Why Media?

Robert Levine asked:

“Is the Cincinnati model one that could be used by other orchestras, or is the situation unique due to the relationship with Telarc and the fact that half of the releases are Pops programming, which probably can’t support multiple versions of the same repertoire in the same way that the market for classical recordings can?”

To begin with, our relationship is a model shared by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, contractually associated with Telarc as well. Where there is no question about the Cincinnati Pops “juggernaut,” with its many albums that have sold in excess of 100,000 apiece ( I have often referred to this as the Telarc “gravy train”), the success of the company and both orchestral institutions is very dependent on the cutting edge technology that Telarc offers its patrons. As each new aspect of recording comes to the fore, most recently HDCD/Surround sound, the people who own home equipment able to accommodate the advances often request new releases of the same repertoire with the enhancements. This includes pops recordings, such as a new recording of 1812 Overture with Kunzel, and classical recordings: a 2005 recording of Rachmaninoff 2nd Symphony with Jarvi, despite a critically acclaimed 2000 release, on the lesser technology, with Lopez-Cobos.

The most similar situation currently exists in Minneapolis, where a Music Director who had developed a relationship with a smaller, cutting edge recording company, (Osmo Vanska and BIS of Sweden), brought the institution a company when the Music Director was hired. This is a practice not seen since the mid to late 90s, when all the major classical labels began to shed their conductors and artists.