It is said that there are as many as 400 record brands in the world. Of course, influential brands are only part of them, and only a small part have entered the Chinese market. There are only twenty or thirty kinds of classical music record brands available on the market at best. It should be noted that different record brands vary greatly in repertoire, performers, emphasis, and recording styles. For music fans, if they have no understanding of these record brands, they will inevitably fall into blindness and easily take detours when purchasing CDs. In order to help music fans have a clear target when choosing music CDs, the common classical music record brands on the market are briefly introduced as follows.
1. EMI Classics: formerly the British Gramophone Company and British Columbia Records founded by Berliner, the originator of the record industry. In 1931, in order to survive the Great Depression, these two rival companies merged into one and merged with some small record companies to form EMI, the largest record publishing group at the time. EMI's predecessor, the British Gramophone Company, used the brand "Master's Voice" (HMV), and the British Columbia Company's trademark was "Columbia". They were still used separately after the merger into EMI. In post-war Japan and the United States, EMI continued to use the Angel trademark until the 1990s when it was unified into EMI Classics. Due to its oldest qualifications, EMI has the largest historical recording database. Here, the most outstanding performers of all periods have left recordings, including violinists Kreisler, Adolf Busch, Jacques Thibault, Heifetz, Milstein, Szigeti, Menuhin, Ginette Never, Oistrakh, Perlman, cellists Casals, Feuermann, Dupre, Totelier; conductors Furtw?ngler, Klemperer, Karajan, Cheliby Daquet, Beauchamp, Giulini, Muti, Tenstedt, Jansons, pianist Cortot, Rubinstein, Schnabel, Ripati, Edwin Fischer, Giselle King, Solomon, Kovacevich, singer Caruso, Gilly, Chaliapin, Karas, Bjorlin, Schwarzkopf, Kanava and so on. New talents are being introduced in an endless stream, including Korean female violinist Zhang Sarah, female cellist Zhang Hananna, conductor Simon Rattle, Wilsher-Most... The incomparable glory of the past has been achieved through the efforts of the new generation of performers. A perfect continuation. When sorting and reprinting old records, EMI uses very mature digital processing technology. The advanced CEDAR program can reduce noise in old recordings without damaging the sound quality. Japan's Toshiba's 2088 technology is also a new technology developed. It uses 20-bit analysis power and a sampling frequency of 88.2 kHz to process the master tape, improving the timbre and dynamics of old recordings. On reissued old recording CDs, ART (meaning "Abbey Road Studio Technology") is a common logo, telling us that the recording on this CD has been carefully processed by Abbey Road Studio engineers. The "Great Recording Series of the Century" that EMI is launching one after another is its highlight at the end of the century. The tracks and versions have been carefully selected and gathered by masters, making them highly collectible.
2. Sony/CBS: The predecessor of CBS was the Columbia Phonograph Company of the United States, which was founded at the end of the last century. In the early days of the record industry, Columbia Phonograph Company and Victor Talking Machine Company, the predecessor of RCA Victory Company, shared the U.S. market equally and were known as the two giants. In 1924, the Columbia Phonograph Company and the American Recording Company merged to form Columbia Records. In 1927, it purchased the radio network of the Associated Independent Broadcasting Corporation to form CBS, abbreviated as CBS. Due to its long history, it also has many classic recordings in its database. Piano masters Horovitz, Serkin, Casadessu, Entremont, cellists Casals, Ross, violinists Steth, Francescati, conductors Walter, Bernstein, Sai World-renowned musicians and music groups such as Erl, Ormandy, Abbado, the Budapest Quartet, and the Giulia Quartet have recorded a large number of classic records for it. The composer Stravinsky's recordings of his own works recorded in the 1960s are also CBS's favorites. In the 1980s, the Sony Group bought CBS's record company and changed the brand to Sony Classical. In the past few years, due to low-price dumping, Sony/CBS records used to be synonymous with low price and high quality. Unfortunately, the prices have continued to rise, and there is no advantage at all.
It has an endless stream of high-quality products, and the records of Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Pracia, Bronfman, violinist Rachlin and others have received great praise. It was also the first record company to adopt 20-bit recording, and has always maintained a high and stable level of sound quality.
3. DG: The brand of Deutsche Grammophon Company. The company was founded in 1898 by Berliner, the founder of the recording industry, and is controlled by the British Gramophone Company. In 1917 it separated from the British Gramophone Company and used the Polydor trademark. Thanks to the participation of a group of masters such as Karajan and B?hm, it rose rapidly from the 1950s and established an authoritative position in the classical music world. Conductors Furtw?ngler, Bernstein, Mravinsky, Abbado, Johum, Freejoy, Boulez, Sinopoli, Gardner, violinist Oyster Lage, Milstein, Kremer, Mutter, Perlman, Gil Shaham, pianist Horowitz (late recording), Kempf, Golda, Anda, Michelangeli, Argerich, Pollini, Zimmermann, Pires, cellist Fournier, Rostropovich, Maisky, singer Domingo, von Otter, Orfeo Chamber Bands and other new and old performance elites have produced a large number of classic records under its banner. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the company's founding, DG has launched a set of mammoth "DG Centenary Special Album", with 63 CDs in 7 large boxes, collecting important recordings from various periods since the founding of DG. The 60-CD "Chelibidak Album" is a set of records launched by DG. Archiv is also a brand of DG. It was founded in 1947 and focuses on ancient music from the Middle Ages and Baroque period. From 1974 to 1975, it launched a large-scale Bach album, with 99 LPs. Its famous artists include Gardner's British Baroque Music Solo Solo Group, Revolutionary and Romantic Orchestra, etc. In the past, many people criticized DG's recording quality for its uneven quality and harsh tone, which was not liked by Chinese people. DG insisted on using its 4D proprietary technology in the recording of the new album, and achieved good results. Its CD sound quality has been stabilized at a very high standard.
4. Philips: Founded in the Netherlands in 1950. In 1962, it formed a joint venture with DG and quickly grew into a world-class record company. In 1972, Philips and DG merged into the PolyGram Group, becoming even larger and becoming a giant in the recording industry. Most of its artists are European elites, such as violinists Grumio, Schelling, Accardo, Mulova, pianists Haskill, Aarau, Richter, Brendel, Kochs, Uchida Photon, cellist Gendron, Schiff, Julian Weber, singer Carreras, Jesse Norman, conductor Purcell, Haitink, Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Bruggen, Arlin Davis, the famous Beaux-Arts Trio, the Italian Quartet, the Italian Musicians Ensemble (I Musici), etc. The China Symphony Orchestra, under the conductor of Chen Zuohuang, has also recorded 4 CDs for it. The overall quality of Philip's recordings is extremely high and taste is excellent, with few mistakes in both analog and digital recordings. Especially its chamber music recordings, whose sound quality and balance are rarely matched by others. Japan's Philips Company used 24-bit cutting-edge technology to produce a batch of CDs. The sound effects are particularly excellent and are very popular among audiophiles. I wonder whether this technology will be widely used by Philips. Philips also has two historical recording series. One is called "Legendary Classics", which uses computer noise reduction technology. Unfortunately, this technology slightly damages the sound quality and makes the sound dry. It is not as good as EMI's CEDAR technology. . The other set is The Early Years, which are recordings made by famous performers in the 1950s and 1960s.
5. Mercury: Founded in Chicago in 1945, it entered the classical music market two years later. With the efforts of producer Cozart and recording engineer Fine, the brand developed rapidly. Fine's bold use of three-microphone stereo recording (using a special Ampex three-track recorder and 35mm film film) achieved amazing results and a huge dynamic range, and was hailed as the heavenly dish of the time. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, etc. have all recorded for Mercury. Cellist Stark also left many classic recordings in the Mercury catalog. In 1961, Mercury was acquired by Philips.
Since the 1990s, Philips has been re-releasing Mercury's recordings into CDs in the "Living Presence" series, which is widely welcomed by music fans and audiophiles.
6. Deeca: The brand of Decca Records established in the UK in 1929. In 1940, it developed what was then the most advanced full-band recording, or FFRR for short. The technology was originally developed at the request of the Admiralty to identify the differences between British and German submarines. In 1944, Decca applied this technology to records, making great progress in sound quality. Since then, Decca has continued to lead the way in recording quality. It is especially good at recording large scenes (such as operas). It has a wide sound field, a strong sense of space, and a smooth tone that is unmatched by others. Although its lineup of artists is not as strong as DG and Philippe, it does not show any weakness: conductors Solti, Karajan, Anselme, Monte, Kertez, Meta, Dutoit, violinists Zheng Jinghe, Li Chi, Amoyar, pianist Backhouse, Curzon, Ashkenazi, Bollet, Rupp, Schiff, singer Demonaco, Pavarotti, Sutherland, Tabal Di, are all recognized as world-class celebrities. London and L’oiseau-Lyre are also trademarks of the company. The latter is specially used for "originalist" performance recordings, that is, using retro playing techniques on ancient instruments to express the original appearance of the work. Hogwood is the most active conductor of Lyrebird. With the acquisition of PolyGram Group by Universal Group, the three major European classical music brands, Decca, DG, and Philips, have been included in Universal Music Group.
7. RCA Victor: One of the veterans of the record industry, formerly the gramophone company founded by Berliner, the inventor of records. Countless performing masters have made recordings for it, including singers Caruso, Bjorlin, Flagstad, violinists Heifetz, Kreisler, Ellman, Zuckerman, and pianist Rachmani Nov, Paderewski, Rubinstein, Horowitz, Kapell, conductor Toscanini, Koussevitzky, Stokovsky, Munch, Reiner, Gunter Wand, flutist Galvi, clarinetist Stoltzman, Guarneri Quartet, etc. In addition to continuing to reissue CDs with many old recordings in the database in the "Gold Seal" and "Silver Seal" series, it also introduced batches of new stars to the music scene with the "Red Seal", attracting the attention of music fans, such as the American conductor Slatkin, Canadian female cellist Harnoy, young pianist Kissing, etc.
8. Hyperion: The name of a giant in Greek mythology. Hyperion, a British record label founded in 1980, is the pride of the British record industry. It is small in scale, with only 12 people, but after years of development, its influence in the classical music world is no less than that of those record giants, and it is known as "the most shining record brand in the UK". Hyperion's recording repertoire is extremely broad, and although the focus is on British and early music, it is not limited to this. It covers everything from early music from the 12th century to the avant-garde of this century, from choral to solo, from chamber to big band performance. In terms of developing new tracks, Hyperion's achievements are even more impressive, and it is ahead of many big companies. In January 1996, HyPerion achieved an achievement that attracted worldwide attention: it defeated many competitors and won the "Best Brand of the Year" award at the Cannes International Audiovisual Fair (MIDEM) in France. This marks the recognition of Hyperion by the entire recording industry. There are more than a thousand records in Hyperion's catalog, and nearly 80 new films are released every year, showing its strong vitality. In 1994, Hyperion sold 900,000 copies, accounting for 3.9% of the British classical music market. Among Hyperion's thousands of recordings, the most historically significant are pianist Leslie Harward's "Complete Liszt Piano Works" (49 CDs) and pianist Gram Johnson's "Complete Piano Works of Liszt". Schubert's Lieder Collection" (***31 CDs). Both sets of recordings are recognized as milestones in the history of recording. The "Romantic Piano Concerto Collection" recorded since 1991 (including works by Paderewski, Moskovsky, Sol, Shavinka, Medtner, etc.) has also been widely praised.
HyPerion's best-selling CD is "The Feather of God's Breath" performed by the Gothic Voices, which has won multiple awards and sold as many as 250,000 copies. Like most independent record labels, Hyperion records are priced high in order to maintain quality. Faced with the competition from cheap brands such as "Naxos", in 1996, it followed the practices of Philins, DG, and Decca and launched a cheap double-disc series called dyad, which was sold for the price of a genuine CD and was beautifully packaged. , is particularly eye-catching.
9. Chandos: A small British record company established in 1979, dedicated to promoting and publishing the works of British composers. In the 1980s, the brand developed rapidly and won wide acclaim for its excellent digital recordings, fresh repertoire, and high-level performances. Roger Stevinsky, Hickox, Nim J?rvi, Borodin Trio and many other outstanding musicians have recorded it. This brand has begun to appear in the domestic market. Although it is expensive, the overall recording quality is very good, the sound is clear and transparent, and unique. It is the first choice for fans who have a preference for British music.
10. Nimbus: A British classical music record company with great influence. It has a small number of people but has made extraordinary achievements. It is famous for its "Player Piano Series", "Vocal Master Series", "World Music Series", etc. world, and was also the first British record company to launch CDs. The "Play Piano Series" includes a large number of player piano tapes made by piano masters in the early part of this century. Through records, we can appreciate the performances of legendary masters such as Hoffmann, Paderewski, Busoni, Salvinka, Grainger, and Lamond nearly a hundred years ago. The "Vocal Master Series" is a unique skill of Nimbus. So far, 100 recordings have been published, which almost include the classic recordings of the senior singing masters in the golden age of bel canto art at the beginning of this century. The sound quality has been greatly improved after Nimbus' exclusive processing. than similar CDs from other companies. In the "World Music Series", there are all kinds of national music from all over the world, from China, Brazil, Argentina, Ireland to Southeast Asia, Cuba, Iran, the Middle East... It is the richest treasure for studying the world's national music. In addition to these three major series, the older generation pianists Shura Cherkassky, Vlado Perlemuter, violinist Oscar Shumsky, Vienna Trio, and young pianist Martin Jones , Hu Kun, a young violinist from China who studied in the UK, etc. all left wonderful recordings for it. The recordings of British composer Tippett conducting his own works are also one of Nimbus' special treasures.
11. Teldec: Founded in 1929 as a joint venture between Telefunken and Decca, it has now been incorporated into the Warner Group. Its database contains recordings of some previous masters, such as conductor Mengelberg, Old Kleiber, violinist Kulenkampf, etc. Today's famous players such as Maazel, Masur, Meta, Claymore, Barenboim, Fontenay Trio, Borodin Quartet, etc. have all produced records for it. Its most outstanding performer is undoubtedly the violin rookie Vengerov. This young performer was named "Newcomer of the Year" by Gramophone magazine in 1994 and attracted much attention in the music world. Since then, several CDs he has released have been well received, establishing his status as one of the best young violinists today. In addition, new piano players Berezovsky and Helen Huang (Chinese) are also attracting attention from the music industry.
12. Telarc: This record company, famous for publishing "fever films", was founded in 1980. At first, it mainly published recordings of American symphony orchestras, such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, etc. Since the mid-1980s, Telarc has entered the European music circle and has made outstanding achievements. It is recognized as the most successful record brand in the United States. As early as when the fever craze just started, its "1812 Overture" recorded with a real cannon shocked many audiophiles in China. "Electronic Beethoven", "Electronic Bach", "Western Cowboy", "Grand Canyon", " "Spy Music" and so on have attracted bursts of applause, making Telarc synonymous with "fever movies". Although many of its records are heavy on sound effects and light on art, its huge commercial success is unmatched. At the same time, some of its true artistic masterpieces (such as choral works conducted by Robert Shaw, The collection of Brahms symphonies conducted by Mackerrath, etc.) are also being recognized by more and more serious music fans.
13. Delos: The American Delos record company with a history of 25 years is also an outstanding member of the small record companies and is well-known in the audiophile world for its excellent sound quality recordings. By chief recording engineer John. The unique VR2 recording technology developed by Johnzargle is its trump card and attracts a large number of audiophiles. The many elite performers gathered under its banner have also greatly increased its strength. An example of this is the Voices of the Ascension of Christ choir, led by Dennis Keene. In the music world, people have high hopes for this striking young choral conductor. Female pianists Carol Rosenberger, Davidovich, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, conductors Litton, Schwartz, etc. are also popular stars in today's classical music world. The Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, etc., which have high standards, also often produce records for Delos. In terms of chamber music, the Shanghai Quartet, led by Chinese violinist Hu Naiyuan, is also a Delos artist. The Chamber Orchestra of Lincoln Center is even more extraordinary. Their recording of Bach's "Brandenberg Concerto" has won high praise. In addition to world-class record production, Delos is also committed to organizing historical vocal recordings from the past and has formed a Stanford archive series. These historical recordings come from the archives of Stanford University and include rare recordings by mezzo-soprano Schumann-Heink, soprano Farrar and others.
14. harmoania mundi: France's largest independent classical music record company, founded in 1958, employs more than 250 people. The repertoire covers various historical periods of classical music, from medieval and Renaissance songs to modern music, including works by many unpopular composers and religious music that plays a considerable role. There are no historical recordings, all recordings are new. The Melos Quartet and male singer Shore are some of the more famous musicians under his name. It also has a series called "New Performers", which contains recordings by many emerging players in the music industry, including many eye-catching masterpieces, such as the young female violinist Isabelle Faust, who won the "Gramophone" award. CD "Bartók Violin Sonatas".
15. NAXOS: The record brand of HNH International Co., Ltd., established in 1987. This ten-year-old record label has been recognized as the fastest-growing rising star in the past decade. In 1997, NAXOS defeated many well-known big-name record companies at the International Audiovisual Fair (MIDEM) in Cannes, France, and was awarded the title of "Best Label" at the Cannes Classical Awards. . It has produced more than 2,000 records, and its repertoire covers all standard repertoire of classical music. Most of the performers are outstanding newcomers, there are also a few well-known performers and music groups who have become famous, and there are many who were originally unknown. Well-known performers have gradually become famous under the promotion of NAXOS, such as pianist Jando, cellist Kligel, violinist Karel, conductor Drahos, etc. NAxOS insists on providing high-quality music enjoyment at a low price (40 yuan), posing a serious threat to large companies. Big-name companies had to compete with it by launching cheap series of CDs. The ultimate beneficiary is of course the consumer! Many music fans were skeptical of Naxos' sound quality. In fact, from the late 1980s to the present, its recording quality has improved year by year, with continuous high-quality products, and has stabilized at a relatively high level, as evidenced by nearly 200 "three-star" CDs. In 1997, Paul Myers, the famous former Decca producer, moved to Naxos, taking Naxos' recording standards to a higher level.
16. BIS: Founded in Sweden in 1973, it is the most important record brand in Northern Europe. It mainly publishes music from Nordic countries, and the performers are all Nordic. Among its records, there are many works that are treasures recorded for the first time in the world.
17. GZ: This is the brand abbreviation of the Czech record factory. It is another influential brand after the Czech record brand Supraphon. It mainly features works by Czech composers Dvo?ák, Smetana, Janacek, Martinu, Suker and others, and the performers are mostly Czech newcomers.
Although these Czech performers are not well known to the world due to lack of information, there are many talents of high standards among them. In terms of sound quality, it is certainly not as good as many famous brands, but if you want to listen to authentic Czech music, this is a cheap and good choice.
Supraphon, the largest record brand in the Czech Republic, is represented by a Taiwanese company and also appears in the Chinese market. The recordings of violinist Suker, late conductor Newman, Kubelik, etc. are its trump card. When it comes to listening to Czech music, Supraphon is still the brand of choice.