Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label. It is also the oldest surviving established record company.^[1]

History[link]

Record of Emile Berliner's Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft.

Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft was founded in 1898 by German-born United States citizen Emile Berliner as the German branch of his Berliner Gramophone Company. Based in the city of Hannover (the founder's birthplace), the company had links with the U.S. Victor Talking Machine Company and the British Gramophone Company, but those links were severed at the onset of World War I.

In 1941 Deutsche Grammophon was purchased by the Siemens & Halske electronics company.

In 1949, Deutsche Grammophon sold the German rights of the His Master's Voice trademark to the Electrola Records unit of EMI.^[2] The dog and gramophone were replaced by the crown of tulips, designed by Siemens advertising consultant Hans Domizlaff.

In 1962 Siemens formed a joint venture with Netherlands-based Philips to create the DGG/PPI Record Group, which became PolyGram Records in 1972. By this time, DGG had built a solid reputation for high-quality recording in the classical field as well as a very notable roster of contracted singers, musicians, and conductors. Through its subsidiary label Archiv Produktion it also stimulated interest in Western medieval and renaissance music, 15th–16th century choral polyphony, Gregorian chant, and pioneering use of historical instruments and performance practices in recordings.

Deutsche Grammophon was the owner of the Beatles' first record label, Polydor Records. Sting's last 3 albums have been released via Deutsche Grammophon.

Deutsche Grammophon pioneered the introduction of the compact disc to the mass market, debuting classical music performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic for sale in the new medium in 1983, the first recording being Richard Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie.

DGG/Polydor's entrance into the US market in 1969 (DGG had distribution deals in the US with Decca Records and MGM Records beforehand) came at a time when the big US classical labels—Columbia (Masterworks) and RCA (Red Seal and Victor) were dropping their unlucrative classical artists and making poor-quality pressings. The fine quality both of recording and of pressings helped DGG especially succeed and attract Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra to DGG/Polydor. In 1987 Siemens sold off its interest in PolyGram, and Philips became the majority shareholder. In 1998, the Seagram Company Ltd. of Canada purchased Deutsche Grammophon and PolyGram. Since then, Deutsche Grammophon was merged into Universal Music Group, a division of Vivendi.

Deutsche Grammophon has a huge back catalogue of notable recordings. The company is reissuing a portion of it in its Originals series; compact disc releases are noted for their vinyl record stylized design. It is also releasing some of American Decca Records' albums from the 1940s and 1950s, such as those that Leonard Bernstein made for Decca in 1953, and the classic Christmas album that features Ronald Colman's starring in A Christmas Carol and Charles Laughton's narrating Mr. Pickwick's Christmas. Along with the American Decca Records classical music catalogue, Deutsche Grammophon also manages the classical music catalogue of ABC Records, including Westminster Records which, along with American Decca, were part of MCA Records.

Although Deutsche Grammophon acquired the reputation of releasing mainstream classical recordings, from the 1960s onwards it released an increasing number of avant-garde recordings (initially under the Avant-Garde imprint), including Bruno Maderna, David Bedford, Cornelius Cardew, Luigi Nono and improvisations. It also released the majority of the compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen until the composer bought the rights to the recordings and re-released them on his own label. Other German composers associated with the label included Paul Hindemith and Hans Werner Henze.

Contemporary composers whose works were released by Deutsche Grammophon include Sofia Gubaidulina, Oliver Knussen, Mark Anthony Turnage, Peter Eötvös, Luigi Nono, and Philip Glass. In 2011, Tori Amos signed to the label.

The conductor most associated with the label is Herbert von Karajan. Other conductors under contract included Karl Böhm, Eugen Jochum, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Claudio Abbado, and Christian Thielemann. A more recent signing was Gustavo Dudamel.

References[link]

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (January 2010)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Deutsche Grammophon

• Official site

Coordinates: 52°29′52″N 13°27′43″E / 52.49785°N 13.4619°E / 52.49785; 13.4619

Anoushka Shankar
Anoushka Shankar at the Global Rhythm 15th Anniversary Party in 2007
Background information
Born	(1981-06-09) 9 June 1981 (age 31) London, United Kingdom
Genres	Indian classical, crossover
Occupations	Sitarist, composer
Instruments	Sitar
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Angel Records (1998–2007), Deutsche Grammophon (2010–present)
Website	AnoushkaShankar.com

Anoushka Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British Indian sitar player and composer who lives between the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. She is the daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Shankar. She is the paternal half-sister of Norah Jones.^[1]

Personal life and education[link]

Shankar was born in London and divided her childhood between London and Delhi. As a teenager, she lived in Encinitas, California and attended San Dieguito Academy. A 1999 Honors graduate, Shankar decided to pursue a career in music rather than attend college.^[1]

Anoushka married British director Joe Wright.^[2] Their first child, Zubin Shankar Wright, was born on 22 February 2011.^[3]

Career[link]

Anoushka and Ravi Shankar in concert, 2005

Shankar began training on the sitar with her father as a child, and gave her first public performance at the age of thirteen at Siri Fort in New Delhi. By the age of fourteen, she was accompanying her father at concerts around the world, and signed her first record contract, with Angel Records (EMI) at 16.

Though success came at an early age for Shankar, she was still uncertain if music was the career she wanted to fully pursue. "The question was continually back and forth in my mind," she admits. "After I graduated from high school, I made a decision not to go to college and start touring full-time. Even at that time, I thought maybe I’d do it for a year and see what happens. During that year, it became so clear to me that that was my life and who I was– a touring musician."^[4]

She released her first album, Anoushka, in 1998, followed by Anourag in 2000. Both Shankar and Norah Jones were nominated for Grammy awards in 2003 when Anoushka became the youngest-ever and first woman nominee in the World Music category for her third-album, Live at Carnegie Hall.

2005 brought the release of Anoushka’s fourth album RISE, earning her another Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary World Music category. In February 2006 she became the first Indian to play at the Grammy Awards.

Shankar, in collaboration with Karsh Kale, released Breathing Under Water on 28 August 2007. It is a mix of classical sitar and electronica beats and melodies. Notable guest vocals include Norah Jones, Sting, and Ravi Shankar who performs a sitar duet with his daughter.

Anoushka has made many guest appearances on recordings by other artists, among them Sting, Lenny Kravitz and Thievery Corporation. Duetting with violinist Joshua Bell, in a sitar-cello duet with Mstislav Rostropovich, and with flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal, playing both sitar and piano. Most recently Anoushka has collaborated with Herbie Hancock on his latest record The Imagine Project.

Anoushka has given soloist performances of her father's 1st Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra worldwide. In January 2009 she was the sitar soloist alongside the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for the series of concerts premièring her father’s 3rd Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra, and in July 2010 she premiered Ravi Shankar's first Symphony for Sitar and Orchestra with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at London's Barbican Hall.

Anoushka has also ventured into acting (Dance Like a Man, (2004)) and writing. She wrote a biography of her father, Bapi: The Love of My Life, in 2002 and has contributed chapters to various books. As a columnist she wrote monthly columns for India's First City Magazine for three years, and spent one year as a weekly columnist for India's largest newspaper, the Hindustan Times.

Anoushka recorded her next album in Madrid, Spain. Released in autumn 2011 "Traveller" is an exploration of the commonalities and differences between classical Indian music and Spanish flamenco, and features the talents of Shubha Mudgal, Tanmoy Bose, Pepe Habichuela, Sandra Carrasco and Duquende among others.^[5]

Benefit concerts[link]

On 29 November 2002, Anoushka Shankar was the opening act at the Concert for George, a posthumous tribute to the life and music of George Harrison, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. She was the principal performer in the entire first set or "Indian portion" of the concert. She opened the show by playing a solo sitar instrumental titled "Your Eyes". Also on the sitar, she performed George Harrison's "The Inner Light" with Jeff Lynne (vocals and guitar). Lastly, she conducted a new composition, Arpan, written by her father. The composition featured Eric Clapton playing acoustic guitar. The concert was modelled after Ravi Shankar's benefit concert with Harrison, the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh.

Anoushka Shankar was invited by Richard Gere and Philip Glass to perform in a concert at the Avery Fisher Hall in 2003 in aid of the Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation. Shankar and Jethro Tull postponed a concert scheduled for 29 November 2008 in Mumbai after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. They reorganised the performance as A Billion Hands Concert, a benefit performance for victims of the attacks, and held it on 5 December 2008. Shankar commented on this decision stating that: "As a musician, this is how I speak, how I express the anger within me [...] our entire tour has been changed by these events and even though the structure of the concert may remain the same, emotionally perhaps we are saying a lot more."^[6]

Awards[link]

• British House of Commons Shield, 1998^[7]
• Voted Homecoming San Dieguito High School, Class of 1999
• Woman of the Year (shared with Kareena Kapoor, Ritu Beri, and Rhea Pillai) awarded on International Women's Day 2003^[1]
• Named as one of 20 Asian Heroes by the Asia edition of Time in 2004
• Nominated for a Grammy award in 2003 in the World Music category for her third-album, Live at Carnegie Hall. She was the youngest-ever and first woman nominee in this category.
• In 2005 she was nominated for another Grammy, in the Best Contemporary World Music category for her fourth album RISE.

Activism[link]

Shankar is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She and her father appeared in a thirty-second public-service announcement against animal suffering.^[8] Anoushka is also the spokesperson for the United Nations World Food Programme in India.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Anoushka (1998)
• Anourag (2000)
• Live at Carnegie Hall (2001)
• Rise (2005)
• Rise Remixes (2006)
• Breathing Under Water (2007)
• Traveller (2011)

Live and compilations[link]

• Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 (2000)
• Concert for George (2003)
• Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation (2007)
• Live in Concert at the Nehru Park, New Delhi (2005)

Features[link]

• Variant Moods – Duet For Sitar & Violin (Abridged Version) Written by Ravi Shankar, At Home With Friends by Joshua Bell 2009
• Charu Keshi Rain – Co-written by Nitin Sawhney and Anoushka Shankar, London Undersound 2008
• Mandala – Featuring Anoushka Shankar on sitar. Co-written by Hilton Garza, Radio Retaliation
• Beloved – by Anoushka Shankar remixed by Thievery Corporation – Versions 2006
• Rebirth – Co-written by Gaurav Raina, Tapan Raj and Anoushka Shankar. MIDIval Times 2005
• Sacred Love – by Sting 2003
• 8 classical ragas performed on ShankaRagamala composed by Ravi Shankar 2005
• Chants Of India – Ravi Shankar; George Harrison, featuring Anoushka as Conductor & Assistant 1997
• Adarini – In Celebration composed by Ravi Shankar 1995

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anoushka Shankar

• Official site
• Anoushka Shankar at the Internet Movie Database
• The show must go on – Video interview about A Billion Hands Concert
• Anoushka Shankar: Different Worlds, One Musical Language – Video interview about performing Ravi Shankar's Concerto No. 3 for Sitar and Orchestra.
• Anoushka Shankar Live : Gypsy Music From India to Spain on Medici.tv

Anna Netrebko
Anna Netrebko, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Anna Yuryevna Netrebko
Born	(1971-09-18) 18 September 1971 (age 40) Krasnodar, Soviet Union (now Krasnodar, Russia)
Origin	Russian
Genres	Opera
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1993–present
Website	annanetrebko.com

Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (Russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко, born 18 September 1971) is a Russian operatic soprano. She now holds dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently resides in Vienna. She has been nicknamed "La Bellissima" by fans.

Biography[link]

Netrebko was born in Krasnodar (Russia), in a family of Kuban Cossack background.^[1] While a student at the Saint Petersburg conservatoire, Netrebko worked as a janitor at Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre.^[2] Later, she auditioned for the Mariinsky Theatre, where conductor Valery Gergiev recognized her from her prior work in the theater. He subsequently became her vocal mentor.^[3] Under Gergiev's guidance, Netrebko made her operatic stage debut at the Mariinsky at age 22, as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. She went on to sing many prominent roles with the Kirov Opera, including Amina in La sonnambula, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor.

In 1994, she sang the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with the Riga Independent Opera Avangarda Akadēmija under conductor David Milnes.

In March 2006, Netrebko applied to become an Austrian citizen, receiving her citizenship in late July.^[4] According to an interview in the Austrian weekly news, she will live in Vienna and Salzburg. Netrebko cites the cumbersome and humiliating process of obtaining visas (as a Russian citizen) for her many performances abroad as the main reason for obtaining Austrian citizenship.^[5]

In March 2007, Netrebko announced that she would be an ambassador for SOS Children's Village in Austria, and be a sponsor for the Tomilino village in Russia.^[6]

In April 2008, Netrebko announced that she and her fiancé, Uruguayan baritone Erwin Schrott, had married.^[7] Their son Tiago Aruã Schrott was born on 5 September 2008 in Vienna.^[8]

Netrebko at the Mariinsky Theatre after receiving the honorary title of People's Artist of Russia

Performances[link]

Anna Netrebko as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore

In 1995, at the age of 24, Netrebko made her American debut as Lyudmila in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila at the San Francisco Opera. Following this successful performance, she became a frequent guest singer in San Francisco. She is known as an acclaimed interpreter of other Russian operatic roles, such as Natasha in Prokofiev's War and Peace, Louisa in Betrothal in a Monastery and Marfa in The Tsar's Bride. Netrebko has also made successful forays into bel canto and romantic roles such as Gilda in Rigoletto, Mimi in La bohème, Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Elvira in I puritani.

In 2002, Netrebko made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Natasha in the Met premiere of War and Peace.^[9] In the same year, she sang her first Donna Anna at the Salzburg Festival's production of Don Giovanni, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She also performed at the Russian Children's Welfare Society's major fund raiser, the "Petroushka Ball". She returned to the Ball in 2003 and 2006 and is an honorary director of the charity.

In 2003, Netrebko performed as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata in Munich, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Los Angeles Opera, and Donna Anna at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Her second album, Sempre Libera, was released the following year. She later appeared as Violetta Valéry in La traviata at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Carlo Rizzi and in 2008 she performed the same role at Covent Garden to triumphant acclaim on the opening night, opposite Jonas Kaufmann and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in performances conducted by Maurizio Benini. However, she cancelled three subsequent performances due to suffering a bronchial condition. This was the second time she had cancelled her performances at the Royal Opera House, having withdrawn from some performances of Don Giovanni the previous summer due to illness.

On 30 May 2007, Netrebko made her Carnegie Hall debut with Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Originally scheduled for 2 March 2006, Netrebko postponed the recital because she did not feel artistically ready.^[10]

Netrebko appeared at the Last Night of the Proms on 8 September 2007 where she performed "Ah! Se una volta ... Ah! Non credea mirarti ... Ah! Non giunge" from La sonnambula, "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" (Giuditta) and the song "Morgen!" by Richard Strauss (with violinist Joshua Bell).^[11] In the fall of 2007 she reprised her role as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera. In December 2007, Netrebko performed for Martin Scorsese, a 2007 Honoree, at the Kennedy Center Honors, and in May 2008 she made a much-awaited debut at the Paris Opera in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, with Joyce DiDonato as her Romeo.

Netrebko was scheduled to sing Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor in October 2008 at the Metropolitan Opera, but due to her pregnancy she decided to drop out of the role.

In her first performance after her maternity leave, Netrebko sang Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor when it opened at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on 14 January 2009, in a production from the Scottish Opera led by John Doyle.^[12] She then sang the same role in January and February 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera. Netrebko appeared as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Royal Opera House in Spring 2009, and as Violetta in La traviata in June 2009 at the San Francisco Opera. On 13 November 2010 in a matinee performance broadcast nationally by PBS, she sang the role of Norina in Don Pasquale at New York's Metropolitan Opera House under conductor James Levine. On 2 April 2011, she sang the title role of Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena at the Vienna State Opera for a sold-out premiere there, and the repeat performance on 5 April 2011 was broadcast live to cinemas around the world. On 7 December 2011 she opened very successfully the new season at La Scala in Milan as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

In September 2011, it was announced that Netrebko will be performing at either or both of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, near her native Krasnodar.^[13]

Discography[link]

Complete opera recordings in DVD format[link]

Complete opera recordings in audio CD format[link]

Other albums in audio CD and DVD formats[link]

• Opera Arias
• Opera
• Duets (With Villazon)
• Sempre Libera
• Russian Album
• Souvenirs
• In the Still of Night
• The Mozart album
• La nozze di Figaro - Highlights
• Rossini: Stabat Mater
• Prima donna - First ladies of opera
• Puccini gold
• Puccini: La Boheme (Soundtrack Highlights)]
• Violeta: arias & duets from Verdi's La Traviata (CD/DVD)
• Stabat Mater - A Tribute to Pergolesi (CD/DVD)
• The Berlin Concert - Live from the Waldbühne DVD
• The opera gala - Live from Baden-Baden DVD
• Gala concert from St. Petersburg DVD
• The woman - The voice DVD
• A Mozart gala from Salzburg DVD

Recognitions and awards[link]

Time magazine placed her on its Time 100 list in 2007.^[14] She was identified by the journal Musical America as "a genuine superstar for the 21st century" and was named 'Musician of the Year' for 2008.^[15] She has also been described by Associated Press as "the reigning new diva of the 21st century".

She was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2004).^[16]

Playboy magazine placed her in their "sexiest babes of classical music" list.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anna Netrebko

• Official website
• Reviews, articles, photos and future schedules for Anna Netrebko from The Opera Critic
• Profile of Netrebko in the New York Times
• Anna Netrebko at the Internet Movie Database
• Anna Netrebko on YouTube
• Unofficial site of Anna Netrebko
• Unofficial Anna Netrebko Blog
• Anna Netrebko on Charlie Rose

v t e Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg Stock company Conductor and opera company director Valery Gergiev | 22 sopranos · Anna Netrebko | 13 mezzo-sopranos · Olga Borodina | 23 tenors | eight baritones | 14 basses Stages Main stage · Second stage · Concert Hall · Theatre Museum

Josh Groban
Josh Groban, February 6, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Joshua Winslow Groban
Born	(1981-02-27) February 27, 1981 (age 31) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Easy listening, vocal, operatic pop, pop rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, drums, percussion
Years active	1997–present
Labels	143, Reprise
Associated acts	Tenacious D
Website	joshgroban.com

Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country.^[1][2] To date, he has sold over 24 million albums worldwide,^[3] and is the top selling classical artist of the 2000s in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[4]

Groban originally studied acting, but as his voice changed, it developed into a "significant instrument". Groban attended the Los Angeles High School for the Arts, a free public school where students received a conservatory-style education. His life changed when his vocal coach, Seth Riggs, submitted a tape of Josh singing "All I Ask of You", from The Phantom of the Opera, to Riggs' friend, producer, composer and arranger David Foster.^[5][6] Foster called him to stand in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli to rehearse a duet, "The Prayer," with Celine Dion at the rehearsal for the Grammy Awards in 1998.^[7] Rosie O'Donnell immediately invited him to appear on her talk show.^[8] Foster asked him to sing at the California Governor's Gray Davis' 1999 inauguration.^[5][9] He was cast on Ally McBeal by the show's creator, David E. Kelley, performing "You're Still You" for the 2001 season finale.^[10]

Early life and education[link]

Groban was born in Los Angeles, to Lindy (née Johnston), a school teacher and full time mother, and Jack Groban, a businessman.^[11][12] He has a younger brother, Chris, who shares the same birthday, four years later.^[13] Groban's father was born Jewish, and is a descendant of Russian and Polish immigrants;^[14] he converted from Judaism to Christianity when marrying Groban's mother.^[13] Groban's mother's ancestry includes Norwegian (from Toten), German, and English; one of her own grandfathers had been Jewish.^[15][16][17] Groban's parents practiced in the Episcopal Church.^[8]

Groban debuted as a singer in the fifth grade. His music teacher chose him to sing a solo of "S'wonderful" at the school's Cabaret Night, where he sang alone on stage for the first time. At this time, he was more focused on theatrical arts.^[8] In the summers of 1997 and 1998, he also attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Michigan,^[14] majoring in music theatre, and began taking vocal lessons. Groban went on to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a theatre major and graduated in 1999.^[14] He was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University, intending to study drama, but he left four months into his first semester. Offered a recording contract, he decided to pursue his singing career.^[14]

Music career[link]

1998–2001: debut[link]

In late 1998, the 17-year-old Groban was introduced by his vocal coach to Grammy-winning producer/arranger David Foster and future manager Brian Avnet.^[18] At the time Groban had no recording experience and was preparing to begin studying at Carnegie Mellon University.^[18] Groban worked for David Foster as a rehearsal singer on a series of high-profile events, including the January 1999 inauguration of Gray Davis as Governor of California and the 1999 Grammy Awards where—as a stand-in for Andrea Bocelli—he rehearsed Foster's "The Prayer" with Céline Dion. According to manager Avnet, Groban was very nervous about standing in for Bocelli and had to be talked into it, but his performance prompted the show hostess, Rosie O'Donnell, to ask him to appear on her show the following week, which then led to an appearance on the Ally McBeal show.^[18] David E. Kelley, creator of the television series Ally McBeal, created a character, Malcolm Wyatt, for Groban in the season finale aired in May 2001. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular, prompting 8,000 emails from viewers,^[19] that Groban was asked to return the next season to reprise his role and perform "To Where You Are." Avnet claims this sequence of events effectively got Groban's career off the ground.^[18]