CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a new partnership with Apple Music Classical, beginning with an exclusive release of Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 6 in spatial audio.
The partnership between Apple and the orchestra will highlight "exclusive releases, curated playlists and editorial features" on the Apple Music Classical streaming app.
The recording of Prokofiev's sixth, the first release under the partnership and TCO's first digital release of 2024, was recorded at the orchestra's September 28 and October 1, 2023 concerts in Severance Music Center.
"An enthusiastic adopter of emerging techniques—ranging from the long-playing record in the George Szell era to early digital recording technologies under Lorin Maazel—The Cleveland Orchestra has consistently led the industry as a recording orchestra of the highest caliber," the orchestra said in a media release, "and the Orchestra’s performances have been heard by millions through radio and television broadcasts, physical media, and most recently, streaming online."
Apple Music Classical is Apple's dedicated streaming app for classical music. It boasts what Apple calls "the world's largest classical music catalog, with fully optimized search." The app allows users to browse pieces and composers individually and — unlike other apps — clearly labels each track by work and movement. Users can search for works by title, keyword, composer, opus number, orchestra, conductor or instrument.
Prokofiev's Symphony No. 6 was premiered by the Leningrad Symphony in 1947. It premiered to great acclaim in the Soviet Union; the world premiere audience reportedly gave the work a 30-minute standing ovation and a critic called it "another stunning victory for Soviet art." But the symphony — and Prokofiev himself — would soon be found in the crosshairs of government officials engaged in a crusade against "formalism," a term meaning art that did not serve a larger social purpose. The symphony is now widely considered one of the composer's crowning symphonic achievements.
The Cleveland Orchestra's recording, released Friday, was conducted by the orchestra's longtime music director, Franz Welser-Möst.