Matthew Cosgrove knows how Mark Twain felt. The affable 40-something says that
reports of the death of Warner Classics (of which he was appointed head in
December) have been greatly exaggerated.
Yet it is hardly unreasonable for the media and the classical consumer to fret in the wake of the record company's massive cutbacks last year, which prompted the closure of the offices of the Teldec label in Hamburg and the Erato label in Paris — and brought a 90 percent cut in Warner's classical music payroll.
In a recent interview, Cosgrove confirmed his artist roster and reveals key plans for the year ahead. Conductors Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Daniel Barenboim, Sakari Oramo and William Christie will remain members of the Warner family. So, too, will violinists Vadim Repin and teenager Chloe Hanslip, as well as Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin. Pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Nikolai Lugansky and harpsichordist/fortepianist Andreas Staier will each have major releases in 2002, while opera (from Baroque to 20th-century) will continue to be featured alongside symphonic and chamber repertoire.
However, the complete Bach cantata series that Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir have been recording for Erato will be discontinued due to "scale and expense," according to Cosgrove.
And, in "a change of emphasis," Cosgrove reports that consumers can expect more contemporary repertoire in the future. "I'm particularly interested in 20th-century British and American repertoire," he says. "I'm not planning a new line or series, but I am interested in championing some composers who have not had a fair deal, such as David Diamond and Frank Bridge, or Martinu. The focus is very much on new recordings."
Warner needs all the good news it can muster. The reduction of Warner Classics to a small wing of Warner Music International — reducing a staff of nearly 90 to just a dozen and diminishing Teldec and Erato to imprints rather than full-service labels — was, by Cosgrove's own admission, "a complete nightmare" both for internal morale and external perceptions.
"A lot of people I have worked with for a long time are no longer here," he says with a sigh. "But the important thing for the consumer is that records are still going to be coming. There will be several more announcements in the coming months."
Among upcoming projects are a planned Má vlast and a Bruckner Ninth Symphony, both with Harnoncourt and the Vienna Philharmonic, as well as other projects that Cosgrove plans to discuss with the Austrian maestro in March. The label's critically acclaimed Sibelius cycle with Oramo will also be completed ("We've just recorded Symphonies 6 and 7 along with Tapiola," Cosgrove points out), while Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony have recorded conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler's rarely heard Second Symphony. (This recording will conclude Barenboim's relationship with the label, says Cosgrove, because of a decision made by executives at Teldec before its offices were closed.)
Christie, too, continues to produce Warner records, such as a disc of Lully grand motets taped in late January. The New College Choir of Oxford and music director Edward Higginbottom, a mainstream Warner success story, will be recording a two-disc set devoted to Pergolesi's Marian Vespers as well as a single CD titled "In Excelsis." Cosgrove says, "I have strong hopes for these."
Opera enthusiasts can expect to see a Bernard Haitink-led take on Janácek's Jenufa, featuring Karita Mattila in the title role. "We're still planning a Fliegende Holländer and a Tannhäuser," Cosgrove adds, "and Monica Groop is doing a disc of French opera arias."
Starry concerto and recital discs are also still in the pipeline, including discs featuring Aimard (his recent Carnegie Hall recital), Repin and Hanslip.
So, this doesn't necessarily sound like a company donning sackcloth and ashes, as some in the classical music media would have it. Not quite, but Cosgrove does admit that "there are going to be fewer recordings made."
Just how many fewer will be seen, but Cosgrove insists that the shrinking release schedule is a reality the entire classical recording industry now accepts: "We have to look at the profiles of our artists and at the available space for retailing classical product. And we need to spend more time marketing more effectively to the consumer rather than indulging in vanity projects. I've found that our artists are very aware of the problems; if you're an artist putting out six recordings a year, it's very hard to gain exposure. Only put out one or two, and that's much more of an event."
Susan Graham, widely acknowledged as one of today's most important mezzo-sopranos, was the highest-profile casualty of Warner's recent troubles. The decision to let her go, taken by Cosgrove's predecessors, was "completely crazy," Cosgrove says, expressing hope that the company will work with the singer again. Hélène Grimaud has also parted company with Warner, but of her own volition, according to Cosgrove. The pianist — whose disc of Brahms Sonatas is due in March — will be joining Deutsche Grammophon, although there has been no official announcement from the yellow label to date.
While Cosgrove says he is dedicated to his remaining artists, his commitment to DVD-Audio looks shaky. Its corporate launch was "rather confusing," he says, and he remains unconvinced that the public can or will view DVD as anything less than a video format. Similarly, Warner's much-vaunted plans for a crossover label have been quietly but determinedly dumped.
"Warner Lab is not going to happen," Cosgrove states baldly. "It was a
decision taken before my arrival in this post, and I do not think it is
workable. It's very easy to get crossover wrong. To take a classical artist and
get them to do repertoire they are not happy with results in a bad record that's
neither classical nor pop. I'll not be asking my classical artists to do
crossover projects of any sort."
