in the world like in Berlin (Philharmonie – Großer Saal), Boston (Symphony Hall), Chicago (Symphony Center – Orchestra Hall), Moscow (Moscow State Conservatory – Great Hall) or Vienna (Musikverein Wien – Großer Musikvereinssaal/Goldener Saal), but also in recording studios such as Studio One at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Due to another departmental reorganization in early 2005 A&R also took over Product Management. Now Executive Producers were also Product Managers and the Recording Coordinators were renamed Project CoOrdinators, taking on additionally the roles of Product Management Assistants.
In March 2007 Matthias Spindler was made Associate Producer (Executive Producer & Project CoOrdinator). This was a belated advancement, since from 2003/2004, he already managed several projects and artists de facto (sometimes quasi undercover) as Executive Producer & Recording CoOrdinator (Grimaud/Credo, Sir James Galway, Anne-Sophie Mutter’s Mozart Project, Mikhail Pletnev’s Beethoven Project, and Ryu Goto) or rather as Associate Producer & Recording CoOrdinator (Domingo/Italia, ti amo) and played a leading A&R role in projects of Hilary Hahn and Lang Lang. — CDs with Emerson String Quartet, Thomas Hampson, Mischa Maisky, Maria João Pires, Maurizio Pollini, Thomas Quasthoff, Ulrich Tukur, etc.
In addition Spindler was Recording CoOrdinator/Project CoOrdinator (partly also as Associate Producer) in collaboration with Executive Producers (e.g. Ute Fesquet, Valérie Gross, Christian Leins, Sid McLauchlan) for many CDs with Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, Rafał Blechacz, Pierre Boulez, Measha Brueggergosman, Plácido Domingo, Gustavo Dudamel, Elīna Garanča, Hélène Grimaud, Martin Grubinger, Daniel Harding, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anna Netrebko, Alice-Sara Ott, Anne Sofie von Otter, Maria João Pires, Los Romeros, Pepe Romero, Sir Bryn Terfel, Rolando Villazón and Yuja Wang. Furthermore he was A&R Project Manager for DG Concerts.
Spindler also supervised recording projects for Universal Classics Japan and South Korea, was also involved in several more projects and has prepared performing editions for CD productions. So Deutsche Grammophon offered him a vast scope of possibilities to apply and further his knowledge and experience.
From 2005, due to an increased workload, Matthias Spindler has held for his recording projects – considered from the initial situation – all A&R functions as Executive Producer, Recording CoOrdinator, Product Manager and Product Manager Assistant.
All in all, Matthias Spindler was Executive Producer of 60 releases, Recording CoOrdinator of 229 releases, Product Manager of 78 releases, Project CoOrdinator of 212 releases and in a further 96 releases – often with additional tasks – he was also part of the project teams themselves. In many cases this reflects his manyfaceted functions from 2005. The products were released on the in-house labels Archiv Produktion, Deutsche Grammophon and edge music as well as the series 20/21 and DG Concerts.
Highlights of his activities as Executive Producer are the productions with the Emerson String Quartet (e.g. »Bach – Fugues« and »Intimate Letters«), Sir James Galway (above all »Wings of Songs«), Hélène Grimaud (»Credo«), Lang Lang (Carnegie Hall Recital), Anne-Sophie Mutter (Mozart Project – 7 CDs), Maria João Pires (e.g. Schubert Piano Sonatas), Mikhail Pletnev (e.g. his unrivalled Beethoven Project: Complete Symphonies and Piano Concertos with the Russian National Orchestra – 8 CDs), Maurizio Pollini (e.g. Mozart Piano Concertos with the Wiener Philharmoniker and »Bach – The Well-tempered Clavier, Part 1«) and Thomas Quasthoff (e.g. »Tell It Like It Is«).
Especially noteworthy in his role as Recording CoOrdinator are the productions with Claudio Abbado, Rafał Blechacz, Pierre Boulez (above all completion of his Bartók and Mahler cycles), Plácido Domingo (above all »Sacred Songs« and »Italia, ti amo«), Gustavo Dudamel, Elīna Garanča (»Habanera«), Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang, Anne-Sophie Mutter (all recordings from 2002 until 2011), Anna Netrebko (all recordings from her debut CD to the »Souvenirs« album), Anne Sofie von Otter (e.g. »For The Stars«, »Mots d’amour« and »Music for a While«), Maria João Pires, Mikhail Pletnev (in particular his sensational Carnegie Hall debut and the GRAMMY recording with Martha Argerich) and Krystian Zimerman (e.g. Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle).
Matthias Spindler looks back with gratitude and happiness to revealing and exciting encounters with artists like Claudio Abbado†, Benny Andersson, Badi Assad, Teresa Berganza†, Rafał Blechacz, Johan Botha†, Pierre Boulez†, Billy Bremner, Simon Callow CBE, Olaf Casimir, Frank Chastenier, Myung-Whun Chung, Elvis Costello, Ks. Angela Denoke, Helmut Deutsch, Luisa Domingo, Plácido Domingo KBE, Gustavo Dudamel, Augustin Dumay, Emerson String Quartet, Los Fakires, Catrin Finch, Fleshquartet, Eberhard Friedrich, Sol Gabetta, Patrick Gallois, Sir James Galway, Lady Jeanne Galway, Romano Gandolfi†, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Matthias Goerne, Ryu Goto, Uwe Granitza, Hélène Grimaud, Ilya Gringolts, Martin Grubinger, Wolfgang Haffner, Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. KS Thomas Hampson, Daniel Harding, Lynn Harrell†, Svante Henryson, Edgar Herzog, Daniel Hope, Dieter Ilg, Alkinoos Ioannidis, Christoph Israel, Neeme Järvi, Warren Jones, Paavali Jumppanen, Simone Kermes, Eugene Kohn, Stephen Kovacevich, Lutz Krajenski, Genia Kühmeier, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Javier Limón, Johan Lindström, Chuck Loeb†, Lily Maisky, Mischa Maisky, Sascha & Mischa Manz, Paul McCreesh, Antonio Meneses†, Matthias Meusel, Vladimir Minin, Bruno Müller, Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Geoff Muldaur, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anna Netrebko, Steve Nieve, Dovlet Nurgeldiyev, Benyamin Nuss, Richard Yongjae O’Neill, Cait O’Riordan, Alice Sara Ott, Anne Sofie von Otter, Seiji Ozawa†, Arvo Pärt, Magnus Persson†, Trevor Pinnock, Maria João Pires, Mikhail Pletnev, Ivo Pogorelich, Maurizio Pollini†, André Previn KBE†, Prof. KS Thomas Quasthoff, Max Raabe, Prof. Alexander-Sergei Ramírez, Sir Simon Rattle, Prof. Wieland Reissmann, Arild Remmereit, Bebe Risenfors, Paolo Rustichelli, Esa-Pekka Salonen KBE, KS Michael Schade, Mats Schubert, Klauspeter Seibel†, Anoushka Shankar, Rodion Shchedrin†, Lennart Simonsson, Sebastian Strempel, Strings DeLuxe, Hai-Kyung Suh, Marianna Tarasova, Prof. Andreas N. Tarkmann, Ulrich Tukur, Rosalyn Tureck†, Alberto Veronesi, Marcello Viotti†, Jian Wang, Yuja Wang, Sebastian Weigle, Endrik Wottrich†, Andreas Wylezol, Krystian Zimerman and Jacques Zoon.
Associated with fond memories are the telephone calls with personalities such as Irwin Gage†, Günter Hermanns†, Margot Hielscher†, Maurizio Kagel†, Wolfgang Rihm†, and Hans Weber†. In addition, there are enjoyable encounters with many very interesting people in places like Baden-Baden, Basle, Berlin, Bonn, Budapest, Cologne, Dresden, Schloss Elmau, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Château de Méry-sur-Oise, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Rome, Salzau, Salzburg, Stockholm, Vienna or Warsaw.
Matthias Spindler is particularly pleased that he could collaborate as Executive Producer or Associate Producer with eminent recording producers such as Christopher Alder, Helmut Burk, John Fraser, Thomas Frost†, Christian Gansch, Rainer Maillard, Sid McLauchlan, Jay Newland and Arend Prohmann as well as oustanding recording engineers (Tonmeister) such as Jonathan Allen, Stephan Flock, Klaus Hiemann, Daniel Kemper, Rainer Maillard, Jay Newland and Ulrich Vette†. Matthias Spindler is happy to have had in the team competent and experienced audio engineers like Jürgen Bulgrin†, Wolf-Dieter Karwatky, Reinhard Lagemann and Oliver Rogalla von Heyden, who have been always a great source of help.
Another positive factor were projects with creative and imaginative arrangers like Lutz Krajenski, Craig Leon, Prof. Wieland Reissmann, Robert Sadin and Prof. Andreas N. Tarkmann.
Matthias Spindler is especially grateful to the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Russian National Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Staatskapelle Dresden and Vienna Philharmonic, who were an invaluable help with many of these recording projects.
Special thanks go to his (ex-)colleagues and to DGG’s Management as well as to the Recording Engineers and Audio Engineers of Emil Berliner Studios who supported him very much. And last but not least a special thank-you goes to all DG artists!
Due to the notable achievements of the artists some of Matthias Spindler’s productions won national and international awards (ECHO Klassik, ECHO Jazz, GRAMMY Award, Choc de Classica, Choc de l’année du Monde de la Musique, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Clef du mois ResMusica, Diamant d’Opéra, Diapason d’or, Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Penguin Rosette Award, Pizzicato Supersonic Award, Record Academy Prize, etc.), gold record awards and reached top positions in classical charts.