It is said that there are as many as 4 record brands in the world. Of course, influential brands are only a part of it, and only a small part of them enter the Chinese market. At present, there are no more than twenty or thirty classical music record brands on the market. It should be noted that different record brands have great differences in tracks, performers, key points and recording styles. For music fans, if they have no understanding of these record brands, they will inevitably fall into blindness when purchasing CDs, and it is easy to take detours. In order to make fans choose classical music CDs with a clear aim, the common classical music record brands on the market are briefly introduced as follows.
(1) EMI
EMI Classics: The British phonograph company and British Columbia Records Company were founded by Berliner, the originator of the record industry. In 1931, in order to survive in the Great Depression, these two rival companies merged into one, and some small record companies were annexed to form the largest record publishing group EMI at that time.
The brand used by British phonograph company, the predecessor of EMI, is HMV, while the trademark of British Columbia company is Columbia, which are still used separately after being merged into EMI. In postwar Japan and the United States, EMI always used the trademark Angel, and it was not until the 199s that it was unified as EMI Classics. Due to the oldest qualification, EMI has the largest historical recording database. Here, the most outstanding performers of all periods have left recordings. Violinists Chrysler, Adolf Bush, Jacques Thibaud, Hafez, milstein, Sigheti, Mei Niuyin, Jeanette Neve, oistrakh, Paalmann, cellist casals, Fei Erman, Dupree, Totrier, conductor Votevingler, Klemperer, Karajan, Cheribidakai, Beechum, Giulini, Muti and Tensted. Edwin Fisher, Gisekin, Solomon, Kovacevich, singers caruso, Geely, Shariapin, Karas, Bjorin, Schwarzkopf, Kanava and so on. In recent years, new people have emerged in an endless stream. Korean violinist Sarah Chang, cellist Hannah Zhang, conductor Simon Rattle, and Wilshere-Most ... The incomparable glory of the past has been perfectly continued with the efforts of a new generation of musicians.
When sorting out and republishing old records, the digital processing technology used by EMI is very mature, and the advanced CEDAR program can reduce the noise in old recordings without damaging the sound quality. Toshiba's 288 technology is also a new technology developed in recent years. It uses 2-bit analytical power and a sampling frequency of 88.2 kHz to process the master tape, which improves the timbre and dynamics of the old recording. ART (meaning "Abbey Road Studio Technology") is a common logo on the recently reprinted old recording CD, which tells us that the recording on this CD has been carefully handled by the engineers of Abbey Road Studio. At present, EMI's "Great Recording Series of the Century" is the highlight at the end of the century. The tracks and versions have been carefully selected, and the masters are gathered together, which is of great collection value.
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(2) Sony/CBS
Sony/CBS:CBS's predecessor was Columbia Phonograph Company, which was founded in the late last century. In the early days of the recording industry, Columbia phonograph company once shared the American market equally with Victor Talker Company, the predecessor of RCA Victory Company, and was called the two giants. In 1924, Columbia phonograph company and American recording company merged to form Columbia Records Company. In 1927, it bought the radio network of the United Independent Broadcasting Corporation and formed CBS. Because of its long history, there are many classic recordings in its database. Piano master Horowitz, Selking, Casad Sue, Entremont, cellist casals, Ross, violinist Stern, Francesca, conductor Walter, Bernstein, Searle, Ormandi, abbado, Budapest Quartet, Giulia Quartet and other world-renowned musicians and music groups have recorded a large number of classic records for it. The record of composer Stravinsky conducting his own works recorded in the 196s is also a treasure of CBS. In the 198s, Sony Group changed its brand to SonyClassical after it bought the record company of CBS. A few years ago, Sony/CBS records used to be synonymous with cheap and good quality due to low-price dumping. Unfortunately, in recent years, prices have been rising continuously, and there is no advantage at present. Recently, its masterpieces have emerged in an endless stream, and the records of Chinese cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Prahia, Bronfman and violinist Rakhlin have been well received. It is also an early record company that adopted 2-bit recording, and has always maintained a high and stable level in sound quality.
(3) DG
DG: the brand of German phonograph company. In 1898, the company was founded by Berliner, the founder of the recording industry, and was controlled by the British phonograph company. In 1917, it broke away from the British phonograph company and used the trademark Polydor. Thanks to the participation of a group of masters such as karajan and Bohm, it rose rapidly from the 195s and established an authoritative position in the classical music field. Conductors Futvingler, Bernstein, Mlavinsky, abbado, Jochum, Freyjoy, Brez, Sinopoli, Gardner, violinist oistrakh, milstein, Cremeaux, Mutt, Paalmann, Gil Shaham, pianist Horowitz (late recording), Kempf, Gorda, Anda, Michelangeli, Agrich, Polini, Zimmer. Last year, in order to commemorate the company's centenary, DG released a set of macro-masterpiece "DG Centennial Special Album", with 7 boxes of 63 CDs, which collected important recordings from various periods since DG was founded. This year, the 6-CD "Chelyabdak Album" is a set of records that DG focuses on. Archiv is also a brand of DG, which was founded in 1947, focusing on ancient music in the Middle Ages and Baroque period. From 1974 to 1975, it released a large-scale Bach album, with 99 dense records. Now, its famous artists include Gardner's English Baroque Music Solo, Revolution and Romance Orchestra and so on. In the past, many people criticized DG for its uneven recording quality and harsh timbre, which did not please China people. In recent years, DG insisted on using its 4D proprietary technology in the recording of new records, and achieved good results. Now, its CD sound quality has stabilized at a very high standard.
(4) Philips
Philips):195 founded in the Netherlands in 195. In 1962, it established a joint venture with DG, and quickly grew into a world-class record company. In 1972, Philip and DG merged into the Polaroid Group, which became a giant in the recording industry. Its artists are mostly European elites, such as violinist Grumio, Schelling, arcado, Mulova, pianist Haskell, Arau, Licht, brendel, Cocis, Mitsuko Uchida, cellist Jean Delong, Schiff, julian webber, singer carreras, jesse norman, conductor Searle, Haidingke, Machur, Seiji Ozawa, Bruggen, Arlene Davis, etc. The Chinese Symphony Orchestra has also recorded four CDs for it under the command of Chen Zuohuang.
Philip's overall recording quality is extremely high, and his taste is excellent. No matter analog or digital, he rarely fails. Especially for its chamber music records, few people can match the excellent sound quality and balance. In recent years, Philips Japan has produced a batch of CDs with 24-bit cutting-edge technology, which has excellent sound effects and is very popular among enthusiasts. I wonder if this technology will be widely used by Philips. Philip also has two sets of historical recording series, one is called LegendaryClassics, which is processed by computer noise reduction technology. Unfortunately, this technology will slightly damage the sound quality and make the sound dry, which is not as good as EMI CEDAR technology. The other set is TheEarlyYears, both of which are recordings of famous performers in the 195s and 196s.
(5) Mercury
Mercury):1945 Founded in Chicago in 1945, it entered the classical music market two years later. With the efforts of producer Kozat and sound engineer Fine, this brand has developed rapidly. Fine's bold use of three-microphone stereo recording (using a special Ampex three-track recorder and 35 mm film) has achieved amazing results and a huge dynamic range, which is known as the album of the time. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, eastman Philharmonic Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra all made records for Mercury. Cellist Stark also left many classic recordings on Mercury's catalogue. In 1961, Mercury was acquired by Philip. Since 199s, Philip has been republishing the recordings of Mercury in those years as "LivingPrsence" series into CDs, which are widely welcomed by fans and enthusiasts.
(6) Decca
decca: the brand of decca record company established in Britain in 1929. In 194, it developed the most advanced full-band recording at that time, referred to as FFRR. This technology was originally developed at the request of the Admiralty to distinguish the difference between British submarines and German submarines. In 1944, Decca applied this technology to records, which made great progress in sound quality. Since then, Decca's recording quality has always been in the leading position. It is especially good at recording big scenes (such as opera). sound stage is vast, with a strong sense of space and fluent timbre, which makes others far behind. Although its lineup of artists is not as strong as DG and Philip, it is not weak: conductors Sorti, karajan, Ansermet, Monte, Keltez, Meta, Dutois, violinist Zheng Jinghe, Ritchie, Amoa, pianist Backhaus, Ke Zeng, Askin Nachi, Bolet, Rup, Schiff, singer Demonako, Pavarotti, Sutherland and Taba. London and L'oiseau-Lyre are also trademarks of the company. The latter is dedicated to the recording of "primitivism", that is, to express the original appearance of the work with retro playing techniques on ancient musical instruments. Hogwood is the most active conductor of Qinbird. With the acquisition of Polaroid Group by Universal Group, Decca, DG and Philips, three European classical music brands, have now been included in Universal Record Group
(7) RCAVictor
RCAVictor: one of the record industry veterans, whose predecessor was the phonograph company founded by Berliner, the inventor of records. Numerous masters have made recordings for it, including singers caruso, Bjorin, Flagstad, violinist Kheifits, Chrysler, ellman, zuckerman, pianist Rachmaninov, Padlevski, Rubinstein, Horowitz, capel, conductor Toscanini, Kusevitsky, Stokovsky, Mingxi, Lena and GunterWand. In recent years, it has not only reprinted many old recordings in the database as CDs with "Gold Seal" and "Silver Seal" series, but also pushed a batch of new stars to the music scene with "Red Seal", which attracted the attention of music fans, such as American conductor Slatter King, Canadian cellist Hanoy and young pianist Kisin.
(8) Hyperion
Hyperion: the name of a giant in Greek mythology. Hyperion, a British record brand founded in 198, is the pride of the British record industry. Its scale is very small, with only 12 people at present, but after years of development, its influence in the classical music industry is no less than that of those record giants, and it is known as "the brightest record brand in Britain". Hyperion has a wide range of recorded tracks, although it focuses on English music and early music, but it is not limited to this. From the early music in the 12th century to the avant-garde in this century, from chorus to solo, from indoor to big band performance, it covers everything. Hyperion's achievements in developing new tracks are even more remarkable, and it is ahead of many big companies. In January, 1996, Hyperion achieved a remarkable achievement: it beat many competitors at the Cannes International Audio-visual Expo (MIDEM) in France and won the "Best Brand of the Year" award. This marks the recognition of Hyperion by the whole record industry. Now, Hyperion's catalogue contains more than 1 kinds of records, and nearly 8 new films are released every year, showing great vitality. In 1994, Hyperion sold 9, copies, accounting for 3 9% of the British classical record market. Among thousands of Hyperion records, the most historic ones are the Complete Works of Liszt Piano by pianist Leslie Howard (49 CDs) and the Collection of Schubert Art Songs by piano accompaniment Gram Johnson (***31 CDs). These two sets of records are recognized as milestones in the history of recording. A set of "Romantic Piano Concerto Collection" recorded since 1991 (including works by Padlevski, Moskovski, Sol, Shawnka, Methner, etc.) has also been widely praised. Hyperion's best-selling CD is "Feather in God's Breath" performed by "Gothic Voice Choir", which won numerous awards and sold as many as 25, copies. Like most independent record brands, Hyperion records are expensive to maintain quality. Faced with the competition from cheap brands such as "Nassos", in 1996, it followed the practice of Philins, DG and Decca, and launched a set of cheap two-piece series called dyad, which only sold for the price of a genuine CD. The packaging was exquisite and particularly eye-catching.
(9) Chandos
Chandos: a small British record company established in 1979, dedicated to promoting and publishing the works of British composers. In the 198s, this brand developed rapidly and won wide acclaim with excellent digital recording, fresh tracks and high-level interpretation. Rozhestvensky, Hicox, neeme jarvi, Borodin Trio and many other outstanding musicians have recorded for it. This brand has recently appeared in the domestic market. Although it is expensive, its overall recording quality is excellent, and its timbre is clear, transparent and unique. It is the first choice for fans who have a preference for English music.
(X) Nimbus
Nimbus: British influence