EMI Classics Renews Contract with Sir Simon Rattle
LONDON, NOVEMBER 16 — Sir Simon Rattle has signed a new contract with EMI Classics, extending their exclusive and productive relationship well into a fourth decade. Over the next four years, Sir Simon Rattle will make twelve CDs with EMI Classics; the agreement ensures that he, the label and the Berliner Philharmoniker will continue to build on their previous notable successes, which have included three Grammy Awards in the US, three Classical Brit and three Gramophone Awards in the UK, and two Echo Klassik Awards in Germany.
Project highlights in the next year include Tchaikovsky’s complete Nutcracker ballet; a program of American music, headlined with a new commission by Wynton Marsalis; and a program of works by Schoenberg, including the rare Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene (Music for a Cinematographic Scene).
In 2010, Sir Simon Rattle, one of only a handful of conductors today with an exclusive recording contract, marks the 30th anniversary of his exclusive relationship with EMI Classics, for which he has recorded more than 250 works.
Sir Simon Rattle comments: “In a time when recording contracts are rare enough to be an endangered species, I feel both lucky and privileged to be working further with EMI Classics, my loyal and brave partners of more than 30 years. The orchestra and I are delighted to be able to carry on bringing our music-making to, we hope, an ever wider audience, and we are very touched by the faith of EMI in our partnership.”
Eric Dingman, President of EMI Classics Global, remarks: “I am delighted about the ongoing partnership with Sir Simon which will continue to produce ground-breaking recordings and projects, adding to the great wealth, depth and breadth of repertoire that Sir Simon is building with EMI Classics.”
Stephen Johns, Vice President Artists and Repertoire of EMI Classics, adds: “We are thrilled that Sir Simon has agreed to renew his contract once again with EMI Classics. Over the past 30 years, Sir Simon has brought remarkable performances of remarkable music to wide audiences around the world, always opening eyes and ears with his fresh insights and authoritative performances. Nowhere is this more evident than in his relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker, arguably the greatest orchestra in the world.”
Sir Simon Rattle signed the contract while on tour with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the US in the presence of Stephen Johns and Lorna Aizlewood, Vice President Business and Legal Affairs of EMI Classics.
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About Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
Simon Rattle became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker in September 2002. As well as fulfilling a taxing concert schedule in Berlin, Sir Simon and the orchestra tour extensively and have garnered many awards for their EMI recordings and their pioneering educational work. Concert programs cover a broad spectrum, from Bach and Rameau to Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart, from Brahms to contemporary composers such as Adès, Berio, Boulez, Gubaidulina, Lindberg and Turnage.
About EMI Classics
EMI Classics is one of the top global classical music recording companies. Its two labels, the London-based EMI Classics and the Paris-based Virgin Classics, record exclusively with the world’s finest musicians, including Sir Simon Rattle, Nigel Kennedy, Angela Gheorghiu and Natalie Dessay, amongst others, and with distinguished organisations such as the Berliner Philharmoniker. The company boasts an unrivalled catalogue of recordings with international superstars such as Placido Domingo, Kiri te Kanawa, Itzhak Perlman, André Previn, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti; the catalogue also contains the historic recordings of Mstislav Rostropovich, Maria Callas, Victoria de los Angeles, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Jacqueline du Pré, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Sir Adrian Boult and Sir John Barbirolli, as well as the longest-serving artist in the history of the record industry: the violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin.
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For further information contact:
Glenn Petry, 21C Media Group: (212) 625-2038, [email protected]
Mariko Tada, EMI Classics: (212) 786-8964, [email protected]
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© 21C Media Group, November 2009