Press Release - Chandos Records

Chandos Records celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in 2009 by releasing ‘Milestones’, a limited edition collection of 30 CDs
 
Founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens, Chandos Records quickly established itself as one of the world’s leading classical labels. To celebrate its thirty years in the classical recording world, Chandos is releasing a thirty-disc set of highlights, ‘Milestones’, in a limited edition collector’s box.
 
The box includes the Gramophone Award winning recordings of Vaughan Williams’s London Symphony (LSO, Hickox), Piano Concertos (Hough, ECO, Thomson) and Masses (CM 90, Hickox) by Hummel, Shostakovich’s Violin Concertos (Lydia Mordkovitch, SNO, Järvi), Bax’s Fourth Symphony (LPO, Thomson) and Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony (SNO, Järvi), among many others. There are also The King’s Singers’ debut album, Walton’s music for the film Henry V, Symphonies by Vanhal (from the Contemporaries of Mozart series, LMP, Bamert), highlights from Der Rosenkavalier (from the Opera in English label) and the Grammy award winning Passion Week by Grechaninov (Phoenix Chorale, Charles Bruffy). A full list is given below.
 
Each disc will be packaged in a wallet featuring the original artwork. Included in each set will be a new Chandos catalogue, which will also be available separately – from 1 January 2009 –  with a recording of either Dvořák’s Mass and Te Deum (Russian State Symphonic Cappella and Symphony Orchestra, Polyansky) or Respighi’s The Birds, Trittico Botticelliano and Il tramonto etc. (Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Tamás Vasary), for the price of £5.99.
 
A special Chandos Thirtieth Anniversary web page will also be set up and running on 1 January 2009, which will include rare archive photographs, podcasts, the company history, and details of the ‘Milestones’ box set.
 
Brian Couzens, the founder of Chandos Records, said:
 
‘ Looking back on the last thirty years, I remember the hard work particularly in the early days when Ralph and I used to do everything. I have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful artists, and I think we made a few good recordings. My philosophy has always been to produce beautiful recordings that people wanted to hear. I have seen the progression from LP and cassette through CD and DAT to digital downloads, although it’s a very different world now to when I started making records. I am proud of Chandos and what we have achieved during thirty years: the awards, the reviews, the sales, but most of all the recordings themselves. I hope Ralph will keep the flame alight for many years to come.’
 
Chandos’ managing director, Ralph Couzens, said:

‘When you start at the bottom as I did, you learn a lot about the industry and the way it ticks. I spent eight years carrying and fetching, operating tape machines, watching, and listening to artists and sound. From this the “Chandos sound” as it is sometimes called, started by my father, was formed. I think that even today, thirty years later, that sound has stood the test of time and is still very much respected. Of course, we need artists to produce this sound; all we do is capture it in the most natural way. And in the thirty years of the label’s existence, I have to say that we have been very lucky with the roster of artists we have cajoled into recording for us. I would like to thank all of them for their support over the years and for producing some stunning, award winning discs.
 
Things have changed a lot over thirty years: recording technology, media formats, and the way people get their music. It is sad that so many classical retail outlets have closed. But one thing I am pleased to say has not changed, is that there is still a classical buying public with an appetite for new repertoire and quality recordings. And whilst we still have them, I can promise that Chandos will continue to produce original fine recordings of, sometimes neglected, repertoire, but always with an eye on quality.
 
The flame is very much alight!’

‘Milestones’ is released 1 January 2009. The catalogue number is ANNI 0030(30).

The ‘Milestones’ set comprises the following recordings:
Albinoni: Oboe Concertos ~ Robson, CM 90, Standage          
Bax: Symphony No. 4, etc. ~ Ulster Orchestra, Thomson         
Boulanger: Choral works ~ BBC Philharmonic, Tortelier          
Chopin: Études ~ Louis Lortie
Delius: Sea Drift ~ Terfel, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Hickox 
Elgar: Violin Sonata, etc. ~ Nigel Kennedy, Peter Pettinger       
Grainger: The Grainger Edition, Vol. 1 ~ BBC Philharmonic, Hickox    
Grechaninov: Passion Week ~ Phoenix Bach Choir, Kansas City Chorale, Charles        Bruffy              
Handel: Chandos Anthems, Vol. 1 ~ The Sixteen, Christophers
Harty: An Irish Symphony, etc. ~ Ulster Orchestra, Thomson   
Holst: The Planets ~ Scottish National Orchestra, Gibson
Hummel: Piano Concertos ~ Stephen Hough, English Chamber Orchestra, Thomson
Hummel: Masses, Vol. 1 ~ CM 90, Hickox
Janáček: Glagolitic Mass, etc. ~ Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Mackerras
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6, etc. ~ Scottish National Orchestra, Järvi  
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas ~ Kirkby, Taverner Players, Parrott  
Rachmaninov: Trios élégiaques Nos 1 and 2  ~ Borodin Trio    
Respighi: Belkis, Queen of Sheba, etc. ~ Philharmonia Orchestra, Simon
Shostakovich: Violin Concertos ~ Mordkovitch, Scottish National Orchestra, Järvi
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1, etc. ~ Shostakovich Jr, I Musici de Montréal,      Shostakovich, Turovsky           
Stanford: Songs of the Sea, Songs of the Fleet, etc. ~ Finley, BBC National Chorus      and Orchestra of Wales, Hickox                       
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (highlights) ~ Kenny, Tomlinson, London Philharmonic         Orchestra, Parry
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 ~ Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Jansons
Vanhal: Symphonies ~ London Mozart Players, Bamert
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony, etc. ~ London Symphony Orchestra, Hickox            
Vaughan Williams: Film Music, Vol. 1 ~ BBC Philharmonic, Gamba     
Walton: Music for the film Henry V ~ Plummer, Academy of St Martin in the     Fields, Marriner           
The Complete Champions ~ Black Dyke Mills Band, Peter Parkes       
The King’s Singers: Debut Album ~ The King’s Singers           
Music from the novels of Louis de Bernières: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and the ‘Latin’ Trilogy ~ Craig Ogden, Alison Stephens         
 
Other Chandos 30th anniversary-related articles
Chandos Records 30th Anniversary by Rob Barnett
An interview with Brian and Ralph Couzens (Chandos) by Rob Barnett
Chandos Records - A Short History

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