September 30, 2008

By By Andre Paine, London

EMI Classics has extended its recording deal with the Berliner Philharmoniker. EMI has signed a new five-year contract with the orchestra, in addition to its relationshio with music director Sir Simon Rattle.

One of the first releases under the deal will be Ravel's ?L'enfant et les Sortileges?. It is being recorded live in concert at the Philharmonie Berlin this month for international release in March 2009.

"We are extremely pleased to be continuing our long and close relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker,? said EMI Classics A&R director Stephen Johns in a statement. ?It is their uncompromising commitment to the highest of standards in all aspects of their music-making that sets them out as perhaps the finest orchestra in the world.

?We look forward to sharing their vision of widening the reach of their
performances, and continuing to enhance their distinguished catalog of recordings with EMI Classics."

EMI has recorded the Berliner Philharmoniker for 95 years ? it had the first recording of a complete symphony, Beethoven's ?Symphony No. 5,? in 1913.

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