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FOR THE RECORD Dickon Stainer appointed President of Global Classics at Universal Max Hole, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group (which includes Decca Classics and Deutsche Grammophon in its stable of classical labels) has promoted Dickon Stainer to a new position within Universal: President and CEO of Global Classics. Stainer is a great-great-grandson of the composer John Stainer and as a child was head chorister at Ely Cathedral. He spent four years playing in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Grigory Sokolov will allow selected live recordings to be released by DG Grigory Sokolov signs exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon has announced the exclusive signing of one of the world’s most enigmatic pianists, Grigory Sokolov. Sokolov, who according to DG’s press release ‘refuses to play pianos that are more than five years old’ and who doesn’t make studio recordings, will permit DG to release a 2008 recital from the Salzburg Festival in January 2015 featuring works by Chopin and Mozart. Mark Wilkinson, President of Deutsche Grammophon, said, ‘The wait is finally over, as we warmly welcome Maestro Sokolov to the Yellow Label, and herald a new and rare album release. Inspiring complete devotion from his extraordinary army of fans, many of whom aim to attend every single one of his extraordinary concerts, he is an “anti-star” par excellence. Critics and pianophiles alike have known of his work for many years, and we now want to connect the broadest possible audience with this life-affirming, revelatory and enigmatic artist.’ indication of the approach to the new release on DG. ‘The business of making records has worried me so much and I’m only just beginning to come to terms with it or, rather, I’ve found a solution. I’m delighted to say that I’ve made my last “studio” disc. From now on everything will be live, all or nothing, selected from a mountain of tapes waiting for me in Paris. I cause lots of problems because I don’t believe in editing and splicing – a bit of this, a bit of that. I never play anything the same way twice, the acoustics vary from hall to hall and so do the offstage noises of my audiences. My producers and engineers tear their hair out on my behalf but I refuse to compromise.’ Space for Tim Kirkby cartoon Sokolov, who rarely grants interviews, spoke to Bryce Morrison in a fascinating interview for Gramophone in 1997, in which he described his views on recording, and which may give an 8 GRAMOPHONE DECEMBER 2014 Gijs Leenaars to replace Simon Halsey in Berlin The Berlin Radio Choir has announced that Gijs Leenaars will replace Simon Halsey as its Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. He will begin his five-year contract on August 1, 2015. Since 2012 Leenaars has been Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir; he will not be extending that contract beyond 2015, so he can concentrate entirely on his new job. In May 2015 Halsey will become Conductor Laureate of the Berlin choir, which has enjoyed a particularly close relationship with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic under his leadership. Julian Rachlin named Principal Guest of Royal Northern Sinfonia Following its appointment earlier this year of a Principal Conductor better known as a pianist, Lars Vogt, the Royal Northern Sinfonia now completes its artistic team with a Principal Guest Conductor better known as a violinist, Julian Rachlin. Rachlin made his conducting debut with the orchestra in October 2013 and has since also conducted the Israel Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. As violinist, Rachlin was just 14 years old when he appeared as a soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic, still the youngest soloist to have appeared with that orchestra. gramophone.co.uk
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FOR THE RECORD I R B Y KI M : T I O N I L L U S T R A T B Ä C K E R , M A T S ’ C O N N O R OI E R O S A L : P H O T O G R A P H Y Britain before studying music at Cambridge University. In 1991 Stainer ran the marketing campaign surrounding the video recording of Pavarotti’s concert in Hyde Park, London; he went on to market The Three Tenors for Warner Music. Stainer rose to become Managing Director and then President of Decca Records Group. Decca Classics was named Gramophone’s Label of the Year in 2013 while under his stewardship. He was also an Executive Producer on the film Quartet (2012), which stars Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins, Billy Connolly and Tom Courtenay as a group of long-retired opera singers who decide to perform together one last time. Can Augustin Hadelich win at Carnegie Hall? New Warner Music Prize offers $100,000 to classical musicians Warner Music has announced a new prize, supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation (which is headed by Len Blavatnik, an American industrialist and philanthropist), which will award $100,000 to a musician aged between 18 and 35. In its inaugural year, the prize will be presented in association with Carnegie Hall and the winner will be selected from those musicians who are presenting recitals at Carnegie Hall during the 2014-15 concert season. These include violinist Augustin Hadelich, mezzo Jamie Barton and pianist Behzod Abduraimov. Clarinettist and conductor Martin Fröst signs to Sony Classical Clarinettist Martin Fröst has signed an exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical. The first release will feature Fröst as both soloist and conductor with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and will be released in January 2016. Sony Classical’s President Bogdan Roscic said: ‘Seeing and hearing Martin Fröst is one of the strongest experiences classical music offers at the moment. Audiences around the world react to it with an enthusiasm bordering on euphoria. Martin is able to convey an overwhelming sense of being taken closer to the music’s essence and has found ways of expressing that which are quite unique in our business.’ Fröst is, of course, no stranger to Gramophone’s readers: his most recent recording of Brahms’s chamber music for BIS was named an Editor’s Choice in the July 2014 issue, and critic Nalen Anthoni noted: ‘Sensuous beauty and taut sinew mingle for an interpretation from five soloists whose fastidious attention to internal balance and every musical detail result in sovereign excellence, in a sovereign recording.’ In July, Lindsay Kemp spoke to Fröst about Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet and Fröst explained his special relationship with Brahms’s music. ‘My father, who was a doctor, played viola and loved Brahms. I first heard the Quintet on a recording my father bought me, and my first impression was that it is pretty introverted. As a kid you don’t really have boundaries, so I was totally blown away by the emotion of it.’ Unique: clarinettist Martin Fröst gramophone.co.uk The magazine is just the beginning Visit gramophone.co.uk for… PODCASTS To mark the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss’s birth, Gramophone’s Editor-in-Chief, James Jolly, and Strauss specialist Hugo Shirley discuss the composer’s life and music, with musical excerpts from Decca and DG. NEWS & FEATURES In a special online session report, Caroline Gill goes to Westminster Abbey to witness the tense and exhilarating recording sessions for ‘Music for Remembrance’, the new recording featuring Duruflé’s Requiem by the Choir of Westminster Abbey. REVIEWS DATABASE Offering more than 30,000 of our reviews since 1983, our dedicated and fully searchable Reviews Database makes reading three decades of Gramophone’s expert critics’ views easier than ever before. Whether you want to see what we think of today’s latest releases or discover what our critics thought of your favourite recordings from the past, you will find it all in our Reviews Database. FACEBOOK, TWITTER & GOOGLE+ Follow us to hear about – and then discuss with our online community – the latest classical music news and anniversaries. GRAMOPHONE DECEMBER 2014 9

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FOR THE RECORD

Dickon Stainer appointed President of Global Classics at Universal

Max Hole, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group (which includes Decca Classics and Deutsche Grammophon in its stable of classical labels) has promoted Dickon Stainer to a new position within Universal: President and CEO of Global Classics.

Stainer is a great-great-grandson of the composer John Stainer and as a child was head chorister at Ely Cathedral. He spent four years playing in the National Youth Orchestra of Great

Grigory Sokolov will allow selected live recordings to be released by DG

Grigory Sokolov signs exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon

Deutsche Grammophon has announced the exclusive signing of one of the world’s most enigmatic pianists, Grigory Sokolov. Sokolov, who according to DG’s press release ‘refuses to play pianos that are more than five years old’ and who doesn’t make studio recordings, will permit DG to release a 2008 recital from the Salzburg Festival in January 2015 featuring works by Chopin and Mozart. Mark Wilkinson, President of Deutsche Grammophon, said, ‘The wait is finally over, as we warmly welcome Maestro Sokolov to the Yellow Label, and herald a new and rare album release. Inspiring complete devotion from his extraordinary army of fans, many of whom aim to attend every single one of his extraordinary concerts, he is an “anti-star” par excellence. Critics and pianophiles alike have known of his work for many years, and we now want to connect the broadest possible audience with this life-affirming, revelatory and enigmatic artist.’

indication of the approach to the new release on DG.

‘The business of making records has worried me so much and I’m only just beginning to come to terms with it or, rather, I’ve found a solution. I’m delighted to say that I’ve made my last “studio” disc. From now on everything will be live, all or nothing, selected from a mountain of tapes waiting for me in Paris. I cause lots of problems because I don’t believe in editing and splicing – a bit of this, a bit of that. I never play anything the same way twice, the acoustics vary from hall to hall and so do the offstage noises of my audiences. My producers and engineers tear their hair out on my behalf but I refuse to compromise.’

Space for Tim Kirkby cartoon

Sokolov, who rarely grants interviews, spoke to Bryce Morrison in a fascinating interview for Gramophone in 1997, in which he described his views on recording, and which may give an

8 GRAMOPHONE DECEMBER 2014

Gijs Leenaars to replace Simon Halsey in Berlin The Berlin Radio Choir has announced that Gijs Leenaars will replace Simon Halsey as its Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. He will begin his five-year contract on August 1, 2015.

Since 2012 Leenaars has been Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir; he will not be extending that contract beyond 2015, so he can concentrate entirely on his new job. In May 2015 Halsey will become Conductor Laureate of the Berlin choir, which has enjoyed a particularly close relationship with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic under his leadership. Julian Rachlin named Principal Guest of Royal Northern Sinfonia Following its appointment earlier this year of a Principal Conductor better known as a pianist, Lars Vogt, the Royal Northern Sinfonia now completes its artistic team with a Principal Guest Conductor better known as a violinist, Julian Rachlin.

Rachlin made his conducting debut with the orchestra in October 2013 and has since also conducted the Israel Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

As violinist, Rachlin was just 14 years old when he appeared as a soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic, still the youngest soloist to have appeared with that orchestra.

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