PentaTone
One of the leading classical music labels in the world, Pentatone presents a diverse range of world-class artists, and is dedicated to premium quality productions captured in exceptional sound. The label works together with today and tomorrow’s leading artists to provide timeless recordings of core, fringe, and lesser-known repertoire, with Pentatone’s uncompromising attention to the best possible quality in artistry, design and recording technology.
The label was founded in the Netherlands in 2001 by three former Philips Classics executives, with the ambition to offer classical music in the highest quality including surround sound.
In its first years, Pentatone engaged Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton and Sophia Loren, in a Grammy-winning recording of Prokofiev’s Peter & the Wolf (released in Spanish with Antonio Banderas), with Kent Nagano conducting the Russian National Orchestra. Another early success was a recording of the official music performed during the wedding ceremony of the then Dutch crown prince (now king) Willem-Alexander to Máxima Zorreguieta. The Music from the Royal Wedding, sold more than 75,000 copies, thereby attaining the unique “triple platinum” status in the Netherlands.
During its first decade, the label released several award-winning recordings with violinist Julia Fischer and several complete cycles: Beethoven’s symphonies conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, Beethoven’s piano sonatas performed by Mari Kodama, and Bruckner’s symphonies under the baton of Marek Janowski. Violinist Arabella Steinbacher left her mark on these years and continues with several acclaimed recordings. Later, Pentatone recorded Wagner’s ten mature operas, the only such label to take on this task in the 21st century.
From 2013, with a new management team, the label focused on embracing the digital era and expanding its repertoire. New artists and ensembles defined the label’s second decade, including conductors Vladimir Jurowski, René Jacobs and Esa-Pekka Salonen, singers Piotr Beczala, Lisette Oropesa, Javier Camarena, Ian Bostridge and Magdalena Kožená, pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Francesco Piemontesi, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, as well as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Czech Philharmonic.
In recent years, Pentatone has won multiple awards. In 2017, John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles won Best Opera Recording and Best Engineered Album at the 59th Grammy Awards. Two years later, the premiere recording of the Mason Bates opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, won a Grammy for Best Opera Recording. Pentatone was awarded Label of the Year in 2019 by Gramophone Magazine and in 2020 by the International Classical Music Awards. Pentatone's third decade promises to be even more exciting and innovative as we expand our growing and diverse roster of artists, producing the most thrilling recordings in the world.
© PentaTone
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Bruckner, A.: Symphony No. 5
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Marek Janowski
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 30 Mar 2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n°2 (Edition William Carragan)
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Marek Janowski
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 1 Mar 1993
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Originals: Compositions for Brass & Percussion
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 3 Jun 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Schmitt: Early Symphonies and Chamber Music
New Dutch Academy Chamber Orchestra, Simon Murphy
Symphonic Music - Released by PENTATONE on 1 Jan 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Missy Mazzoli: Proving Up
Opera - Released by PENTATONE on 21 Aug 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Half Nelson
David Sanford, Matt Haimovitz, Uccello
Jazz - Released by PENTATONE on 13 Dec 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ein Engel in der Nacht: Eine musikalische Erzählung
Children - Released by PENTATONE on 16 Nov 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Simple Prayer for Complex Times
Lara Downes, Dobrinka Tabakova
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 21 Apr 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Symphony No. 1
Michelle Breedt, Peter Auty, John Hancock, Collegium Vocale Gent, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Edo de Waart
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 23 Sep 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Akoka: Reframing Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
Chamber Music - Released by PENTATONE on 1 Apr 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, WAB 103
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Marek Janowski
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 28 Aug 2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Hours Begin to Sing
Classical - Released by PentaTone on 30 Apr 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
And If the Song be Worth a Smile: Mentzer, Susanne - Bolcom, W. / Getty, G. / Heggie, J. / Garner, D. / Corigliano, J. / Woolf, L.P. (Songs by American Composers)
Lisa Delan, Kristin Pankonin, Susanne Mentzer, Matt Haimovitz
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by PENTATONE on 27 Jan 2009
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. Strauss II: Der Zigeunerbaron (Live)
Opera - Released by PENTATONE on 1 Apr 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70, TH 118 - Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Arr. for String Ensemble)
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 6 Mar 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
O'Regan: The Phoenix (Live)
Opera - Released by PENTATONE on 16 Oct 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 5-7
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 1 Mar 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
MARGIONO, Charlotte: Sings Wagner
Limburg Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Margiono, Ed Spanjaard
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 1 Jan 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Out of the Shadows: Rediscovered American Art Songs
Classical - Released by PentaTone on 2 Sep 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Barber of Neville
Classical - Released by PentaTone on 23 Sep 2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Certain Slant of Light
Lisa Delan, Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra, Lawrence Foster
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 20 Apr 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo