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news_title[0] = "ECHO KLASSIK 2010 AWARDS: JOYCE DIDONATO WINS SINGER OF THE YEAR ";
news_teaser[0] = "8 winners for EMI & Virgin Classics...";
news_image1[0] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1776541-1";
news_id[0] = "1776545";
news_text[0] = "EMI & VIRGIN CLASSICS WIN 8 MAJOR AWARDS.
Joyce DiDonato will receive the ECHO Klassik Award 2010 of the German Phono-Academy as singer of the year. DiDonato will receive this award for her critically-acclaimed and now award-winning Rossini: Colbran, the Muse (opera arias) album.
Some awards categories have multiple winners. With the ECHO award \"Klassik beyond all frontiers\" the German academy will honour Christina Pluhar and L'Arpeggiata for \"Via Crucis\".
Concert recording of the year will go to Gautier Capucon and Evgeny Kissin
Yannik Nezet-Seguin also receives an ECHO for his Ravel disc (EMI). Vivica Genaux's Pyrotechnics , Belcea Quartet and Leif Ove Andsnes are also ECHO Klassik Awards winners!
The winner of the lifetime achievement award will be presented within the next weeks.
The ECHO Klassik Awards are presented by the Deutsche Phonoakademie, the Cultural institute of the German music Industry Association (BVMI) on Oct. 17, 2010 during a gala at the philharmonic hall in Essen by the German entertainer Thomas Gottschalk.
This year 61 award winners in 21 categories have been chosen by a jury that includes representatives of the phonographic industry. There have been 570 nominations for over 248 records from 59 record companies.
The awards ceremony will be shown on the TV Channel ZDF with a two hour delay on Oct. 17 at 10pm.
\"Since 1992 the award ceremony of the German music award ECHO is one of the highlights of the music year,\" said BVMI's CEO Professor Dieter Gorny in a statement. \"It is the acknowledgement of the great creative works. Being nominated means already to belong to the top artists. From rather modest beginnings the German music-award ECHO developed during the years into a worldwide recognized award.\"
Click here for further information on the ECHO Klassik Award 2010 ";
news_icpn[0] = "5099969457906";
news_gac[0] = "114303";
news_news_type[0] = "General";
news_from_date[0] = "Tue, 27 Jul 2010";
news_to_date[0] = "Fri, 19 Nov 2010";
news_title[1] = "SIR CHARLES MACKERRAS 1925 - 2010";
news_teaser[1] = "Australian conductor known as an authority on Czech music and Mozart dies in London, aged 84";
news_image1[1] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1776388-1";
news_id[1] = "1776392";
news_text[1] = "Sir Charles Mackerras the world-renowned Australian conductor known as an authority on Czech music and Mozart has died in London, aged 84.
Sir Charles Mackerrasrecorded extensively for EMI. We extend our condolences to his family and to the musical community where the loss will be surely felt for a long time to come.
Sir Charles joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as an oboist during World War II, before becoming its principal oboe in 1946. He conducted the first London performance of Janacek's Katya Kabanova in 1951 at Sadler's Wells, where he went on to become musical director, and his discography includes an award-winning cycle of Janacek operas performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1990s.
Over his career he conducted more than 30 operas by 15 different composers at the Royal Opera House. An international figure, Mackerras made frequent appearances at the San Francisco Opera and also associated the with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
He was chosen to conduct the orchestra on the opening night of the Sydney Opera House in 1973, and in 1980, a year after he was knighted, he was the first person from outside the UK to conduct at the highly patriotic Last Night of the Proms.
Sir Charles was due to perform at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival this summer.
Here Sir Charles Mackerras talks about his remarkable career
";
news_icpn[1] = "";
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news_news_type[1] = "General";
news_from_date[1] = "Thu, 15 Jul 2010";
news_to_date[1] = "Fri, 08 Oct 2010";
news_title[2] = "KARL JENKINS' GLORIA - WORLD PREMIERE";
news_teaser[2] = "Order your CD of tonight's world premiere performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London here!";
news_image1[2] = "";
news_id[2] = "1776350";
news_text[2] = "Karl Jenkins's latest composition, GLORIA , will be premiered at the Royal Albert Hall on 11 July 2010 by The Really Big Chorus, with the English Festival Orchestra and student vocal soloists conducted by Brian Kay.
Abbey Road Live will record the concert, which also features Faure's Requiem.
Visit www.karljenkins.com for more information!";
news_icpn[2] = "5099964643021";
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news_news_type[2] = "General";
news_from_date[2] = "Sun, 11 Jul 2010";
news_to_date[2] = "Sun, 03 Oct 2010";
news_title[3] = "I'LL MAKE MUSIC - KARL JENKINS AND HAYLEY WESTENRA (EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW)";
news_teaser[3] = "Listen to an exclusive live performance of 'I'll Make Music' from Karl Jenkin's new release Gloria!";
news_image1[3] = "";
news_id[3] = "1776122";
news_text[3] = "Karl Jenkins' new choral work Gloria will be premiered at the Royal Albert Hall on 11 July and a CD of the performance released on the night.
On 12 July, the day after the premiere, EMI Classics will release a studio recording of Gloria, paired with Jenkins' Te Deum, with Jenkins himself conducting the National Youth Chorus of Great Britain, the London Symphony Orchestra and soprano Hayley Westenra.
WATCH AN EXCLUSIVE LIVE PERFORMANCE OF 'I'LL MAKE MUSIC' FROM KARL JENKIN'S NEW RELEASE GLORIA FEATURING HAYLEY WESTENRA!
Hayley Westenra says: \"I first came across Karl's work when I was still living in New Zealand. This led me to recording \"Benedictus\" for my first international album \"Pure\" seven years ago. For many people it soon became the stand out track and I performed it live for my PBS Special U.S. TV show.
Karl's work is so rewarding to sing as he writes such dynamic and beautiful melodies for the voice, and I jumped at the chance to not only perform his music again, but to actually record his Gloria with Karl himself directing.\" ";
news_icpn[3] = "5099964643021";
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news_news_type[3] = "General";
news_from_date[3] = "Fri, 02 Jul 2010";
news_to_date[3] = "Tue, 02 Nov 2010";
news_title[4] = "YANNICK NEZET-SEGUIN NEW POSITION @ PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA";
news_teaser[4] = "Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been announced today as Music Director Designate of the Philadelphia Orchestra with immediate effect.";
news_image1[4] = "";
news_id[4] = "1775969";
news_text[4] = "
Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been announced today as Music Director Designate of the Philadelphia Orchestra with immediate effect.
His appointment with the Philadelphia Orchestra will run concurrently with his other titles.
He became Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest of the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the start of the 2008-2009 season. He has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal since 2000.
In his first season as Music Director (2012-2013), Mr. Nézet-Séguin will conduct 6 weeks of concerts. This will increase to 15 weeks of concerts by the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
Mr Nézet-Séguin has made three recordings with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for EMI Classics, including the Edison Award winning recording of the music of Ravel, and EMI Classics continue to plan future collaborations with these forces.
EMI Classics congratulates Mr Nezet-Seguin on this prestigious appointment, and look forward to continuing to work with him in the coming years.
Further information from www.philorch.org www.emiclassics.com";
news_icpn[4] = "";
news_gac[4] = "244437";
news_news_type[4] = "General";
news_from_date[4] = "Mon, 14 Jun 2010";
news_to_date[4] = "Mon, 06 Sep 2010";
news_title[5] = "LEIF OVE ANDSNES RELEASES EXCLUSIVE iTUNES LIVE EP";
news_teaser[5] = "Recorded at the new Apple store on Manhattan's Upper West Side (NYC)...";
news_image1[5] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1775427-1";
news_id[5] = "1775431";
news_text[5] = "In January of this year, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, EMI recording artist, Leif Ove Andsnes, became the first classical pianist to record live at an Apple Store event. Leif Ove Andsnes iTunes Live: Upper West Side is available today exclusively on the iTunes Store. CLICK HERE TO BUY Leif Ove Andsnes iTunes Live: Upper West Side
To envision the atmosphere of that chilly winter evening, one need only picture the usual consumer-filled floor of a bustling Apple Store, except with a Steinway ensconced near the entrance with a world-class pianist entertaining the crowd both inside and outside the space. The result of this recording is an enrapturing account of Leos Janácek's \"In the Mists\", a four-movement suite, as well as an elegant interpretation of Beethoven's \"Moonlight\" Sonata.
Leif Ove Andsnes is no stranger to unconventional artistic expression, whether it is performing live in a stunning, atrium retail space or collaborating with world-renowned visual artists. His most recent EMI offering was the 2009 ground-breaking performance and recording of Pictures Reframed with South African modern artist Robin Rhode. Re-interpreting Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Andsnes and Rhode took the idea further by applying Rhode's visuals to a live performance of the works at New York's storied Lincoln Center and all over the world.
Leif Ove Andsnes iTunes Live: Upper West Side marks the next step in Andsnes's artistic journey.
Leif Ove Andsnes iTunes Live: Upper West Side Recorded January 4, 2010 at the Apple Store: UWS (1981 Broadway NYC)
Leos Janácek (In the Mists) and Ludwig van Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor [Moonlight Sonata]). ";
news_icpn[5] = "";
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news_news_type[5] = "General";
news_from_date[5] = "Thu, 27 May 2010";
news_to_date[5] = "Thu, 19 Aug 2010";
news_title[6] = "MAY HIGHLIGHTS - NEW RELEASES AND NEWS FROM EMI & VIRGIN CLASSICS";
news_teaser[6] = "";
news_image1[6] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1775274-1";
news_id[6] = "1775278";
news_text[6] = "May sees the release of a 16CD boxed set of Gustav Mahler's Complete Works (The definitive Mahler complete box set, critically acclaimed recordings, made between 1949 and 2010, featuring some of the greatest Mahler conductors, singers and orchestras), Symphony No.2 \"Resurrection\" with star soloists Alice Coote and Natalie Dessay, Nicholas Angelich's insightful survey of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 (\"This is a magnificent disc, and deserves pride of place in any Brahms-lover's library.\" The Telegraph), a new album from Nigel Kennedy, a bargain 6CD collection of 100 Best Verdi, 4 themed collections comprising Robert Schumann's greatest works, and a unique insight into the world of classical music with Classical Legends - In their own words.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!!!!";
news_icpn[6] = "";
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news_from_date[6] = "Mon, 24 May 2010";
news_to_date[6] = "Tue, 17 Aug 2010";
news_title[7] = "HAT-TRICK FOR EMI CLASSICS AT THE 2010 CLASSICAL BRIT AWARDS";
news_teaser[7] = "Angela Gheorghiu, Antonio Pappano and Thomas Adès are the big winners of the night...";
news_image1[7] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1775087-1";
news_id[7] = "1775091";
news_text[7] = "EMI Classics celebrates a hat trick of artist awards at the 2010 Classical BRIT Awards, which took place at London's Royal Albert Hall on 13th May 2010.
Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu was crowned Female Artist of the Year for her recent recording of Puccini's classic opera Madama Butterfly, recorded in Rome with the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the baton of Antonio Pappano. Angela is currently in the studio recording her next EMI Classics album, a collection of popular opera arias.
EMI Classics exclusive artist Thomas Adès scooped the prestigious Composer of the Year award for his recent opera The Tempest, which was recorded live in association with BBC Radio 3 at The Royal Opera House in 2007. The most recent release from Thomas Adès, Tevot, was released earlier this year to great critical acclaim.
British conductor Antonio Pappano, who is Music Director of The Royal Opera House, picked up the Critics' Award for his recording of Verdi's Messa da Requiem, recorded again with his Roman orchestra and choir, the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, with star soloists Rolando Villazon, Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi and Rene Pape. The next recording project from Antonio Pappano and his Roman forces, featuring an incredible line up of star soloists, is Rossini's great choral work Stabat Mater, which records in July for an album release this autumn.
EMI Classics also congratulates New Zealand-born soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa who performed live on the night and joins a list of past recipients which includes Plácido Domingo and Jose Carreras.
The Classical BRIT Awards 2009 with NS&I will broadcast on ITV1, Tuesday 18 May at 10:35pm.
We caught up with Angela Gheorghiu backstage at the Royal Albert Hall in London and she left us a very special message. She was thrilled to be at the Classical Brit Awards again. ";
news_icpn[7] = "5099945621529";
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news_from_date[7] = "Fri, 14 May 2010";
news_to_date[7] = "Fri, 06 Aug 2010";
news_title[8] = "LISTEN TO INGRID FLITER'S CHOPIN SPOTIFY PLAYLIST";
news_teaser[8] = "The Argentinean pianist shares her favourite Chopin recordings on EMI...";
news_image1[8] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1773611-1";
news_id[8] = "1773617";
news_text[8] = "To celebrate Chopin's 200th Anniversary we asked pianist and Chopin expert Ingrid Fliter to create a Spotify playlist of her favourite Chopin recordings ever on EMI. Here she also talks about her love for his music and how important and relevant Chopin still is in 2010.
My very first memories are related to Chopin. I remember the Arthur Rubinstein recordings sounding everywhere, in the living room, in the kitchen, in the car, my father playing some Waltzes as an amateur pianist. So I grew up loving Chopin’s music and taking it as part of my everyday life. When I started my studies in Argentina I was lucky to be introduced to his music very soon and thanks to him I discovered the beauty of piano playing as well as the importance of developing a singing tone in the instrument. In fact Chopin's music comes out not only from the fingers but from the lunges, as a singer in a Bellini aria would do. His music demands from the interpreter a unique physical communion with the piano, in which one becomes an extension of the other.
Chopin in many aspects is essential and natural. This must have led erroneously to consider him as \"light\" or \"entertainer\" composer. Nothing more far from the truth! Through the years of my studies I was very touched by discovering his darker side, his sense of tragic, which plays a fundamental role in his music as much as the \"joie de vivre\" does. He is not afraid of extremes and one can be dragged, in a very short amount of time, from levitating in the eternity of heaven to the deepest sorrow of existence. But these contrasting emotions are always filtered through the shades of a veil, a veil of reflection, elegancy and nobility. His romanticism is not obvious and requires a strong sense of proportions. Probably a good balance between his romantic soul and his classical expression is one of the most difficult things to achieve while playing his music.
But most of all Chopin speaks directly to the heart of people. The story he tells us is deeply personal. A dear friend who shares the most touching experiences of his life with us. When I play Chopin I feel a warm wave of recognition among the audience towards his music. For this reason I do believe he transcends matters of time or fashion and will always be loved by people from all over the world.
Ingrid Fliter.
An exclusive EMI Classics recording artist, Ingrid Fliter's 2008 debut album drew universal praise. Gramophone Magazine said \"Clearly born for Chopin, her playing is a marvel of the most refined fluency and affection. ... Fliter will make lesser pianists wonder at her effortless musical grace and unfaltering command.\" She is now following this up with a recording of his complete waltzes, released well in time to begin the celebrations in 2010 of the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth.
Spotify is a proprietary peer-to-peer music streaming service and application software from a Swedish based company. It allows instant listening to specific tracks or albums, with virtually no buffering delay. Music can be browsed by artist, by album, by record label or by created playlists as well as by direct searches. A link allows the listener to purchase selected material via partner retailers. The service is currently only available from IP addresses assigned to providers in Sweden, Spain, Norway, Finland, France and the United Kingdom, although after signing up it can be used from almost any country for 14 days.
Users from the UK, France, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Finland can also buy most tracks, if available, from Spotify's download partner 7digital ";
news_icpn[8] = "5099969835124";
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news_news_type[8] = "General";
news_from_date[8] = "Thu, 18 Mar 2010";
news_to_date[8] = "Fri, 31 Dec 2010";
news_title[9] = "FAREWELL TO ALICIA DE LARROCHA";
news_teaser[9] = "Iconic Spanish pianist dies at 86";
news_image1[9] = "";
news_id[9] = "1767097";
news_text[9] = "Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha (23 May 1923 - 25 September 2009), who thrilled music listeners for decades with polished and enthralling interpretations of great classical works and Spanish masters, has died aged 86.
She was widely considered to be one of the greatest of her generation and esteemed for her elegant Mozart performances and regarded as an incomparable interpreter of Albéniz, Granados, Mompou and other Spanish composers.
In a career that began when she was a child - she made her concert debut at 5, and her first recording at 9 - Alicia De Larrocha cultivated a poetic interpretive style in which gracefulness was prized over technical flashiness or grand, temperamental gestures.
Born in Barcelona, she began studying piano with Frank Marshall in Spain at the age of three. She performed her first concert at the World's Fair in Seville in 1929, and had her orchestral debut at the age of 11. She began touring internationally in 1947, and in 1954 toured North America with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
De Larrocha made numerous recordings of solo piano repertoire and in particular the works of composers of her native Spain, winning her first Grammy Award in 1975 and again, as recently as 1992, at the age of almost seventy. For EMI she recorded a selected list of titles which included works by Granados and Albéniz
As she grew older she began to play a different style of music; more Mozart and Beethoven were featured in her recitals and she became a regular guest at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts's Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. De Larrocha retired from public performing in October 2003, after 75 years as a professional pianist.
Click here to read the full obituary from the New York Times ";
news_icpn[9] = "";
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news_news_type[9] = "General";
news_from_date[9] = "Sat, 26 Sep 2009";
news_to_date[9] = "Thu, 19 Aug 2010";
news_title[10] = "ALISON BALSOM AT THE LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS";
news_teaser[10] = "On radio, TV, internet or at the Cinemas all over the world!";
news_image1[10] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1766557-1";
news_id[10] = "1766561";
news_text[10] = "Classical Music's most talked about soloist, the Classical Brit award-winning trumpeter Alison Balsom , is set to continue her extraordinary year as she takes to the stage at the iconic Last Night of the Proms in London on September 12th.
The Last Night brings Alison Balsom, a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, in a concerto by one anniversary composer (Haydn) and Sarah Connolly in a famous lament by another (Purcell), while a third (Handel) provides the main orchestral fireworks. They will perform at the legendary Prom night at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Alison Balsom has cemented an international reputation as a distinctive young artist and one of classical music's great ambassadors. She was crowned Female Artist of the Year at the 2009 Classical BRIT Awards for her Haydn/Hummel: Trumpet Concertos album.
The Last Night of the Proms , one of the most famous and high-profile classical music events in the world, will be broadcast live via satellite from London's Royal Albert Hall to cinemas across the world.
Cineplex Entertainment is the confirmed cinema partner for Canada , where 45 theaters will show the Last Night of the Proms. For further information on the Cinema broadcasts please click here
Wherever you are ...... on radio, TV or at the Cinema......Don't miss it!
______________________________________________
Subscribe to EMICLASSICS.COM to get our newsletter and information about new releases , our catalogue, free downloads and cool stuff!
";
news_icpn[10] = "5099921621307";
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news_news_type[10] = "General";
news_from_date[10] = "Fri, 11 Sep 2009";
news_to_date[10] = "Tue, 03 Aug 2010";
news_title[11] = "EMI & VIRGIN CLASSICS VIDEOS SCORE 1 MILLION PLAYS ON YOUTUBE ";
news_teaser[11] = "";
news_image1[11] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1765604-1";
news_id[11] = "1765608";
news_text[11] = "Video viewings on the official EMI & Virgin Classics YouTube Channel have now exceeded the magic 1 million mark; and just one year after the classical music labels began featuring their promotional video content on the site.
The branded channel - www.youtube.com/emiclassics - was launched just under one year ago and aims to bring EMI and Virgin Classics artists and their music to ever-wider global audiences. The offering of fascinating short-documentaries, music videos and performance footage has steadily grown to more than 200 films and represents a library of content unrivalled by any other classical music label.
Alison Balsom's Haydn & Hummel album promo video retains the crown for the most popular video on the channel closely followed by David Fray whose immense popularity in France and Germany enabled his Bach Concertos to become a best-selling album, and a YouTube favourite. French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky also features prominently in the top titles list with his appearance on the Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata album Monteverdi - Teatro d'amore, as well as with his album of melodies françaises from the Belle Époque entitled Opium .
Recently posted videos include Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker on their recording of the Brahms Symphonies; Rolando Villazón leading an all-star line-up of soloists in Verdi's mighty Messa da Requiem, conducted by Antonio Pappano; Leif Ove Andsnes and Rodin Rhode in a unique multimedia concept around Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Diana Damrau with her new recital disc of coloratura arias.
EMI and Virgin Classics have ambitious plans to see the channel grow still further by adding new videos on a regular basis and also mining the archives for rarely seen promotional films. New content to be uploaded over the coming weeks includes short-documentaries about David Fray's forthcoming Schubert recital disc for Virgin Classics, Sarah Chang performing concertos by Bruch and Brahms with Kurt Masur; Ingrid Fliter playing Chopin Waltzes and Philippe Jaroussky's new album of forgotten castrato arias. ";
news_icpn[11] = "";
news_gac[11] = "";
news_news_type[11] = "General";
news_from_date[11] = "Mon, 17 Aug 2009";
news_to_date[11] = "Tue, 09 Nov 2010";
news_title[12] = "CLASSIC FM GRAMOPHONE AWARDS 2009: THE FINALISTS ";
news_teaser[12] = "";
news_image1[12] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1765495-1";
news_id[12] = "1765499";
news_text[12] = "The thousands of recordings that have been released over the past 12 months have been sifted and sorted by Gramophone Magazine's world-class panel of judges and, after deep consideration, they have arrived at a shortlist for this year's Classic FM Gramophone Awards.
And what a shortlist it is: exceptional recordings across all 15 categories. EMI & Virgin Classics recordings feature prominently in the line-up of finalists at this year's awards.
All the categories are as hotly contested. But why wait for the winners to be announced? Why not get hold of these recordings yourself and see whether you agree with the final selections?
Many congratulations to all the talented artists, producers and engineers in reaching the final stages of this prestigious event, and best of luck to you all! ";
news_icpn[12] = "";
news_gac[12] = "";
news_news_type[12] = "General";
news_from_date[12] = "Fri, 14 Aug 2009";
news_to_date[12] = "Sun, 05 Dec 2010";
news_title[13] = "CLASSIC FM's 50 RECORDINGS THAT CHANGED CLASSICAL MUSIC";
news_teaser[13] = "";
news_image1[13] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1765084-1";
news_id[13] = "1765088";
news_text[13] = "A major feature appears in the September 2009 issue of Classic FM Magazine and uses EMI's new special edition of Nigel Kennedy's Four Seasons as the lead item in a feature listing the 50 Recordings That Changed Classical Music. This list includes 18 titles from the EMI Classics and Virgin Classics catalogue, more than from any other label.
As CLASSIC FM says \"Kennedy's 1989 Four Seasons is one of only a few recordings that have made the world sit up and take notice of a new star, a piece of music or a composer\"
These are the EMI/VIRGIN CLASSICS titles featured on the CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE list:
";
news_icpn[13] = "";
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news_news_type[13] = "General";
news_from_date[13] = "Wed, 05 Aug 2009";
news_to_date[13] = "Thu, 28 Oct 2010";
news_title[14] = "JOYCE DIDONATO UK TELEVISION EXCLUSIVE";
news_teaser[14] = "";
news_image1[14] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1764097-1";
news_id[14] = "1764101";
news_text[14] = "For the first time on television, Joyce DiDonato has given an exclusive TV interview about her accident.
The self-styled Yankee Diva slipped after singing \"Una voce poco fa\" in Act One of the Barber of Seville, breaking her calf bone. However, she insisted on carrying on, and helped by a crutch she finished the show.
Miss DiDonato, who sings the lead female role of Rosina in the Rossini opera at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, returned to the stage this week in a plaster cast and wheelchair.
Click HERE to watch the exclusive Channel 4 News interview.
Joyce DiDonato's latest CD on EMI/Virgin Classics Furore - Handel Arias is OUT NOW! ";
news_icpn[14] = "5099951903824";
news_gac[14] = "114303";
news_news_type[14] = "General";
news_from_date[14] = "Mon, 13 Jul 2009";
news_to_date[14] = "Sun, 31 Oct 2010";
news_title[15] = "ALEXANDRE THARAUD SIGNED TO VIRGIN CLASSICS";
news_teaser[15] = "";
news_image1[15] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1763940-1";
news_id[15] = "1763944";
news_text[15] = "Virgin Classics is pleased to announce the signature of an exclusive contract with the French pianist Alexandre Tharaud.
Tharaud is now firmly established as a pianist of outstanding international stature. He has acquired a distinctive reputation for his skilfully and personally conceived programming, whether for the concert hall or the recording studio, with his projects around Rameau, Couperin, Bach and Chopin receiving acclaim from critics and audiences around the world.
Alain Lanceron, President of Virgin Classics says: \"I am particularly happy that Alexandre Tharaud, one of the most brilliant and original pianists of the new generation, has chosen Virgin Classics to partner him from now on in his splendid career. We are delighted to enter into this collaboration with Alexandre, who in recent years has been thrilling audiences with his talent, creativity and imagination.
His first CD, Journal Intime will be released in November. It will comprise a number of works by Chopin, whose 200th anniversary falls in 2010.\"
Gramophone has described Alexandre Tharaud as \"a young aristocrat of the keyboard. Cool, supple and elegant, all his performances are in the best French tradition; a fine union of sense and sensibility ... each phrase bringing a renewed sense of delight … the inwardness and grace one associates with true artists\".
For further information on Alexandre Tharaud please click here ";
news_icpn[15] = "";
news_gac[15] = "";
news_news_type[15] = "General";
news_from_date[15] = "Wed, 08 Jul 2009";
news_to_date[15] = "";
news_title[16] = "RUSSIAN MAESTRO ROSTROPOVICH DIES";
news_teaser[16] = "It is with great sadness that EMI Classics reports today that Mstislav Rostropovich, the celebrated Russian cellist and conductor, has died, just one month after celebrating his 80th birthday and following a long illness.";
news_image1[16] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1678550-1";
news_id[16] = "1678554";
news_text[16] = "LONDON 27 April 2007: It is with great sadness that EMI Classics reports today that Mstislav Rostropovich, the celebrated Russian cellist and conductor, has died, just one month after celebrating his 80th birthday and following a long illness.
'Slava' Rostropovich was not only a musical colossus but a towering cultural figure and moral beacon who lived his life to the fullest and inspired millions. He is irreplaceable.\" said Eric Nicoli, CEO, EMI Group.
Rostropovich was one of classical music's greatest figures and a much loved member of the EMI family, revered around the world and recently honoured by President Vladimir Putin with Russia's \"Order of the Fatherland, First Class\". In the 1970s Rostropovich lived in exile from the then USSR (for his defence of Alexander Solzhenitsyn) and returned in 1991, when communism had collapsed.
His career as a cellist, conductor and pianist spanned 65 years, with his first recording for EMI taking place in 1956 (Nikolay Miaskovsky Cello Concerto), a relationship that was to last his whole life. His musical partners included (amongst others) his wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, violinists David Oistrakh, Maxim Vengerov and Itzhak Perlman, pianist Sviatoslav Richter and conductors Herbert von Karajan and Carlo Maria Giulini. His friendships and collaborations with many of the 20th century's finest composers, including Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten, Bernstein, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski and Penderecki, resulted in the creation of over 240 new works - there has never been an instrumentalist who has done as much for their instrument as Rostropovich achieved. His collaboration with EMI encompassed recordings of works by, amongst many others, Beethoven, Bloch, Borodin, Brahms, Dutilleux, Dvorak, Glinka, Haydn, Khachaturian, Lutoslawski, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Shostakovich, Richard Strauss and Tchaikovsky. Most recently, to celebrate his 80th birthday, EMI in conjunction with iTunes, made his entire discography available digitally which included tracks that had never before been released.
Rostropovich's recorded legacy is second to none and we at EMI are immensely proud to be the custodians of these cultural treasures through which the indomitable spirit of 'Slava' will live forever†said Costa Pilavachi, President EMI Classics.
“The significance of Mstislav Rostropovich's work spreads far beyond his playing of the cello: this versatile and ever-inspiring musician is a great and deep man, a profoundly creative artist, whose contribution to cultural life is immeasurably precious.\" (Dmitri Shostakovich)
\"As a performer, Rostropovich commands an extraordinarily wide range; indeed, his infinite scope is one of the most astonishing aspects of his musicianship. When we hear him perform, we are in the presence of a deeply fascinating artistic personality. He opens up to us a boundless universe through playing that brims with life and glows with the richest of colours. He utterly captivates us while offering us the pleasure of contact with art at its most supreme.\" (Dmitri Shostakovich)
\"Everything about Rostropovich is larger than live: his music-making, his generosity, his embraces, his anger, his appetite, his enthusiasms, his work for charities.......He has left, and continues to leave, a huge imprint on the whole world.\" Steven Isserlis (Guardian, March 2007)
EMI Classics has set up an area of their website to commemorate Rostropovich. At www.rostropovich.net, fans and admirers can listen to three of his concertos (Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn) together with a pod cast celebrating his life. ";
news_icpn[16] = "";
news_gac[16] = "119941";
news_news_type[16] = "General";
news_from_date[16] = "Fri, 27 Apr 2007";
news_to_date[16] = "Sun, 20 Jul 2036";
news_title[17] = "A strong year for Thomas Adès!";
news_teaser[17] = "A round-up of Tom's activities over the past few months.";
news_image1[17] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1671559-1";
news_id[17] = "1671563";
news_text[17] = "2007 is a strong year for EMI exclusive artist Thomas Adès. Since early February he has been the Featured Composer at the Presences Festival in Paris, where 23 of his works were performed by over 700 musicians in just under one month. This forms the largest retrospective of Tom's work and included the French premieres of his new classical work Tevot, in addition to America, the Violin Concerto and Brahms. Adès participated as composer, conductor and pianist.
In London in March, the Royal Opera House revived Tom's second opera The Tempest, received with high acclaim at its premiere 3 years ago and warmly received again: \"gorgeous\" said Bloomberg - the performance featured the House debut for new EMI artist Kate Royal and a return to the role of Caliban by Ian Bostridge.
In Berlin in February, Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker gave the world premiere of the orchestral work Tevot. This was a joint commission between the Berliner Philharmoniker and Carnegie Hall, New York. The New York premiere will take place in November this year.
The UK's most significant homage to Adès takes place in April at London's Barbican Centre. \"Traced Overhead\" will feature the UK premiere of Tevot alongside 11 other works by Adès. As in France, Adès will participate as composer, conductor and pianist. Other EMI performers featuring in the festival include Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker and Ian Bostridge.
Thomas Adès will make his debut with the Oslo Philharmonic in a festival featuring his music in September-October this year. And, finally, Thomas Adès has been appointed as holder of the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie hall for the 2007-2008 season. He will feature as composer, conductor and pianist in a number of concerts, recitals and events throughout the year, beginning in mid-November. ";
news_icpn[17] = "";
news_gac[17] = "128982";
news_news_type[17] = "General";
news_from_date[17] = "Tue, 27 Mar 2007";
news_to_date[17] = "Thu, 19 Jun 2036";
news_title[18] = "Han-Na Chang's new album Romance in the charts";
news_teaser[18] = "";
news_image1[18] = "";
news_id[18] = "1671155";
news_text[18] = "Han-Na Chang's \"Romance\" release climbes to the #18 spot on iTunes classical chart in the States and maintains the No 1 classical chart position in Korea this week. Congratulations!";
news_icpn[18] = "0094638239024";
news_gac[18] = "208938";
news_news_type[18] = "General";
news_from_date[18] = "Fri, 23 Mar 2007";
news_to_date[18] = "Thu, 15 Jun 2017";
news_title[19] = "EMI Classics and iTunes team up to celebrate Mstislav Rostropovich's 80th birthday.";
news_teaser[19] = "Music lovers have access to Rostropovich's entire EMI discography as cellist, conductor and pianist. Exclusively available on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com.";
news_image1[19] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1670444-1";
news_id[19] = "1670448";
news_text[19] = "EMI Classics and iTunes team up to celebrate Mstislav Rostropovich's 80th birthday.
To celebrate the 80th birthday of the world’s greatest living cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, EMI Classics will run an international campaign in conjunction with iTunes giving music lovers access to his entire EMI discography as cellist, conductor and pianist. Exclusively available on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com), this treasure-trove includes eleven currently unavailable albums, two of which have never been issued on CD. The campaign begins on 20 March 2007, a week before the birthday of the larger-than-life figure affectionately known to the world as Slava.
William Benthall, Director - Digital for EMI Classics, said, “For the first time ever, all of the recordings that this iconic figure made for EMI Classics can be accessed and enjoyed by the public. Many of the unavailable recordings are unique historical documents and will be of great interest to Slava's army of fans and admirers around the world.”
In a career as cellist, conductor and pianist spanning 65 years, Mstislav Rostropovich’s musical partners have included such illustrious artists as his wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, violinists David Oistrakh, Maxim Vengerov and Itzhak Perlman, pianist Sviatoslav Richter and conductors Herbert von Karajan and Carlo Maria Giulini. His friendships and collaborations with many of the 20th century’s finest composers, including Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten, Bernstein, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski and Penderecki, resulted in the creation of over 240 new works.
Highlights of the EMI Classics/iTunes download-only tracks include Richard Strauss’s Cello Sonata, recorded in 1974 and never before released on CD, the complete Tchaikovsky Symphonies and Overtures with Rostropovich conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded in 1976, and the Shostakovich Cello Sonata with the composer at the piano, recorded in the late 1950s.
In addition to over 500 individual tracks, EMI is offering an 80-track Special Edition Bundle at a very special price. This compilation presents a compelling snapshot of Rostropovich’s musical career. Fifty of the tracks are iTunes exclusives, taken from the 11 unavailable and unreleased albums. The compilation also includes a PDF booklet featuring an introductory note and historic photos from the EMI archives.
Mstislav Rostropovich’s first recording for EMI Classics was the Nikolay Miaskovsky cello concerto in 1956. Since then, his collaboration with EMI has encompassed recordings of works by, among many others, Beethoven, Bloch, Borodin, Brahms, Dutilleux, Dvořák, Glinka, Haydn, Khachaturian, Lutoslawski, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Shostakovich, Richard Strauss and Tchaikovsky.
EMI Classics is the oldest record label in the world and has the largest vaults with over 100,000 recordings. The Rostropovich 80th birthday releases are the start of a drive by EMI Classics to tap further into this incredible resource and share it with music lovers across the globe.
The iTunes Store, the world’s most popular digital music store, currently features over 4 million songs, 250 feature films, 350 television shows and over 100,000 podcasts.";
news_icpn[19] = "";
news_gac[19] = "119941";
news_news_type[19] = "General";
news_from_date[19] = "Tue, 20 Mar 2007";
news_to_date[19] = "Sun, 11 Jun 2034";
news_title[20] = "Evgeny Kissin signs to EMI Classics";
news_teaser[20] = "Acknowledged the world over as one of the supreme living pianists, Evgeny Kissin has been hailed as 'a lion of the keyboard', 'highly communicative' and 'one of the most generous performers before the public today'.";
news_image1[20] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1668494-1";
news_id[20] = "1668498";
news_text[20] = "EMI Classics have announced an exciting new collaboration with famed Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin. Acknowledged the world over as one of the supreme living pianists, Evgeny Kissin has been hailed as ‘a lion of the keyboard’, ‘highly communicative’ and ‘one of the most generous performers before the public today’. His first recording for EMI Classics will be Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op.54 and Mozart Piano Concerto in C minor K.491 No.24 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis, recorded live in September 2006 and released internationally in 2007. This will be followed with the complete Beethoven Concertos (LSO/Davis) and further projects for 2008 will be announced later.
His London Barbican recital this week was greeted by a standing ovation from the audience and he performed no less than 5 encores! The Independent newspaper in London described the evening as \"magic....By the end of his fifth circus-style encore, he'd made devotees of us all.\" The Daily Telegraph talked about his \"phenominal technique\" and a 4 star review in The Times declared the evening as \"triumphant!\" ";
news_icpn[20] = "";
news_gac[20] = "108843";
news_news_type[20] = "General";
news_from_date[20] = "Sat, 10 Mar 2007";
news_to_date[20] = "Sun, 01 Jun 2036";
news_title[21] = "Kate Royal's first album for EMI Classics.";
news_teaser[21] = "Soprano Kate Royal has just recorded her first release as an exclusive EMI artist at Abbey Road's Studio 1, out this Autumn. ";
news_image1[21] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1667208-1";
news_id[21] = "1667215";
news_text[21] = "Soprano Kate Royal has just recorded her first release as an exclusive EMI artist at Abbey Road's Studio 1, out this Autumn.
Kate will shortly be making her debut at London's Royal Opera House in the first revival of Thomas Ades's hugely successful adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest in the role of Miranda. Performances start on 12 March. ";
news_icpn[21] = "";
news_gac[21] = "208030";
news_news_type[21] = "Studio";
news_from_date[21] = "Tue, 06 Mar 2007";
news_to_date[21] = "Mon, 23 May 2033";
news_title[22] = "The EMI Stars of Tomorrow!";
news_teaser[22] = "BBC names Benjamin Grosvenor and Richard Harwood among the big stars of tomorrow.";
news_image1[22] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1667191-1";
news_id[22] = "1667189";
news_text[22] = "The cover story of the March issue of BBC Music Magazine highlights those artists that the magazine predicts will be the \"big stars of tomorrow\". The short list includes EMI Debut recording artist Richard Harwood who is described as \"an exceptional musical prodigy\" and the young pianist Benjamin Grosvenor who has a development relationship with EMI Classics who \"displays an astonishing musical maturity to match his flawless technique\". For further information please see the new issue of the magazine.";
news_icpn[22] = "0094635964523";
news_gac[22] = "207503";
news_news_type[22] = "General";
news_from_date[22] = "Mon, 05 Mar 2007";
news_to_date[22] = "Tue, 23 May 2034";
news_title[23] = "The Man Behind the Music";
news_teaser[23] = "He may not be a household name, but Costa Pilavachi is probably the most influential figure in the classical world. Jonathan Wingate meets the man behind the music.";
news_image1[23] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1667141-1";
news_id[23] = "1667120";
news_text[23] = "He may not be a household name, but Costa Pilavachi is probably the most influential figure in the classical world. Jonathan Wingate meets the man behind the music. ‘Music on a page alone is just a dead thing, so it only becomes an aesthetic product or a work of art when somebody performs it, whereas a painting or a work of literature is there whether you look at it or not. Think of how many steps there are between a composer and the ultimate consumer, so the world of the interpreter cannot be precious.’ Costa Pilavachi’s curriculum vitae covers so much ground that if he were in any other business, he would probably be laughed out of a job interview for being more than a little economic with the truth. However unbelievable it sounds, his musical journey has taken him from Ottawa record shop assistant to his role as President of EMI Classics, the world’s biggest and most prestigious record label. This is not a man who needs to embellish the facts. Neither is he a virtuoso musician, although Pilavachi has left an indelible mark on the classical music world. He is a true giant of a man in business terms, yet he is so modest, you would never guess it. In the hour-and-a-half we spend together in his plush office, a stone’s throw away from London’s Kensington High Street, his breathless enthusiasm for the music he has dedicated his life to is as solid as the bust of Yehudi Menuhin that sits proudly in the corner of the room, a couple of feet away from the famous Francis Barraud painting of Nipper, the terrier sitting alongside the gramophone player, HMV’s iconic logo.
Unlike many so-called suits in the entertainment business, music runs through Pilavachi’s proud veins as much as his Greek blood. Ironically, Pilavachi spent the first few years of his life living next to an almost anonymous looking Georgian house in St. John’s Wood, otherwise known as Abbey Road Studios. “Because my father was a Greek diplomat, he happened to be posted here when I was born in May 1951. It was an interesting year, because it was the year of the Festival of Britain, so maybe some of that rubbed off. Who knows?” Pilavachi smiles between sips of espresso. “The funny thing is that our house was at 1a Hill Road, and it’s literally the closest house to Abbey Road Studios. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time because I left and moved to Athens when I was four. When I was six, we moved to Cairo, at seven we moved to Washington D.C., and when I was eleven, we moved back to Athens. When I was fourteen, my father was sent to Ottawa.”
What sort of music was around the house when he was growing up? “My father was an avid record collector,” says Pilavachi proudly. “He listened mainly to classical music, but also Louis Armstrong and Doris Day. I can tell you specifically some of the works that were seminal in making me a classical music buff: Bach’s organ corals, Sibelius’s The Swan Of Tuonela, Wagner’s orchestral excerpts from The Ring, Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, and Mozart–Concerto No. 27, which I listened to ad infinitum. When I lived in Greece in the Sixties, I also loved Hadjidakis and Theodorakis, and a lot of French music such as Aznavour. I’ve always had very broad taste,” he says. “Of course, The Beatles were shattering. My father came back from a Nato conference in London and he brought us the first two albums. We were the first family in Athens to have With The Beatles, so everybody came over to listen to it. We read about them, but no radio station would play that kind of music back then. It’s been an incredible honor to work with Paul McCartney recently, promoting his Ecce Cor Meum oratorio, because The Beatles are so much part of my DNA. I was totally in awe of him.”
When Pilavachi was nineteen, his family left Ottawa, while he stayed on in Canada and went to university to study history and political science, with a minor in music. Already utterly besotted with music, one day after attending a rehearsal by Soviet pianist, Emile Gilels at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, Pilavachi popped into Sherman’s, his favorite record shop. “Sherman’s belonged to Capitol Records, Canada, which is an EMI subsidiary, by the way, and that’s an important vignette here,” he explains. “The manager was in hysterics because she had a sales rep from Philips in the back, and her assistant had quit in a huff that morning. She already knew me as a customer, and she asked me if I was interested in a job. She hired me on the spot, and I went and placed my first order from the Philips label, which was my first record label as well. By the end of my tenure there, I knew virtually every piece of music and learned the names of every artist who had ever made a recording,” says Pilavachi. “I was going to follow in my father’s footsteps but because I hadn’t really lived in any one country that long, I didn’t feel I could be a propagandist for just one country. One night I was having dinner with a friend, and he said: ‘What do you really want to do?’ And I said, well, I love talking about music and telling people what to buy. And he said: ‘Well, why don’t you become a Music Administrator?’ He told me about an MBA program at York University in Toronto, which had a specialty in Arts Administration. I applied the next day. When I arrived, one of the most important people in my life was an Austrian renaissance man called Franz Kraemer, who had studied under Webern. He taught me how to listen and how to evaluate and judge music and introduced me to all the great musicians of the day who were coming to the St Lawrence Centre for Arts in Toronto.”
Pilavachi soon got a job working for the Canadian impresario David Heber, who needed a classical expert on his team, which is where Pilavachi’s career trajectory really started to take off: “We brought the Israel Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Royal Ballet, the Cuban Ballet, Nureyev…all sorts of things.” He became Kraemer’s successor as Director Of Music at the St Lawrence Centre for Arts, and two years later was appointed Director Of Music at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He then joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Artistic Administrator in 1995: “That was my big break, my first real international job. It’s probably the best Artistic Administrator job in the world, because you have the most wonderful orchestra and you’re programming in the best hall in North America. I worked with people like Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, Michael Tilson Thomas, Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma and Leonard Bernstein. Actually, I should have put Bernstein first,” he says. “Bernstein was the most extraordinary musician to work with, I have to tell you,” Pilavachi beams. “First of all, Bernstein was without question the greatest conductor that I’ve ever worked with. He was a commanding presence, he was an extrovert, and he had complete mastery of the orchestra, the music, the interpretation…everything. He was an amazingly emotional communicator, and I’ve never heard anyone more articulate talking about music in a more earthy, descriptive and absolutely super-clear way. He didn’t have to talk because his hands and arms and body language and facial expressions were so crystal clear. I would go to his conducting classes, and he would take some young Japanese boy who had perfect stick technique but knew very little about life, music and human beings…and he would kick the shit out of him. He would physically grab these people just to loosen them up because they were so formal.” Would he say the classical world is often too formal for its own good? “It is, but the big stars in classical music who become stars to a broader public like Bernstein, Karajan, or Menuhin are extremely interesting, colorful people…and they’re stars. You know, a star is a star, whether they come from golf or the world of classical music. What’s the difference in the end? It’s all about huge personalities and charisma.” Charisma–something that cannot be learned, I say. “Exactly–you can’t learn it,” he replies excitedly. “I mean, imagine the hassle these days of going to a downtown concert hall for families; baby sitters, organizing a reservation in a restaurant, paying a fortune to buy tickets…why do people do this? There has to be a huge attraction, so it takes a giant of a person who lifts you up and makes you feel fulfilled to drag people out of the comfort of a modern home with all the entertainment we have there now.”
What is Barenboim like as a person? “Well, I saw him the other day, actually. He’s wonderful, full of incredible energy. He’s super-intelligent, he’s an unbelievable organizer…he’s a visionary. I heard him in New York last month playing with the Boston Symphony, and I have to tell you, it was extraordinary. Afterwards, there were at least 200 people backstage, he knew them all by name, and he started conversations with them that had been interrupted six months before and he just came right back into the conversation: ‘As I was telling you in Paris the other day,’ which was actually a year ago,” Pilavachi laughs. In 1989, Pilavachi was appointed Vice President of A&R at Philips Classics: “I was basically responsible for making and overseeing the artistic program of the label. I was very intimately and creatively involved with artists like Jessye Norman, Alfred Brendel, Mitsuko Uchida and José Carreras.” In 1997, Pilavachi became President of the Philips Music Group, and within a couple of years, he consolidated Decca and Philips Classics into one organization, Decca Music Group, where he worked with another list of legends including Vladimir Ashkenazy and Luciano Pavarotti. “He was already pushing seventy by the time I started working with Pavarotti, so his great years were over. We made a few recordings together, and I also did one opera with him and Ricardo Muti in Philadelphia in the mid-Nineties, which was a wonderful event. Actually, he stormed out of a dinner I was co-hosting with Muti’s wife because he didn’t like the food, but that’s another story.” You really couldn’t make it up. “I also remember being in Las Vegas, which is already a surreal place, and I was with The Three Tenors in Pavarotti’s dressing room when I was told that Andre Agassi and Stephi Graff wanted to meet him. I brought in these young tennis stars–just exuding good health and physical fitness–to Pavarotti, who was sitting in this throne perspiring after singing in the first half with this huge colorful shawl draped over him. He was like a mountain, and they came in just like children having an audience with the Pope, and it was very, very funny,” he giggles, knocking back the last dregs of his cold espresso. Music–the greatest leveler of all: “Yeah, because everybody likes music, and everybody is involved with music one way or the other…it’s inescapable. It’s part of everybody’s life, when you think about it.” Clearly, Pilavachi thinks about it a great deal, which is an intrinsic part of his charm and his infectious enthusiasm. Once you really start delving deep into the music with him, you actually begin to completely forget just how important he really is. Pilavachi was also the man responsible for masterminding the globetrotting careers of artists like Hayley Westenra, Russell Watson, and Andrea Bocelli, crossover singers who exposed classical music to a mass market that had little or no previous interest in the genre. Was he concerned that by launching their careers he could be dissipating the legacy of such a legendary label? “No, not in the least, mainly because the public for Russell Watson or Andrea Bocelli is a totally different public to the one who buys the traditional recordings. It’s people who love beautiful melodies. Bocelli had one that sold almost five million copies of a classical record of sacred arias. Incredible, really. If people are going to hear this lovely music through a crossover artist or an advert, I’m all for it. No, thank God for adverts and all this stuff,” he says with a smile. Perhaps the key to Pilavachi’s enduring success and his unique relationship with the artists is the fact that they know he has an innate understanding of the music as well as the market, and even though he is now running EMI Classics, he still takes the time to get involved in the music as well as the business. “I meet with the artists all the time and I try to work with them, to have an overview of their career. I’m not gonna go tell them what to perform, but I’ll say to them: ‘You’ve made three records recently which haven’t really connected, so we’ve got to come up with a concept that’s going to connect because you need to have a success.’ That’s a typical conversation.”
And would he say that to Simon Rattle or Maxim Vengerov? “I’ll have that conversation with them, of course,” Pilavachi says, “but luckily most of their records connect, so these aren’t really tough conversations. They don’t see me as a musician, but they see me as someone who understands music and commerce together, and you can’t really separate the two.” He adds: “Classical musicians are much more focused on music alone and they don’t really have a commercial side, so that’s what they look for from me. It’s not just about the music: it’s all the bells and whistles around the music. Pop artists make a record and then they’ll take it on tour to sell the record–how else are you gonna sell it? Classical artists rehearse and perform the works they’re going to record, then they record them and say: ‘It’s your job to sell the record, so I’m now going to rehearse’.” “Let’s face it, you don’t become a classical artist when you’re eighteen or twenty, you start as a young child,” Pilavachi continues, “so you have spent your whole life practicing, studying, learning and living music, so most classical musicians have very little time to do anything else in their life.”
Classical music sales in U.K. stores between 2003-2004 reached their lowest point for almost two decades, and for the first time ever, classical music accounted for less than five percent of all albums sold. While this appears to imply that interest in the genre is waning, there are positive signs that the classical industry may be undergoing a renaissance in the digital world. Downloads of classical albums grew by nearly one hundred percent in the U.S. in 2005, and BBC Radio 3 recently recorded over 1.3 million downloads when it offered free Beethoven symphonies. The London Symphony Orchestra even has its own ringtones service. In short, the future is now, and it’s something that Pilavachi is acutely aware of. “Yes, it’s happening right now, and as far as I’m concerned, the entire digital revolution is a huge opportunity for music, and in particular for classical music. The internet means people can buy anything they want, when they want and how they want. We’re investing enormous amounts of money and time on developing the internet, and we’re just starting. Without losing the company’s heritage, it’s my top priority. It’s not just a music marketplace anymore, it’s an entertainment marketplace,” he says. “You know, there’s a whole generation of people who have never heard of Jascha Heifetz or even Menuhin. Their heroes are going to be young stars of tomorrow, and they’ll discover these masterpieces through them. We’ve just signed a young Ukrainian boy called Valeriy Sokolov, and he is as good a violinist as any I have ever heard, so people who are now beginning to listen to classical music will hear a lot of the masterpieces through the fingers and the soul of Sokolov, although he hasn’t even made a record yet.”
As president of the biggest classical label in the world, in the current climate, does he believe one of his main tasks is to understand the changes going on right now? “Of course,” he replies without missing a beat. “Well, I’m trying to broaden their horizons beyond their music to understand where they fit in society in the real world, in the world of consumers and music fans. It’s not only about selling records. You know, music is nothing if it’s not performed, so around music there’s a whole structure of commerce. It’s not like a writer or a composer, who is in isolation. Music on a page alone is just a dead thing, so it only becomes an aesthetic product or a work of art when somebody performs it, whereas a painting or a work of literature is there whether you look at it or not. Think of how many steps there are between a composer and the ultimate consumer, so the world of the interpreter cannot be precious.”
Would he say this is the biggest job in the classical business? “Yes, it probably is,” says Pilavachi proudly, as our time comes to a close. “Without question, this is my dream job. Look, I’m fifty-five, and I think this will be my last job. What else am I going to do after this? I’ll know when it’s time to go, and it won’t be long after sixty. I also love to read, I love to sail, ski and climb mountains…I love to do all kinds of things that I can’t do enough of in combination with my job. If I wait to be seventy-five to do those things, I’ll physically be too old,” he says. “I think most people will agree that EMI Classics has the richest history and the richest back catalogue. We had this wonderful golden age at EMI from the end of World War II because the continental companies were on their knees and EMI became the most important record company and signed up all of the greatest artists in the world. I mean, I’m only the fifth head of this company, and it’s 108 years old. Can you imagine that?”
Jonathan Wingate Odyssey";
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news_news_type[23] = "General";
news_from_date[23] = "Fri, 02 Mar 2007";
news_to_date[23] = "Fri, 23 May 2036";
news_title[24] = "BBC Music Magazine gives a raft of five star reviews to EMI new releases.";
news_teaser[24] = "Antonio Pappano, Emmanuel Pahud and Simon Trpceski performances receive highest star award.";
news_image1[24] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1636885-1";
news_id[24] = "1667183";
news_text[24] = "The March issue of BBC Music Magazine has awarded the maximum of 5 performance stars to the new releases from Antonio Pappano (Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos 4-6 with the Orchestra Dell'Accademia Di Santa Cecilia); flautist Emmanuel Pahud (with Yefim Bronfman, works by Brahms and Reinecke); and for pianist Simon Trpceski (Chopin). These are all February new releases. Congratulations all round!";
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news_news_type[24] = "General";
news_from_date[24] = "Wed, 28 Feb 2007";
news_to_date[24] = "Fri, 23 May 2036";
news_title[25] = "Kate Royal's 5 star review";
news_teaser[25] = "\"a moment whose experience is so intense that the singer - and the listener - has no choice but to inhabit every second of its life\". The Times (London)";
news_image1[25] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1659456-1";
news_id[25] = "1659454";
news_text[25] = "EMI Classics new signing Kate Royal's latest recital as part of the Wigmore Hall's Festival of Song was in front of a packed house and garnered a 5 star review from Hilary Finch in The Times (London) who described the evening as \"a moment whose experience is so intense that the singer - and the listener - has no choice but to inhabit every second of its life\". ";
news_icpn[25] = "";
news_gac[25] = "208030";
news_news_type[25] = "General";
news_from_date[25] = "Mon, 05 Feb 2007";
news_to_date[25] = "Wed, 30 Apr 2036";
news_title[26] = "La Fille du Regiment";
news_teaser[26] = "5* review for Natalie Dessay at Covent Garden The Times
";
news_image1[26] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1656097-1";
news_id[26] = "1656101";
news_text[26] = "5* review for Dessay at Covent Garden
...I have never seen a singer invest quite so much manic comic energy into a role as Dessay does, and certainly not while tossing out some of the most fiendish coloratura in the repertoire. Nor take on so many domestic chores in a performance. Playing the role as a hyperactive tomboy, she sings her first aria while doing the regiment’s ironing, pausing only to ping her braces against her vested bosom, then delivers a duet while peeling spuds, and an aria while gathering in underwear from a washing line.
And she never misses a beat or a stratospheric trill. Simply mesmerising. Memories fade, but I can’t recall Dame Joan Sutherland playing the part quite like that when Covent Garden last staged this opera...
Richard Morrison at Covent Garden The Times";
news_icpn[26] = "";
news_gac[26] = "120251";
news_news_type[26] = "General";
news_from_date[26] = "Thu, 18 Jan 2007";
news_to_date[26] = "Sun, 13 Apr 2036";
news_title[27] = "Les Victoires de la Musique Classique 2007";
news_teaser[27] = "EMIC/VC artists nominated for eight awards.";
news_image1[27] = "";
news_id[27] = "1656095";
news_text[27] = "EMI Classics/Virgin Classics nominations by Les Victoires de la Musique Classique 2007...
Singer of the year : Roberto Alagna Philippe Jaroussky
Instrumentalist of the year : Nicholas Angelich David Guerrier
Ensemble of the year : Ensemble Matheus/Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Revelation of the year (singer) : Amel Brahim-Djelloul (soprano, in Le Jardin des Voix/Christie)
DVD of the year : Natalie Dessay, Greatest Moments on stage
Victoire d'Honneur : June Anderson
The awards ceremony will be held on February 28th in Paris and will be broadcast live on France 3,TV (prime time). Natalie Dessay and Rolando Villazon will attend and sing and Maxim Vengerov will perform with the Orchestra Philharmonique under Chung. ";
news_icpn[27] = "";
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news_news_type[27] = "General";
news_from_date[27] = "Wed, 13 Dec 2006";
news_to_date[27] = "Sun, 13 Apr 2036";
news_title[28] = "New dance project with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker";
news_teaser[28] = "Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker continue to help disadvantaged children to become dancers";
news_image1[28] = "http://www.mediaextranet.co.uk/imagerepository/labelnewsimagespublic/1637119-1";
news_id[28] = "1656092";
news_text[28] = "Modern Times - New dance project with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
With their new project titles Modern Times, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker continue to help disadvantaged children to become dancers. 150 children and teenagers performed modern dance and ballet routines set to classical music at the Berlin Arena after taking part in one of the six-week educational programmes set up by Rattle. The project's team contacted schools in deprived areas of the city, asking them to nominate pupils for the classes who then got taught by one of three modern dance choreographers. The performance was kicked off by a world premiere of the specially commissioned work for four horns titled Purple Silence, followed by Edgard Varèse's Ionisation and Igor Stravinsky's Les Noces. Adults over 50 were also part of the dancers in Les Noces, enabling people from the age of 8 to 80 to share the experience on stage.
Rattle said: 'Everybody can make music. Everybody can compose, somehow. When you want to teach children sports, they play football, or get given a tennis racket, they don't simply watch. But when we want them to be involved in music, we ask them to sit passively. This is surely not the right concept.' ";
news_icpn[28] = "";
news_gac[28] = "";
news_news_type[28] = "General";
news_from_date[28] = "Tue, 12 Dec 2006";
news_to_date[28] = "Sun, 13 Apr 2036";
news_title[29] = "49th annual Grammy Awards Nominations";
news_teaser[29] = "EMI nominated for six awards";
news_image1[29] = "";
news_id[29] = "1656089";
news_text[29] = "The nominations for the 49th annual Grammy Awards were announced in Los Angeles yesterday and EMI Classics have received 6 award nominations in the following catagories:
Producer of the Year, Classical:
Stephen Johns for: Angel Dances (12 Cellists of Berliner Philharmoniker) Holst: The Planets (Sir Simon Rattle and Berliner Philharmoniker) Schubert: Symphony No 9 \"The Great\" (Sir Simon Rattle and Berliner Philharmoniker) Shostakovich: Violin Concerto NO 1; Prokofiev: Violin Cocnerto No 1 (Sarah Chang & Simon Rattle) Vivaldi: Flute Concertos (Emmauel Pahud & Richard Tognetti)
Best Classical Album: Martha Argerich And Friends: Live From the Lugano Festival 2005 (Martha Argerich and Friends; Ulrich Ruscher, producer)
Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra): Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 1 &2 (Antonio Pappano, conductor: Leif Ove Andsnes; Berliner Philarmoniker)
Best Chamber Music Performance: Martha Argerich And Friends: Live From the Lugano Festival 2005 (Martha Argerich and Friends)
Best Small Ensemble Performance: Angel Dances: 12 Cellists of Berliner Philharmoniker
Best Classical Vocal Performance: Britten: Song Cycles (Ian Bostridge; Sir Simon Rattle; Radek Baborak; Berliner Philharmoniker)
The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 11 February 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and it will be broadcast on television in the US on CBS.
A full list of all the nominees can be found at: http://music.yahoo.com/promo-25023071 and further information at: http://www.grammy.com/.";
news_icpn[29] = "";
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news_news_type[29] = "General";
news_from_date[29] = "Fri, 08 Dec 2006";
news_to_date[29] = "Sun, 13 Apr 2036";
![\"Philadelphia](\"http://www.emiclassics.com/EMICINTERNAL/Yannick.jpg\")