In March 1952 Dr Furtwängler was conducting at the Teatro alla Scala and I went to Milan to meet him with the intention of negotiating a renewal of his exclusive recording contract with EMI and, should my negotiations be successful, to select with his approval the repertoire which would be recorded during the extension of the contract.

His agreement to the renewal of the contract could not be taken for granted and I knew that the negotiations would be difficult because although he had no fault to find with what we were doing for him in Europe and our personal relationship had always been open and most friendly he was less satisfied with what was taking place in other parts of the world where the marketing of his records was not under our control. But being fully informed of his views I took the precaution of taking with me a written proof of what would be done in the future and I was able to put his fears at rest.

The new contract which gave EMI exclusivity of Dr Furtwängler's services for a number of years was signed on March 14th, 1952 in the Hotel Diana, Milan where I was staying. Little did I imagine that twenty years later I would still be actively engaged in complex negotiations arising from the conclusion of this contract.

I agreed with Dr Furtwängler during our discussions that the Ring should be recorded by him with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was the conductor-in-chief, as soon as his multitudinous engagements would permit and the best singers could be assembled. It should be recalled that at that date although substantial extracts from the Ring had been recorded, it had never been recorded complete. A start was made in Vienna with Die Walküre in October 1954. This work was supervised by my old and most experienced colleague Lawrance Collingwood, the senior musical adviser to EMI who was responsible for carrying out similar duties when HMV made the extensive series of Wagner recordings between 1926 and 1939 employing such celebrated singers as Lotte Lehmann, Frida Leider, Lauritz Melchior and Freidrich Schorr. Other pressing duties prevented me from being present in Vienna but I was delighted to hear from Lawrance that not only was Die Walküre finished and Dr Furtwängler enthusiastic about the performance but that he had said, 'Now we must finish the other operas as soon as possible'.

Alas, it was not to be because eight weeks later he was dead at the comparatively early age of sixty-eight and Die Walküre was the last work to be conducted by him.

But this was not the end of the story because without any consultation with EMI, Maestro Labrocca, acting on behalf of the RAI, had come to agreement with Dr Furtwängler 1953 whereby he would start broadcasting the entire Ring from Rome in October of that year, that is to say precisely twelve months before we started the recording of Die Walküre in Vienna. This must have been one of the most ambitious and grandiose projects ever to have been undertaken by a broadcasting company in Europe. It was agreed that the best elements of all the orchestras employed in Italy by the RAI would be concentrated in Rome, that the best German singers would be assembled for this purpose and that ample time would be given for rehearsal. So that the greatest benefit should be obtained from these intense rehearsals it was arranged that, apart from Das Rheingold which was broadcast without interruption, each act of the subsequent three operas should be performed and broadcast separately immediately after its preparation.

When the tragic news of Dr Furtwängler's death reached me, my thoughts went back to these broadcasts which remained vividly in my mind because I was present during the preparation and performance of Götterdämmerung. With Frau Furtwangler's enthusiastic approval Lawrance Collingwood was despatched to Turin to hear all the tapes which had been stored there in the archives of the RAI. This was necessary because the performances, although broadcast, were in fact public performances. These uninterrupted performances greatly added to the maintenance of the grand line which was such a striking feature of Dr Furtwängler's interpretation but necessarily they were subject to all the little mishaps which can beset the most carefully prepared concert. Lawrance Collingwood reported that any errors were negligible in comparison with the magnificent sweep of Dr Furtwängler's realisation of the massive music drama.

On receipt of this report I negotiated a contract with the RAI which covered the services of the orchestra, chorus, musical staff and the RAI's legal rights in the recording, and our associates in Germany – Electrola Gesellschaft – reached agreement with all the soloists with the exception of two – Wolfgang Windg-assen (who had sung Siegmund and Loge) and Josef Greindl (who had sung Hagen, Fasolt and Faffier) who were unable to accept our offer as they were bound by exclusive recording contracts with a competitive gramophone company at the time of the recording of the Ring. The negotiations which took place subsequently between the two companies were unsuccessful and so it appeared that the musical public would never be able to enjoy these records into which a master musician had poured the experience of a lifetime.

In spite of this setback I never abandoned hope that one day these records would be published. The negotiations were taken up twice more in the intervening years and failed on both occasions, but on the fourth attempt they have succeeded and we have now to thank all those who have assisted in many ways to reach this happy conclusion.

Many people will find no difficulty in understanding why EMI should be prepared to expend time and a considerable sum of money in recording the Ring in 1952 when no complete recording existed. They may find it more difficult to appreciate why the Company should go to such lengths twenty years later to bring about the publication of a set of records which was made before the introduction of stereo, when stereo versions are now available to music lovers. The answer is summed up in the reply given to me by Martha Mödl (the Brünnhilde of the recording) who, when I enquired whether she would be available for the recording in Vienna said, 'Whenever and wherever the recording takes place I will be there if Dr Furtwängler is to conduct'.

[The Rome Ring cycle, conducted by Furtwängler, is available on EMI. Amazon]