![\"Provisional](\"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/warnerMPhilCDs.jpg\")
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By ANDREW POWELL MUNICH \u2014 Late to an unprofitable game, the Munich Philharmonic<\/a> on Friday announced a new recording label of its own, \u201cMPhil,\u201d in partnership with Warner Classics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Its purpose? To broaden the audience.<\/p>\n Content will be sourced live, mainly from concerts at the orchestra\u2019s Gasteig<\/a> home. But archive releases are promised too, as are \u201ccelebrity\u201d conductors. Distribution: physical media, downloads, and streaming offers.<\/p>\n The label will issue up to six titles yearly with emphasis \u201con the abundant German repertory and works by composers with whom the ensemble has been closely connected since its founding 125 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Exactly how MPhil Chefdirigent<\/em> Valery Gergiev<\/a> fits this artistic focus is unclear. Anyway, the first titles appear in September: a symphony each by Bruckner and Mahler with provisional album art showing Gergiev\u2019s name twice the size of the orchestra\u2019s.<\/p>\n Which begs a question, given the maestro\u2019s affinities and the hopelessly saturated market. Who in their right mind would want a Gergiev recording of any Bruckner or Mahler symphony? The MPhil\u2019s archivist?<\/p>\n To be sure, the new imprint will expose the Munich Philharmonic\u2019s work in the way BR Klassik<\/a> and Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings<\/a> already do for its \u201ccompetitors,\u201d to cite only German examples.<\/p>\n But such ventures nowadays hemorrhage serious euros.<\/p>\n MPhil releases will follow, after a delay of at least a year, broadcasts of the same performances via outlets like Bayerischer Rundfunk<\/a>.<\/p>\n Warner\u2019s Erato label, meanwhile, has recently issued<\/a> live recordings from 2013 and 2014 of Gergiev\u2019s Mariinsky Orchestra<\/a>: the Shostakovich Cello Concertos as expansively shaped by Gautier Capu\u00e7on.<\/p>\n Image \u00a9 Warner Classics<\/p>\n Related posts:
Published: July 18, 2016<\/span><\/p>\n
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\nMKO Powers Up<\/a><\/p>\n