Good news for classical music lovers. I do have to say the complaint about iTunes certainly rings true.
Warner has doubtless been emboldened by the example of others who were
first to put a toe in the water. Smaller independent labels such as Chandos have
proved there is a market for classical music downloads, just as Radio 3 did when
it indulged in a brief Beethoven symphony bonanza - popular with punters, if not
with commercial record labels. iTunes has also done its bit, even if it
occasionally mistakes Bruckner for a pianist and Brendel for a composer.
As the large recording companies and high street retailers retreated from classical
music, individual orchestras, conductors, soloists and even concert venues have
launched their own record labels and websites. John Eliot Gardiner, ditched by
Deutsche Grammophon, responded by releasing his own recordings - recently
sending concert goers home with a CD of the first half of the programme. One
swallow doesn't make a summer, but there is enough here to dispel the gloom that
sometimes afflicts music lovers.
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