Pentatone (stylized as PENTATONE) is an international classical music label located in Baarn, Netherlands.

History

Three former executives of Philips Classics, Giel Bessels, Dirk van Dijk and Job Maarse, established the label in 2001. The name comes from the words penta (five) and tone (sound), meaning five channels of sound. The label is renowned for its high-resolution multichannel

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to sur ...

recordings which are released in the

Super Audio CD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple ...

format. In January 2002, Pentatone recorded the official music which was performed during the wedding ceremony of the Dutch crown prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta. The album, “The Music from the Royal Wedding”, sold more than 75,000 copies, thereby attaining the unique “triple platinum” status. The label has also licensed recordings made by other labels such as Philips Classics and

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family o ...

. Among these are some from the 1970s which were originally recorded for 4-channel

quadraphonic sound Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for t ...

. Pentatone has remastered them for re-release and presented them in surround sound for the first time. All Pentatone's hybrid Super Audio CD discs can also be heard in 2-channel

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

on conventional

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

players. In 2013, a new management team joined Pentatone and the label expanded to multiple formats releases, including regular cd, vinyl, and all formats for streaming and downloads. The first vinyl was released in 2017 as a luxury 3LP edition. The label decided to honour Julia Fischer's Bach violin solo recordings (originally released by the label in 2005). In April 2022, Pentatone appointed Sean Hickey as managing director, succeeding Simon M Eder. The following month it was announced that Pentatone had been acquired by the

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of mus ...

Awards

In 2004, the label received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for their recording of '' Peter and the Wolf'', narrated by

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

and Mikhail Gorbachev, where the story is told from the perspective of the wolf and has the theme of letting animals live in peace. Other award-winning issues have included John Corigliano's ''The Ghosts of Versailles'', part of the American Opera Series, which won multiple awards, including the 59th

as Best Opera Recording and Best Engineered Album. In 2019 Pentatone's premiere recording of the Mason Bates opera “ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” won the Best Opera Recording at the 61st Grammy Awards. Among the winners were composer Mason Bates, librettist Mark Campbell, the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...

, conductor Michael Christie, and the cast, which included Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edward Parks, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, and Elizabeth Ostrow. The opera was nominated for Best Contemporary Composition but lost to the Kernis Violin Concerto. In 2019, the label was awarded Label of the Year by the Gramophone Magazine. In 2020, Pentatone won the title of Label of the Year in the

International Classical Music Awards The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...

Artists

Piano * Mari Kodama *

Martin Helmchen Martin Helmchen (born 1982) is a German pianist. He has played with international orchestras and has recorded discs of many classical composers. Life Helmchen was born in Berlin. He began his piano studies at the age of six, and graduated from th ...

* Min Young Kang * Denis Kozhukhin * Pierre-Laurent Aimard * Nareh Argamanian * Momo Kodama * Sa Chen *

Francesco Piemontesi Francesco Piemontesi is a Swiss pianist. Life Born in 1983 in Locarno, he studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Arie Vardi before closely collaborating with Alfred Brendel. He rose to international prominence with prize ...

* Inon Barnatan * Kirill Kuzmin *

Saskia Giorgini Saskia Giorgini (born 1985) is an Italian-Dutch pianist who won the Salzburg International Mozart Competition in 2016. She made her debut at the Vienna Musikverein in February 2017 playing an all Mozart recital. Her recording of Liszt’s Harmonies ...

* Maxim Bernard * Paul Rivinius * Yefim Bronfman * Tamara Stefanovich * Lars Vogt Cello * Johannes Moser * Matt Haimovitz * Alisa Weilerstein Violin *

Arabella Steinbacher Arabella Miho Steinbacher (born 14 November 1981) is a German classical violinist. Biography Steinbacher was born in Munich to a Japanese mother and a German father. When she was three, her mother read that a German violin teacher had recentl ...

* Julia Fischer *

Leticia Moreno Leticia Muñoz Moreno (born 1985 in Madrid) is a Spanish violinist. She began her music education at the early age of 3 in both violin and piano with the Suzuki Method offering her first recitals when she was just 5. In 1996 she studied six yea ...

* Jesus Rodolfo Guitar * Sean Shibe Clarinet * Annelien Van Wauwe Flute * Ana de la Vega Mandolin *

Alon Sariel Alon Sariel (born 11 May 1986 in Beersheba, Israel) is an Israeli mandolinist, lutenist and conductor. Early musical education Alon Sariel was born in Beersheba, Israel, the youngest of five siblings. He started playing the mandolin at the age of ...

Harpsichordists * Francesco Corti * Andrea Buccarella Mezzo-Soprano * Alice Coote *

Ann Hallenberg Ann Hallenberg (born 17 March 1967) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. She has a busy career on the stage and concert platform around Europe embracing roles by Rossini, Mozart, Gluck, Handel, Vivaldi, Monteverdi, and Purcell. Hallenberg studied at the ...

* Magdalena Kozena * Anna Lucia Richter *

Sasha Cooke Sasha Cooke is an American mezzo-soprano. Cooke was born in Riverside, California, and grew up in College Station, Texas, where her parents are professors of Russian at Texas A&M University. She earned a bachelor's degree from Rice University and ...

Elisabeth Kulman Elisabeth Kulman (born 28 June 1973) is an Austrian classical singer who has performed operatic roles in soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto repertory. She has appeared at opera houses in Vienna and internationally. She has performed early operas ...

* Magdalena Kožená Soprano * Lisa Delan * Anna Lucia Richter *

Chen Reiss Chen Reiss (born 1979, he, חן רייס) is an Israeli operatic soprano. She began piano studies at age 5, ballet at age 7, and voice lessons at age 14. She decided to focus on vocal studies by age 16. Reiss performed leading parts at the Vien ...

* Sondra Radvanovsky *

Kathryn Lewek Kathryn Louise Blomshield Lewek (born 1983) is an American coloratura soprano singer. Early life and education Lewek began playing piano and singing at a very young age but only during high school realized that she could turn it into a career. S ...

* Melody Moore *Francesca Aspromonte * Hanna-Elisabeth Müller * Lisette Oropesa *

Christina Landshamer Christina Landshamer (born 1977) is a German operatic soprano. Life and career Born and raised in Munich, Landshamer studied singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Angelica Vogel from 1996. She continued her studies at t ...

Tenor *

Christian Elsner Christian Elsner (born 11 August 1965) is a German tenor in opera and concert, and an academic voice teacher at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He focused first on lied and oratorio, then entered the opera stage in roles such as Handel's Taba ...

* Piotr Beczala *

Michael Fabiano Michael Fabiano (born 8 May 1984) is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera, Te ...

Stefano Secco Stefano Secco (born 1973 in Milan, Italy) is an Italian opera singer and actor. Biography Born in Milan in 1973, Secco began his studies under the direction of professor Alberto Soresina and graduated in percussion with Tullio De Piscopo. H ...

René Barbera René Barbera is a Mexican-American tenor. He was the recipient of three awards of the Operalia Competition in 2011, and winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition in 2008. Roles * Ernesto debut in Donizetti's '' Don Pasqua ...

* Ian Bostridge * Javier Camarena Baritone * John Chest * Lester Lynch Bass-baritone *

Adam Plachetka Adam Plachetka (born 4 May 1985) is a Czech bass-baritone. He was born in Prague, where he was also educated, and won several singing competitions in the Czech Republic. In 2005 he made his debut at the National Theatre in Prague, where his roles ...

Countertenor * Bejun Mehta Ensembles *

Calder Quartet The Calder Quartet (CQ) is a string quartet based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1998 at the University of Southern California, the group takes its name from American sculptor Alexander Calder. The ensemble is currently composed of i ...

* Calefax * Signum Quartet * Emerson String Quartet * Mirò Quartet * Bastarda Trio * Música Temprana * cantoLX * Ruisi Quartet Choir * South Dakota Chorale * Kup Taldea *

Cappella Amsterdam Cappella may refer to: * Cappella (band), Italian electronic music group * a cappella, unaccompanied singing People with the surname * Felix Cappella (1930-2011), Canadian race walker * Scipione Cappella (fl. 18th century), Italian painter See ...

* The Clarion Choir Conductors * Andres Orozco-Estrada * Andrew Manze *

Diego Fasolis Diego Fasolis (born 19 April 1958) is a Swiss classical organist and conductor, the leader of the ensemble I Barocchisti. He has conducted operas in historically informed performance at major European opera houses and festivals, and has made award- ...

* David Bates * Marc Albrecht * Marek Janowski *

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began his ...

Jakub Hrusa Jacob is a common male given name and a less well-known surname. It is a cognate of James, derived from Late Latin ''Iacobus'', from Greek ''Iakobos'', from Hebrew (''Yaʿaqōḇ''), the name of the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob son of Isaac and R ...

* Kazuki Yamada * Gustavo Gimeno * Lawrance Foster * Kazuki Yamada * Kent Nagano * Carlo Conti * Roderick Cox * Riccardo Frizza * Semyon Bychkov * Simon Murphy * Mikhail Pletnev * Sir Neville Marriner * Yakov Kreizberg *

Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from Re ...

* Jonathan Nott * Herbert Blomstedt * Christoph Eschenbach * Daniel Reuss * Daniel Oren * Rene Jacobs Orchestras * Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin * Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra * Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest * Russian National Orchestra *

NDR Radiophilharmonie The NDR Radiophilharmonie is a German radio orchestra, affiliated with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. The orchestra principally gives concerts in the ''Großer Sendesaal'' of the ''Landesfunkhaus Niedersa ...

* WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne * hr-Sinfonieorchester * Houston Symphony * Oregon Symphony *

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History Er ...

* State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia ''Evgeny Svetlanov” *

New Dutch Academy The New Dutch Academy (NDA) is an international Dutch Baroque orchestra based in The Hague, the Netherlands. It is composed of 40 international, early music, specialist musicians, who gather in The Hague to explore 18th-century music in all of its f ...

* Il pomo d’oro * Czech Philharmonic * Washington National Opera * Basque National Orchestra * Lyric Opera of Chicago * Coro & Orquestra Gulbenkian * Holland Baroque * Gewandhausorchester Leipzig * The Dresdner Philharmonie * Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin *

B'Rock Orchestra B'Rock Orchestra is a Belgian period ensemble created in Ghent in 2005. It combines works by established baroque composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Friedrich Händel with the lesser-known repertoire of the 17th and 1 ...

Composers * Gordon Getty * Jeanine Tesori * Jake Heggie * Jennifer Higdon * John Corigliano * Jimmy López Bellido * Hilarion Alfeyev * Luna Pearl Woolf * Viktor Orri Árnason * Francisco Coll *

Wim Henderickx Wim Henderickx (; 17 March 196218 December 2022) was a Belgian composer of contemporary classical music. He was composer in residence at Muziektheater Transparant and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, writing operas and other stage works. His m ...

* Fernando Velázquez * Klein * Missy Mazzoli *

Niloufar Nourbakhsh Niloufar Nourbakhsh is a New York City-based Iranian composer and pianist, who founded the Iranian Female Composers Association. Early life and education Born in Iran, Nourbakhsh is known for her contemporary classical compositions for piano, or ...

* Tomeka Reid *

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...

* Juri Seo * David Balakrishnan *

Sky Macklay Sky Macklay (born 1988) is an American composer of concert music and an oboist. She was winner of the Leo Kaplan Award (the top prize in the Morton Gould Young Composer Award of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) in 2013 an ...

* Nia Franklin * Jennifer Jolley * Alex Weston * Nina Shekhar * Texu Kim * Caroline Shaw * Kamala Sankaram * Mark Campbell (librettist) * Matt Boehler * Gabriella Smith * David Sanford * David T. Little * Nkeiru Okoye * Jorge Sosa * Vijay Iyer * Roberto Sierra * Asher Sizemore * Tod Machover * Laura Elise Schwendinger * Lisa Bielawa *

Todd Boss Todd (Ryan) Boss (born December 6, 1968) is an American poet, installation artist, and film producer, and inventor based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has published several collections of poetry and contributed to literary journals. He has also ...

* Royce Vavrek * Rene Orth * Colleen Murphy * Christopher Cerrone *

John K. Samson John Kristjan Samson (born 1973) is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a singer-songwriter and best known as the frontman of the Canadian indie folk/rock band The Weakerthans. He also played bass in the punk band Propagandhi duri ...

* Gabriel Kahane * Andrew Marshall *

Huang Ruo Huang Ruo (黃若, born 1976) is a Chinese-born composer, pianist and vocalist who now lives in the United States. Biography Born on Hainan Island off the southern coast of China in 1976, Huang was taught piano and composition from the age ...

* David Henry Hwang *

Timo Andres Timo is a masculine given name. It is primarily used in Finnish, Estonian, Dutch and German societies. It may be used as an abbreviation of Timothy. Arts and entertainment * Timo Alakotila (born 1959), Finnish musician * Timo Andres (born 1985) ...

* Hilary Purrington * Lembit Beecher *

Liza Balkan Liza Balkan is a Canadian actress, dancer, director, teacher and writer. Career She received Toronto's Dora Mavor Moore Award for her performance in '' Still the Night'' ( Theatre Passe Muraille/ Tova Entertainment/Tapestry/National Tour). She i ...

* Emily Roller * Joel Thompson *

Gene Scheer Gene Scheer (born April 28, 1958) is an American songwriter, librettist and lyricist. Brother to Samuel Scheer, an English teacher at Windsor High School and part-time musician. Education and early career Scheer was born in New York City. He receiv ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

Annabelle Chvostek Annabelle Chvostek (born October 5, 1973) is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. Life and career Born in Toronto, she is the daughter of Canadian television producer Milan Chvostek (''The Nature of Things'') and journalist ...

* Layale Chaker * Lewis Spratlan * Marcos Balter * Tamar-kali * Osnat Netzer * Phonodelica * David Lang

Catalogue series

* Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg series * AMERICAN OPERAS Series * Dances Series * REMASTERED CLASSICS Philips Classics * PENTATONE Oxingale Series * REMASTERED CLASSICS Deutsche Grammophon * RQR Series

References

External links

Official website of Pentatone

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{{Authority control Classical music record labels Dutch record labels Record labels established in 2001 2001 establishments in the Netherlands