It's a great thing when major orchestras release new recordings of contemporary art music. It's an even better sign of the vibrancy of the classical music business for that to happen under the auspices of a new major international initiative that brings together commercial and non-profit entities. Classical Live -- a collaboration between Google Play Music, 21C Media Group, and five of the world's most beloved orchestras -- is a new platform for digital classical music recordings. Available for streaming and download through Google Play Music, these recordings offer a glimpse at the artistic vitality of some of the hottest conductors and orchestras on the music scene today.
The first phase of Classical Live launched in June 2015, with the release of three albums from the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Andris Nelsons, Music Director), two from the New York Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert, Music Director), two from the Cleveland Orchestra (Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director), two from the London Symphony Orchestra (Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Conductor), and three from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Mariss Jansons, Conductor Emeritus).
Besides offering music fans an opportunity to hear their favorite orchestras and repertoire through a new platform, Classical Live also stands to enrich the existing contemporary music discography. This specific contribution to the annals of recording history is likely to outweigh the addition of standard repertoire recordings to the marketplace.
One Classical Live recording -- Selections from the NY Phil Biennial 2014 -- merits praise in the first phase launch of the project. This album is the only contemporary music recording included in the launch of Classical Live, and represents a bold statement by the orchestra: that new music and contemporary composers have a place in the heart of the organization's profile. The recording showcases the work of ten diverse contemporary composers (HK Gruber, Vito Žuraj, Jay Schwartz, Nina Šenk, Michael Hersch, Julia Adolphe, Max Grafe, Andrew McManus, Matthias Pintscher, and Oscar Bettison). Matthias Pintscher, a regular artistic partner with the New York Philharmonic, is also featured prominently in his role as a conductor on the recording. Click here for the complete track list.
The New York Philharmonic, which has admirably cranked-up its performance and recording of contemporary works under Music Director Alan Gilbert, stands out from the pack of orchestras on Classical Live. Gilbert's tenure at the Philharmonic, which is set to conclude in 2017 as a result of his recent resignation announcement, has seen the launch of the New York Philharmonic Biennial, numerous new commissions, and the founding of the orchestra's CONTACT! series of new music concerts.
While recording contemporary music is not likely to offer significant income to Google Play or the New York Philharmonic, their inclusion of highlights from the 2014 Biennial in the launch of Classical Live is laudable and hopefully a sign of more good things to come in the future. It is certain that significant artistic merit exists in the endeavor of recording music by contemporary composers. Offering these recordings through the digital space and avoiding the production costs of creating physical CDs will surely help the New York Philharmonic's bottom-line. The orchestra's 2015-2016 line-up for CONTACT! and the Biennial is chock-full of new works that should be recorded and made available to the international listening public.
Classical Live recordings are available for download ($4.99 for full albums; $0.69 for individual tracks) or streaming ($9.99 per month). All selections are formatted as MP3s and can be accessed through play.google.com, the Google Play Music app for Android and iOS, or by directly downloading the files to your computer or device.