NEW YORK & CANNES, France (Top40 Charts/ Orchard) - The Orchard (NASDAQ: ORCD), a global leader in music and video entertainment, announced today a slew of major classical signings, further strengthening The Orchard's position in the fast-growing classical digital market. According to BPI figures for 2007, in the UK alone, classical downloads showed a 100% increase on 2006, with full-price classical downloads leaping by 129%.
Exclusive worldwide deals with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Wigmore Hall and Classical.com Music labels and the virtuoso flamenco guitarist Juan Martin cover digital distribution and marketing but also encompass broader forms of sale such as synchronization and brand entertainment representation - consistent with The Orchard serving not simply as a distributor, but providing services across a wide spectrum of activities all directed at building and monetizing audiences.
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's critically acclaimed catalogue of recordings includes the complete symphonies of Beethoven with Sir Charles Mackerras and Vaughan Williams with the late Vernon Handley, as well as music by Britten, Dvorak, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Smetana, Richard Strauss, and a highly-anticipated unreleased recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5, conducted by the Philharmonic's Principal Conductor, Vasily Petrenko. No stranger to innovation, in 1998, the Philharmonic became the first UK orchestra to launch its own record label, RLPO Live, and their move with The Orchard reflects the forward-looking management style of its team.
Commenting on the deal Andrew Cornall, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's Executive Director (Artistic Policy - Orchestra and Ensembles) said, 'The Liverpool Philharmonic is delighted to work in partnership with The Orchard and marks another milestone in the development of our ambitions to exploit digital and new media technologies and to make the renowned music of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra available to an ever wider market.'
The Wigmore Hall, an essential venue for many of the world's most sought-after soloists and chamber musicians, launched Wigmore Hall Live in 2005 to make performances from its renowned space available to aficionados. Since that time, the label has assembled an impressive and growing catalogue that includes performances by the Nash Ensemble, Sir Thomas Allen & Malcolm Martineau, the Arditti Quartet, the Academy of Ancient Music, and the Kopelman Quartet.
The Classical.com Music catalogue of some 470 albums, features all the key classical works from Bach to Bernstein performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the renowned Forlane and Fioretti labels, and a wide range of vocal, chamber, solo, orchestral, and operatic performances by Jose van Dam, Felicity Lott, Yehudi Menuhin, and Yuri Simonov.
Juan Martin, the celebrated flamenco virtuoso, is widely acclaimed as one of world's leading guitarists, and to date, his explosive virtuosity has been captured in 14 albums. As an artist and composer, Martin has performed with Herbie Hancock and the Nash Ensemble, and was the first flamenco player to record with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
'We have experienced a significant increase in classical sales over the past three years, together with the entrance to the market of some exceptional specialist digital retailers', said Prashant Bahadur, Vice President of Retail marketing at The Orchard. 'Working in close collaboration with these renowned classical market leaders, we are looking forward to creating unique marketing programs that will resonate with retail and excite the growing online classical audience.'
In conjunction with these label announcements, The Orchard also announced a new agreement with UK based digital store Classical.com, which further expands The Orchard's classical retail footprint. Classical.com will serve as launch partner for the Liverpool Philharmonic's RLPO Live recordings, which are scheduled for worldwide digital release in March.
About the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a rapidly developing, forward looking and innovative arts organisation, with an illustrious history dating from 1840, when it was founded as a concert society by a group of Liverpool music lovers. It has remained at the heart of Liverpool's cultural life ever since.
The original vision of that first committee has remained a driving ambition, and is interpreted today in the organisation's mission 'to promote the love of music and music making' through a dynamic group of music ensembles at the centre of which is the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, one of the UK's premier arts and entertainment venues; the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir; Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Liverpool Philharmonic Youth, Community and Gospel Choirs; extensive learning and engagement programmes; and the Orchestra's own record label, RLPO Live.
Over 250,000 people attend concerts. films and events at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall each year; 45,000 people of all ages benefit from the Liverpool Phil's learning and engagement programmes, while the innovative use of digital and new media technologies has driven pioneering audience development, marketing and communications programmes. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra gives over sixty concerts from September to June in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, as well as presenting a regular concert series in Preston's Guild Hall and Blackburn's King George's Hall, and making frequent appearances in concert halls throughout the United Kingdom and abroad.
In 2006, the charismatic young Russian, Vasily Petrenko, took up the baton as principal conductor, joining a distinguished line of musicians who have led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra during its 168-year-old history. Petrenko has quickly made a deep impression on the Orchestra, and the City, drawing new audiences to classical music and attracting unanimous local and national critical acclaim for the Orchestra's concerts and recordings. Petrenko was the Classic FM Gramophone Awards 'Young Artist of the Year' in 2007 and his contract with the Orchestra has been extended to 2012. www.liverpoolphil.com
About Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall holds a unique place in London musical life and over the years has been an essential platform for the world's most sought-after soloists and chamber musicians. It also fosters the careers of talented young artists, some of them making their first professional appearance in London. Wigmore Hall presents over 400 events in a season, attracting appreciative and exceptionally loyal audiences and selling some 165,000 tickets each year. Concerts are broadcast weekly to national and international audiences on radio and the internet through a partnership with BBC Radio 3. The Hall launched its own recording label 'Wigmore Hall Live' in 2005 with a growing number of releases available for sale in retail outlets worldwide. www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
About Classical.com
Classical.com provides the world's largest and most comprehensive specialist music service for Classical, Jazz & Blues and World music. Customers enjoy ownership of music as downloads (MP3 in 192k high quality) or by subscription which includes 100 free downloads a year and unlimited listening (streaming at 128k, the same quality as downloads from iTunes). Complete information about the major recordings, composer biographies, and listening guides are provided. Sheet music is available for specialists to download.
Music is featured from over 1,300 labels and 500,000 tracks including many of the world's greatest artists, and 3,290 composers. Downloads will play on iPods (except for some Major label repertoire which requires DRM). Users can easily build playlists, enjoy sharing them and add commentaries. The advanced Recommendation engine finds recordings each individual user will love. Charts are updated daily based on recordings our users buy and play. For a small monthly fee subscribers enjoy full access to the entire musical world of these specialist genres, accessible from any computer anywhere in the world. www.classical.com.
About Juan Martin
A celebrated virtuoso of the flamenco guitar who has been voted into the top three guitarists in the world by US magazine 'Guitar Player', Juan Martin learned his art in the land of his origin, Andalucia. Aged 17, he played in the Spanish film 'Donde tu estes' filmed in Marbella. He has recorded 18 albums, mostly as a composer and has several DVDs distributed by Faber Music and Mel Bay including a DVD with his dance company recorded in Istanbul. His original method book 'El Arte Flamenco de la Guitarra' is considered to be the 'bible' of flamenco guitar and is in its tenth print. He was honoured to be asked by Sir Roland Penrose and Lee Miller to play for Picasso's 90th birthday celebrations and has performed in international festivals from Hong Kong to Montreux Jazz and the First World Guitar Congress in the USA. His tours have taken him around the world from Australia, America and Canada to the Middle and Far East. El Mundo in Spain said of him that 'he has a terrifyingly good technique and absolute dominance of the guitar'. www.flamencovision.com
About The Orchard Classical Catalogue
Highlights of The Orchard's substantial classical catalogue include:
Monteverdi Productions. The label founded by the renowned conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, includes thirteen volumes of the Gramophone Award-winning Bach Cantatas series, which documents The Monteverdi Choir's pilgrimage to some sixty European churches in 2000, where they performed all of Bach's 198 cantatas.
Qualiton Imports. The leading US based importer and distributor of European classical music.
Analekta. Canada's leading classical label and multiple Juno Award winner, with a catalogue including recordings by, Angele Dubeau and La Pieta, James Ehnes, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and L'Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec.
Aliavox. The seminal early music label established by the virtuoso viola de gamba player Jordi Savall, and featuring his ensembles, Hesperion XXI, La Capella Reila De Catalunya and Le Concert Des Nations.
Arts Music. The German label known for its sacred, opera, chamber, symphonic, and operetta recordings, including the great works of Mozart, Schubert and Wagner, and rarities from Rossini, Verdi, and Handel, and recordings by The Russian Philharmonia, and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra.
Cedille Records. The label of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation, includes recordings by The Grant Park Orchestra with conductor Carlos Kalmar, Robert Kurka, and music from acclaimed contemporary artists Eighth Blackbird, David Schrader, Rachel Barton Pine, Pacifica Quartet, and the Chicago Sinfonietta.
Hungaroton Records. The Hungarian label founded by the state in 1951 as Qualiton. The catalogue includes a 29-volume series containing the complete works of Bela Bartok, piano and percussion works by John Cage, and traditional Hungarian works spanning 500 years, from early church music to 19th century dances.
