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89-641: The Philharmonia Chorus was founded in early 1957 by EMI as a choral counterpart to their in-house recording orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra , founded twelve years earlier. The Chorus’s first concert, a performance on 12 November 1957 of Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony , completed a cycle of Beethoven symphonies in London’s Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer and

178-1014: A Council of Management of twelve Directors elected by the members, a system of governance which remains in place today. The first concert of both New Philharmonia Orchestra and New Philharmonia Chorus took place on 27 October 1964, a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony again conducted by Klemperer. In succeeding years the Chorus performed and recorded works with further renowned conductors: Pierre Boulez , Lorin Maazel , George Szell , Daniel Barenboim and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (notable recordings of Mendelssohn ’s Elijah , Orff ’s Carmina Burana and Haydn 's Die Schöpfung ), Colin Davis (a memorable concert performance of Hector Berlioz 's Les Troyens ) and further collaborations with Walton, Benjamin Britten conducting his Spring Symphony , and

267-972: A German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's ) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet . Since 2004, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, like the Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( Berlin State Opera ), the Komische Oper Berlin , the Berlin State Ballet, and the Bühnenservice Berlin (Stage and Costume Design), has been

356-504: A Millennium Concert broadcast by BBC Television from Ely Cathedral . Other overseas tours took place to Strasbourg , to Baltimore (the Chorus's first visit to the US) and in 2000 the Chorus performed in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall for Pope John Paul II on his 80th birthday, the latter two tours with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Gilbert Levine . In autumn 2002 the Chorus joined

445-461: A chorus unique for its blend of the British choral tradition and German musical training and discipline, and for a dramatic quality found more typically in opera than in a symphony chorus. The full yet homogeneous and professionally disciplined sound immediately attracted critical notice. Under Legge’s management and Pitz’s training the Chorus worked with many of the most distinguished conductors of

534-399: A deal licensing EMI's catalogue in a digital format for their online streaming music service. This was the first time EMI had licensed any of its catalogue to a streaming music website. Pop star Robbie Williams signed a six-album deal in 2002 paying him over £80 million ($ 157 million), which was not only the biggest recording contract in British music history at the time, but also

623-1008: A former member of the Chorus, led to his appointment as President, which position he held until his death in 2017. The Chorus has continued to tour abroad, performing in Germany at the Rheingau Festival, and in Spain and France, with several appearances in Valencia with the Orquesta de Valencia conducted by Yaron Traub and in Lille with the Orchestre National de Lille including a cycle of Mahler Symphonies under Alexandre Bloch and Poulenc 's late work Sept répons des ténèbres . The Chorus's 60th Anniversary in November 2017

712-649: A landmark performance, later released on LP and then CD, of Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Giulini, with Britten himself conducting the chamber ensemble. During the 1960s the Chorus was considered by many critics to be the finest symphony chorus in the UK and perhaps also in Europe. On his retirement in 1971, Wilhelm Pitz was succeeded as Chorus Master by Walter Hagen-Groll (from the Deutsche Oper of West Berlin), in 1975 by Norbert Balatsch (chorus master of both

801-717: A loss of £260 million in 2006/2007, in August 2007 EMI was acquired by Terra Firma Capital Partners for £4.2 billion. Following the transition, several artists including Radiohead left EMI, while other artists such as Paul McCartney had left ahead of the takeover. At the same time, the Rolling Stones signed a one-album deal with Interscope Records / Universal Music Group outside its contract with EMI, which expired in February 2008, and then in July 2008 signed

890-562: A member of the Berlin Opera Foundation. The company's history goes back to the Deutsches Opernhaus built by the then independent city of Charlottenburg—the "richest town of Prussia " —according to plans designed by Heinrich Seeling from 1911. It opened on 7 November 1912 with a performance of Beethoven 's Fidelio , conducted by Ignatz Waghalter . In 1925, after the incorporation of Charlottenburg by

979-442: A new long-term deal with Universal Music Group . The Terra Firma takeover was also reported to have been the catalyst behind a lawsuit filed by Pink Floyd over unpaid royalties. In January 2011 Pink Floyd signed a new global agreement with EMI. Around the same time, Guy Hands , CEO of Terra Firma Capital Partners, came to EMI with restructuring plans to cut between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs and to reduce costs by £200 million

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1068-672: A performance in March 2019, captured on DVD, of Berlioz 's Grande Messe des morts with the Philharmonia Orchestra in St Paul's Cathedral under John Nelson to mark the sesquicentenary of the composer's death. The Chorus re-started in September 2021 following Covid-19 with a performance of Belshazzar's Feast with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under their Music Director Vasily Petrenko . Since then with

1157-477: A punitive harassment meant to scare other musicians. The band's troubles with the label resonate through their third studio album This Is War (2009) and were the subject of the 2012 documentary Artifact . In 2008, EMI withdrew from the South-East Asian market entirely, forcing its large roster of acts to search out contracts with other unaffiliated labels. As a result, the South-East Asian market

1246-553: A second appearance at La Scala in Bach ’s Mass in B minor under Giulini. A 1979 recording of Mozart ’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Giulini won the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. In the UK there were engagements with Riccardo Muti (including a 1979 recording of Carmina Burana which in 2021 was BBC Record Review's choice for best recording of the work), Sir Georg Solti , Lovro von Matačić , Giuseppe Sinopoli - appointed Principal Conductor of

1335-729: A semi-staged concert performance of Weber ’s Der Freischütz at the Edinburgh Festival the previous year, Sir Charles Mackerras agreed to become the Chorus’s first President, which post he held until his death in 2010. The 50th anniversary was celebrated in June 2007 with a performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti in the presence of the Patron HRH The Prince of Wales. In Autumn 2008 Edward Caswell became Artistic Director, training

1424-489: A year. As a result, the UK chief executive Tony Wadsworth left EMI after 25 years in January 2008. The cuts were planned to take effect over the year 2008, and would affect up to a third of EMI's 5,500 staff. Thirty Seconds to Mars tried to exit their contract with EMI following the layoff of its staff and due to unpaid royalties, prompting the label to file a lawsuit for $ 30 million citing breach of contract. The suit

1513-534: Is now operated exclusively throughout the world by Sony Music Entertainment; except in Japan where the trade mark is owned by Columbia Music Entertainment . EMI released its first LPs in 1952 and its first stereophonic recordings in 1955 (first on reel-to-reel tape and then LPs, beginning in 1958). In 1957, to replace the loss of its long-established licensing arrangements with RCA Victor and Columbia Records (Columbia USA cut its ties with EMI in 1951), EMI entered

1602-549: The BBC 's second television transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. It also manufactured broadcast television cameras for British television production companies as well as for the BBC. The commercial television ITV companies also used them alongside cameras made by Pye and Marconi . Their best-remembered piece of broadcast television equipment was the EMI 2001 colour television camera, which became

1691-904: The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra . In the same year was launched the Philharmonia Chorus Professional Singer Scheme, through which specially auditioned professional singers in the early years of their career join a pool, to be drawn on when required. This was followed in 2013 by the Student Singer Scheme to attract to the Chorus as members young singers with potential to progress to a professional career. The resultant choral make-up thus blends volunteer amateur singers with student and professional singers. The Chorus’s performing repertory continues to combine new or seldom heard works with choral staples. The Chorus gave

1780-551: The Choir of King's College, Cambridge . During the era of the long-playing record (LP), very few American and Canadian orchestras had their principal recording contracts with EMI, one notable exception being that of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra , especially during the tenure of William Steinberg . From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, the company enjoyed huge success in the popular music field under

1869-805: The EMI Laboratories in Hayes, Hillingdon developed radar equipment (including the receiver section of the British Army's GL-II anti-aircraft fire-control radar), microwave devices such as the reflex klystron oscillator (having played a crucial role in the development of early production types following on from the British Admiralty Signal School's pioneering NR89, the so-called "Sutton tube"), electro-optic devices such as infra-red image converters, and eventually guided missiles employing analogue computers. The company

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1958-541: The Edinburgh Festival , to Lucerne , and with Giulini to Parma where the audience in the Teatro Regio paid the Chorus the remarkable compliment of showering carnations on this British chorus singing Verdi to Italians. When Legge relinquished management in 1964, the re-formed New Philharmonia Chorus became a self-governing body independent of both EMI and the New Philharmonia Orchestra with

2047-460: The FTSE 100 Index , but faced financial problems and US$ 4 billion in debt, leading to its acquisition by Citigroup in February 2011. Citigroup's ownership was temporary, as EMI announced in November 2011 that it would sell its music arm to Vivendi 's Universal Music Group for $ 1.9 billion and its publishing business to a Sony/ATV consortium for around $ 2.2 billion. Other members of

2136-674: The Guildhall School of Music & Drama . In these years the Chorus performed Rachmaninov ’s Vespers in Westminster and Winchester Cathedrals and recorded it, accompanied Luciano Pavarotti “in the Park” and at Leeds Castle , remixed Beatles numbers, and performed before HM The Queen for the 50th Anniversary of VE Day. At London's Royal Festival Hall, its traditional home, the Chorus appeared regularly with Claus Peter Flor and Leonard Slatkin , both Principal Guest Conductors of

2225-630: The OKeh label. RCA sold its stake in EMI in 1935, but due to its 1929 takeover of Victor, RCA retained the North and South American rights to the " His Master's Voice " trademark. In other countries, the Nipper logo was used by the EMI subsidiary label HMV, even though the "His Master's Voice" slogan itself would be retained by RCA along with the logo. In 1938 ARC-Brunswick was taken over by CBS , which then sold

2314-645: The Orchestre National de Lyon under Leonard Slatkin in Lyon and in the composer’s birthplace of La Côte-St-André, and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis under Sir Jeffrey Tate in 2017's week-long opening festival of Hamburg’s remarkable new Elbphilharmonie , the Chorus being the sole British group to be featured therein. The Chorus has also performed in live showings of the films Amadeus , Breakfast at Tiffany's and Gladiator . A performance in Hamburg of Elgar ’s The Dream of Gerontius conducted by Sir Jeffrey Tate ,

2403-738: The Prussian minister-president Hermann Göring . In 1935, the building was remodeled by Paul Baumgarten and the seating reduced from 2,300 to 2,098 places. Carl Ebert , the pre-World War II general manager, chose to emigrate from Germany rather than endorse the Nazi view of music, and went on to co-found the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England. He was replaced by Max von Schillings , who acceded to demands that he enact works of "unalloyed German character". Several artists, like

2492-803: The Royal Opera House Covent Garden in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem at the Rudolf Kempe Memorial Concert. A second appearance in the same House six years later in Britten’s War Requiem with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle was a Memorial Concert for Sir Peter Pears . These years also saw the Chorus appearing regularly in the UK outside London with notable visits to Cardiff, Brighton, Nottingham, Derby, Cheltenham, Cambridge and Aldeburgh. At Aldeburgh in 1985

2581-850: The Vienna State Opera and the Bayreuth Festival), in 1980 by Heinz Mende (former chorus master of the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich), and then in 1984 by Horst Neumann (chorus master of the MDR Rundfunkchor in Leipzig, East Germany). On 1 September 1977 the Chorus was able to take back its former name, Philharmonia Chorus, and later the same month gave two performances of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Belgium with

2670-540: The music industry , and was one of the "Big Four" record companies (now the " Big Three "). Its labels included EMI Records , Parlophone , Virgin Records , and Capitol Records , which are now referenced under Universal Music due to their acquisition with the exception of Parlophone, as it is now owned by Warner Music . EMI was listed on the London Stock Exchange , and was also once a constituent of

2759-656: The 100th Anniversary of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and concert hall, the hall’s re-opening after renovations, and Bernard Haitink’s last concerts as chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1992 David Hill became Chorus Master and Artistic Director. Director of Music at Westminster Cathedral and later at Winchester Cathedral , he was the first Briton to hold the post. He was succeeded in 1998 by Robert Dean, formerly Head of Music at Scottish Opera and Professor of Singing at

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2848-640: The 1920 Greater Berlin Act , the name of the resident building was changed to Städtische Oper (Municipal Opera). With the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, the opera was under control of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . Minister Joseph Goebbels had the name changed back to Deutsches Opernhaus , competing with the Berlin State Opera in Mitte controlled by his rival,

2937-778: The Accompanist was Stephen Rose, Senior Coach at the Opera department of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and of the National Opera Studio in London. The current Accompanist is multiple prize-winner Timothy End. Chairman: Richard Harding This page, written by members of the Philharmonia Chorus, was adapted from material on the Philharmonia Chorus's own website, with the permission of

3026-422: The American Brunswick label to American Decca Records , which along with its other properties, Vocalion Records and Aeolian Vocalion Records, used it as a subsidiary budget label afterward. CBS then operated Columbia as its flagship label in both the United States and Canada. EMI retained the rights to the Columbia name in most other territories including the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It continued to operate

3115-412: The American market by acquiring 96% of the stock for Capitol Records USA. From 1960 to 1995 their "EMI House" corporate headquarters was located at 20 Manchester Square London, England, the stairwell from which was featured on the cover of the Beatles' Please Please Me album. In addition, an unused shot from the Please Please Me photo session, featuring the boys in short hair and cleancut attire,

3204-447: The Beatles into the EMI fold. When the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company (including Columbia's subsidiary label Parlophone ) in 1931, the new Anglo-American group was incorporated as Electric & Musical Industries Limited. At this point, the Radio Corporation of America had a majority shareholding in the new company due to RCA purchasing the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929. Victor owned 50% of

3293-457: The British affiliated Gramophone Company, giving RCA chairman David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board. However, EMI was subsequently forced to sell Columbia USA due to anti-trust action taken by its American competitors. By this time the record industry had been hit hard by the Depression and in 1934 a much-diminished Columbia USA was purchased for just US$ 70,500 by ARC-BRC ( American Record Corporation –Brunswick Record Company), which also acquired

3382-418: The Chorus for a performance of Bernstein ’s Kaddish Symphony in London’s Barbican Centre conducted by John Axelrod in a concert to mark the 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht . 2010 saw a return to the Philharmonia Chorus's tradition of German musical training with the appointment as Chorus Master of the Berlin-based conductor Stefan Bevier who was himself also a singer as well as being a former player with

3471-411: The Chorus gave the world première of Britten's unfinished final composition Praise We Great Men , with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Mstislav Rostropovich , and three years later took part in a semi-staged performance of Britten's Paul Bunyan. In the same year, 1988, a particular honour was paid the Chorus: an invitation to perform in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Amsterdam ’s Concertgebouw to mark

3560-427: The Christian music market by acquiring Sparrow Records . Due to the increasing divergence of business models, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerger proposals on 16 August 1996. The resulting media company was now known as EMI Group PLC. In 1997, EMI Records USA was folded into both Virgin and Capitol. Since the 1930s, the Pathé Records label headquartered in Shanghai , China had been published under

3649-518: The EMI banner and since then, EMI had also been the dominant label in the cantopop market throughout Greater China until the genre's decline in the mid-1980s. Between the years 2004–2006, EMI then completely and totally divested itself from the c-pop market, and after that, all Hong Kong music artists previously associated with EMI had their music published by Gold Label , a concern unaffiliated with EMI and with which EMI did not yet hold any interest. On 21 November 2000, Streamwaves and EMI signed

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3738-563: The EMI imprint. On 1 July 1973 the Gramophone Company subsidiary (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.) was renamed EMI Records Ltd as well, and in 1978, EMI launched EMI America Records as its second label in the United States after Capitol. EMI Music Worldwide was also formed in 1978 with Bhaskar Menon as chairman and CEO. In February 1979, EMI Ltd acquired United Artists Records and with it their subsidiary labels Liberty Records and Imperial Records . Eight months later, Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI Ltd. to form Thorn EMI . Sometime in

3827-458: The Japanese EMI branch, remains unchanged from the reflection of Toshiba 's divestiture to the business by EMI buying the whole branch way back July 2007, making it a full subsidiary. In July 2009, there were reports that EMI would not sell CDs to independent album retailers in a bid to cut costs, but in fact only a handful of small physical retailers were affected. In February 2010, EMI Group reported pre-tax losses of £1.75 billion for

3916-435: The London première of Jeajoon Ryu ’s Sinfonia da Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , and the world première of John Powell ’s A Prussian Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The Chorus's appearances in almost every season at the “Easter at King’s” Festival founded by Sir Stephen Cleobury have included James MacMillan ’s St John Passion of 2008 in the presence of the composer, Frank Martin ’s Golgotha in

4005-458: The Middle East and Africa as well as in Canada , Russia , India , China , Japan , Australia and New Zealand . Gramophone's (later EMI's) Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries dominated the popular music industries in those countries across the Asia-Pacific region from the 1920s until the 1960s, when other locally owned labels (such as Festival Records ) began to challenge the near monopoly of EMI. Over 150,000 78-rpm recordings from around

4094-434: The Philharmonia Chorus. EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries , also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI ) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its acquisition by Universal Music in 2012, it was the fourth largest business group and record label conglomerate in

4183-418: The Philharmonia Orchestra in 1984 and with whom the Chorus also appeared in Parma, Taormina and Rome ( Gurre-Lieder with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ) - Rafael Kubelik , Kurt Sanderling (including the Chorus's second recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony), Sir Andrew Davis , Seiji Ozawa , Vladimir Ashkenazy , Bernard Haitink , Charles Dutoit , and in 1980 the Chorus's first appearance at

4272-463: The Philharmonia Orchestra. In December 1997 the Chorus celebrated its 40th Birthday with the Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales , in attendance at a Gala performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by James Levine , followed three days later by a performance of Mahler ’s Eighth Symphony with the same conductor. During this period the Chorus performed for the first time with Valery Gergiev and Sir Mark Elder , and sang under

4361-438: The Rings (film series) and there have been other appearances in London, King's College Cambridge and Lille, where in all three cities the Chorus will perform during 2024-25, notably in semi-staged performances in Lille of Puccini 's opera La bohème . The Chorus has had four Accompanists: first, Viola Tunnard, followed in 1962 by her duet partner Martin Penny, both collaborators with Britten at Aldeburgh . From 1984 to 2012,

4450-536: The Sony consortium include the estate of Michael Jackson , the Blackstone Group , and the Abu Dhabi –owned Mubadala Development Company . EMI's locations in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada were all disassembled to repay debt, but the primary head office located outside those countries is still functional. EMI Music Publishing is now owned by Sony Music Publishing , the music publishing division of Sony Music which bought another 70% stake in EMI Music Publishing. Electric and Musical Industries Ltd

4539-447: The UK's first commercially available all- transistor computer, was developed at EMI's Central Research Laboratories in Hayes under the leadership of Godfrey Hounsfield , an electrical engineer at EMI. In the early 1970s, with financial support by the UK Department of Health and Social Security as well as EMI research investment, Hounsfield developed the first CT scanner , a device which revolutionised medical imaging . In 1973 EMI

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4628-417: The baton of Sir Edward Heath at his 80th Birthday concert in Salisbury Cathedral , performing there also in Symphony for the Spire. Several European tours of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony followed with Giulini and the European Community Youth Orchestra, with Sir Yehudi Menuhin and the Sinfonia Varsovia , and in December 1999 with Sir Simon Rattle and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment , culminating in

4717-433: The company announced the most recent extension of Runnicles' contract as its GMD, through 2027. In September 2023, the Deutsche Oper Berlin announced that Runnicles is to stand down as its GMD at the close of the 2025-2026 season, one season earlier than his most recent contract extension, at Runnicles' own request. The current Intendant (artistic director) of the company is Dietmar Schwarz, and his current contract with

4806-482: The company became EMI Group plc, and the electronics and rentals divisions were divested as Thorn plc . The company broke up in 2012. In 1934, an EMI research team led by Sir Isaac Shoenberg developed the electronic Marconi-EMI system for television broadcasting, which quickly replaced Baird's electro-mechanical system following its introduction in 1936. After the Second World War , EMI resumed its involvement in making broadcasting equipment, notably providing

4895-415: The company is through 31 July 2025. The current executive director of the company is Thomas Fehrle, who is currently contracted with the company through 2027. In February 2023, the company announced the appointment of Aviel Cahn as its next Intendant , effective 1 August 2026. In September 2006, the Deutsche Oper's then- Intendantin (general manager) Kirsten Harms drew criticism after she cancelled

4984-418: The conductor Fritz Stiedry and the singer Alexander Kipnis , followed Ebert into emigration. The opera house was destroyed by a Royal Air Force air raid on 23 November 1943. Performances continued at the Admiralspalast in Mitte until 1945. Ebert returned to serve as general manager after the war. After the war, in what had now been called West Berlin , the company, again called Städtische Oper , used

5073-725: The iTunes Plus category). Tracks were to cost $ 1.29/€1.29/£0.99. Legacy tracks with FairPlay DRM would still be available for $ 0.99/€0.99/£0.79 – albeit with lower quality sound and DRM restrictions still in place. Users would be able to 'upgrade' the EMI tracks that they had already bought for $ 0.30/€0.30/£0.20. Albums were also to be available at the same price as their lower quality, DRM counterparts and music videos from EMI would also be DRM-free. The higher-quality, DRM-free files became available worldwide on iTunes on 30 May 2007, and were expected to appear on other music download services soon thereafter. Following this decision, Universal Music Group also announced sales of DRM-free music (which

5162-404: The label with moderate success until 1973, when it was retired and replaced by the EMI Records imprint, making records with the Columbia Records label manufactured outside North America between 1972 and 1992 rare. In 1990, following a series of major takeovers that saw CBS Records acquired by the Sony Corporation of Japan, EMI sold its remaining rights to the Columbia name to Sony and the label

5251-427: The label, but that these audits rarely result in legal action. A legal settlement was announced on 12 April 2007 and terms were undisclosed. On 2 April 2007, EMI announced it would be releasing its music in DRM -free formats. These were to be issued in AAC format, which gave higher quality for the same bitrate compared with the ubiquitous MP3 format. The music would be distributed via Apple's iTunes Store (under

5340-506: The late 1980s, EMI America merged with sister label Manhattan Records , founded in 1984, becoming EMI Manhattan and eventually EMI USA when Capitol absorbed it in 1989. Also in 1989, Thorn EMI bought a 50% interest in Chrysalis Records , completing the buyout two years later. Six months after completing the buyout of Chrysalis, Thorn EMI bought Virgin Records from Richard Branson in one of its highest-profile and most expensive acquisitions in record music history. In 1992, Thorn EMI entered

5429-431: The mainstay of much of the British television industry from the end of the 1960s until the early 1990s. Exports of this piece of equipment were low, however, and EMI left this area of product manufacture. EMI engineer Alan Blumlein received a patent for the invention of stereophonic sound in 1931. He was killed in 1942 whilst conducting flight trials on an experimental H2S radar set. During and after World War II ,

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5518-432: The management of Sir Joseph Lockwood . The strong combination of EMI and its subsidiary labels (including Parlophone , HMV , Columbia and Capitol Records ) along with a roster of stellar groups such as the Hollies , the Shadows , the Beach Boys and the Beatles along with hit solo performers such as Frank Sinatra , Cliff Richard , and Nat 'King' Cole , made EMI the best-known and most successful recording company in

5607-404: The nearby Theater des Westens ; its opening production was Fidelio , on 4 September 1945. Its home was finally rebuilt in 1961 but to a much-changed, sober design by Fritz Bornemann . The opening production of the newly renamed Deutsche Oper , on 24 September, was Mozart's Don Giovanni . On the evening of 2 June 1967, Benno Ohnesorg , a student taking part in the German student movement ,

5696-402: The orchestra and chorus of Norddeutscher Rundfunk and the BBC Singers in the presence of the President of Germany Johannes Rau and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for a concert of reconciliation, Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich , performed in the Turbine Hall of the former Nazi rocket development factory in Peenemünde , north Germany. In 2004, following

5785-447: The podium while conducting Aida , at age 54. In October 2005, Renato Palumbo was appointed GMD as of the 2006–2007 season. In October 2007, the Deutsche Oper announced the appointment of Donald Runnicles as their next Generalmusikdirektor , effective August 2009, for an initial contract of five years. Simultaneously, Palumbo and the Deutsche Oper mutually agreed to terminate his contract, effective November 2007. In November 2020,

5874-943: The presence of the composer’s widow, and Herbert Howells ’s Stabat Mater, all broadcast by BBC Radio from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge . Opera in concert performances have included Der fliegende Holländer , Fidelio , Die Fledermaus and Don Giovanni . There have been recordings with Benjamin Zander of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mahler’s Second Symphony. Performances including Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem , Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa solemnis , Mahler’s Second and Eighth Symphonies, Britten’s War Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem have been given with conductors including Christoph von Dohnányi , Charles Dutoit , Daniele Gatti , Daniel Harding , Vladimir Jurowski , Lorin Maazel , Paul McCreesh , Andris Nelsons , Sir Roger Norrington , Gianandrea Noseda , Vasily Petrenko and Esa-Pekka Salonen . Other highlights have included performances of Berlioz ’s Grande Messe des morts with

5963-435: The production of Mozart's opera Idomeneo by Hans Neuenfels , because of fears that a scene in that production featuring the severed heads of Jesus , Buddha and Muhammad would offend Muslims , and that the opera house's security might come under threat if violent protests took place. (This is a departure from the original libretto , in which there is no such scene.) Critics of the decision include German Ministers and

6052-482: The same forces the Chorus has performed in The Dream of Gerontius , War Requiem , Mahler's three choral symphonies and in 2023 a concert performance of Tchaikovsky 's one-act opera Iolanta . In an unusual combination, the full Philharmonia Chorus partnered the Academy of Ancient Music conducted by Laurence Cummings in a well-received performance at the 2023 BBC Proms of Handel 's oratorio Samson . The Chorus has performed in live showings of The Lord of

6141-437: The second biggest in music history behind that of Michael Jackson. Apple Records , the record label representing The Beatles , launched a suit against EMI for non-payment of royalties on 15 December 2005. The suit alleged that EMI had withheld $ 50 million from the record label; however, an EMI spokesman noted that audits of record label accounts are not that unusual, confirming at least two hundred such audits performed on

6230-451: The similarly reinstated Philharmonia Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas . These years saw the Chorus tour widely throughout Europe: several staged operas in the Roman Théâtre antique d’Orange , Haydn’s Die Schöpfung in Paris and London to mark the UK’s entry into the European Economic Community in 1973, Handel ’s Judas Maccabaeus with Sir Charles Mackerras at the Teatro alla Scala Milan in 1980 followed ten years later by

6319-592: The time: Wolfgang Sawallisch , Sir Thomas Beecham , Herbert von Karajan , Leopold Stokowski , Sir John Barbirolli , Sir Adrian Boult and - in a relationship that became especially close - Carlo Maria Giulini . Benchmark recordings of Lucia di Lammermoor with Maria Callas and Tullio Serafin , Sir William Walton conducting his own Belshazzar's Feast , Brahms 's Ein deutsches Requiem , Beethoven’s Fidelio and Mahler’s Second Symphony under Klemperer, and Verdi 's Requiem and Quattro pezzi sacri with Giulini won particular acclaim. Tours followed to

6408-565: The world are held in EMI's temperature-controlled archive in Hayes, some of which have been released on CD since 2008 by Honest Jon's Records . In 1931, the year the company was formed, it opened the legendary recording studios at London 's Abbey Road . During the 1930s and 1940s, its roster of artists included Arturo Toscanini , Sir Edward Elgar , and Otto Klemperer , among many others. During this time EMI appointed its first A&R managers. These included George Martin , who later brought

6497-519: The world at that time. In 1967, while shifting their focus on pop and rock music roster to Columbia and Parlophone, EMI converted HMV solely to a classical music label exclusively. For the emerging progressive rock genre including Pink Floyd , who had debuted on Columbia, EMI established a new subsidiary label, Harvest Records , two years later. In 1971, Electric & Musical Industries changed its name to EMI Ltd. and on 1 January 1973 EMI phased out most of its heritage labels and replacing them with

6586-442: The year ended March 2009, including write-downs on the value of its music catalogue. In addition, KPMG issued a going concern warning on the holding company's accounts regarding an ability to remain solvent. Citigroup (which held $ 4 billion in debt) took 100% ownership of EMI Group from Terra Firma Capital Partners on 1 February 2011, writing off £2.2 billion of debt and reducing EMI's debt load by 65%. The group

6675-688: Was a joint venture between EMI itself and Pied Piper Records Corporation. The physical audio and video products of the label have been distributed in South-East Asia by Warner Music Group since December 2008, while new EMI releases in China and Taiwan, were distributed under Gold Typhoon which was previously known as EMI Music China and EMI Music Taiwan, respectively. Meanwhile, the Korean branch of EMI (known as EMI Korea Limited) had its physical releases distributed by Warner Music Korea. EMI Music Japan ,

6764-545: Was also for many years an internationally respected manufacturer of photomultipliers . This part of the business was transferred to Thorn as part of Thorn-EMI, then later became the independent concern Electron Tubes Ltd. The EMI Electronic Business Machine, a valve and magnetic drum memory computer, was built in the 1950s to process the British Motor Corporation payroll. In 1958 the EMIDEC 1100 ,

6853-668: Was awarded a prestigious Queen's Award for Technological Innovation for what was then called the EMI scanner , and in 1979 Hounsfield won the Nobel Prize for his accomplishment. After brief, but brilliant, success in the medical imaging field, EMI's manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies, notably Thorn (see Thorn EMI ). Subsequently, development and manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies and work moved to other towns such as Crawley and Wells. Emihus Electronics, based in Glenrothes , Scotland,

6942-472: Was celebrated with a performance of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner . Following Stefan Bevier's death in January 2018, another singer and conductor, Gavin Carr , was appointed Chorus Master. Before Covid-19 brought activity to a halt he had prepared the Chorus for performances in London (including Mahler 2 under Jakub Hrůša ), Bath and Lille, including

7031-426: Was described as an experiment). In May 2006, EMI attempted to buy Warner Music Group , which would have reduced the world's four largest record companies ( Big Four ) to three; however, the bid was rejected. Warner Music Group launched a Pac-Man defense , offering to buy EMI. EMI rejected the $ 4.6 billion offer. After a decline in the British market share from 16% to 9%, and the announcement that it had sustained

7120-481: Was entitled Let It Be . The photo was used instead for the cover of the Beatles' second greatest-hits double-disc compilation entitled 1967–1970 (also known as "The Blue Album"). (The two compilations were released in 1973.) EMI's classical artists of the period were largely limited to the prestigious British and European orchestras, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra as well as

7209-802: Was formed in March 1931 by the merger of the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company , with its " His Master's Voice " record label, firms that have a history extending back to the origins of recorded sound . The new vertically integrated company produced sound recordings as well as recording and playback equipment. The company's gramophone manufacturing led to 40 years of success with larger-scale electronics and electrical engineering . In October 1979, EMI merged with Thorn Electrical Industries to create Thorn EMI . On 16 August 1996, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerging Thorn from EMI again:

7298-526: Was later settled following a defence based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before. Jared Leto explained, "The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the De Havilland Law after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros. " Many industry watchers viewed the suit as

7387-622: Was owned 51% by Hughes Aircraft , of California, US, and 49% by EMI. It manufactured integrated circuits , electrolytic capacitors and, for a short period in the mid-1970s, hand-held calculators under the Gemini name. Early in its life, the Gramophone Company established its subsidiary operations and branch offices in a number of many other countries inside and outside of the British Commonwealth , including Europe,

7476-426: Was put up for sale and final bids were due by 5 October 2011. On 12 November 2011, it was announced that EMI would sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group (UMG) for £1.2 billion ($ 1.9 billion) and its music publishing operations to Sony/ATV Music Publishing -for $ 2.2 billion. Among the other companies that had competed for the recorded music business was Warner Music Group which

7565-555: Was recorded with the same performers. The principal mover in both ventures was Walter Legge who, to create his chorus, turned to Wilhelm Pitz, then chorus master of the Bayreuth Festival . Between the first rehearsal in February 1957 and first concert there was a long period of preparation during which Pitz rehearsed the Chorus in not only the scheduled Beethoven but also in choral passages from Wagner ’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . From that preparatory work emerged

7654-463: Was reported to have made a $ 2 billion bid. However, IMPALA has said that it would fight the merger. In March 2012, the European Union opened an investigation into Universal's purchase of EMI's recorded music division and had asked rivals and consumer groups whether the deal will result in higher prices and shut out competitors. Deutsche Oper The Deutsche Oper Berlin is

7743-501: Was shot in the streets around the opera house. He had been protesting against the visit to Germany by the Shah of Iran , who was attending a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute . Past Generalmusikdirektoren (GMD, general music directors) have included Bruno Walter , Kurt Adler , Ferenc Fricsay , Lorin Maazel , Gerd Albrecht , Jesús López-Cobos , Giuseppe Sinopoli , and Christian Thielemann . In April 2001, Sinopoli died at

7832-457: Was the only region in the world where EMI was not in operation, although the record label continued to operate in Hong Kong and Indonesia (which was named Arka Music Indonesia). The Chinese and Taiwanese operation of EMI as well as the Hong Kong branch of Gold Label, was sold to Typhoon Group and reformed as Gold Typhoon . The Philippine branch of EMI changed its name to PolyEast Records , and

7921-483: Was used for the cover of the Beatles' first double-disc greatest-hits compilation entitled 1962–1966 (also known as "The Red Album"). In 1969, Angus McBean took a matching group photograph featuring the boys in long hair and beards to contrast with the earlier cleancut image to show that the boys could have appeal across a wide range of audiences. This photo was originally intended for the Get Back album which later

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