Back in our January issue we announced a forthcoming label partnership between Deutsche Grammophon and Verbier – and full details have now been revealed. Called Verbier Festival Gold, the online series will release an album a month, drawing on the rich recorded archive of the Swiss festival.

The Verbier Festival has always been a pioneer in media, capturing its musical riches in both audio and visual recordings. When the Festival was forced to reimagine its summer offering in 2020 due to the pandemic, the Virtual Verbier Festival, in partnership with medici.tv and DG, explored the gems of its archive. This paved the way for a significant project that is currently underway, to digitise all of the Festival’s archive.

DG’s President, Clemens Trautmann, commented that ‘the new label’s launch releases and those to follow encapsulate the spirit of Verbier, where musicians gather in ideal conditions every summer to create unforgettable performances. It is a particular pleasure to see the prominent role played by members of Deutsche Grammophon’s family of artists in so many landmark concerts from the Verbier Festival. We’re delighted to help bring this wonderful resource of recordings to new audiences around the world.’

The Verbier Festival’s Founder and Director, Martin T:son Engstroem, added ‘It is with great pride that we announce the Verbier Festival Gold label with our friends at Deutsche Grammophon. We have created many iconic memories with our community of artists in Verbier over the last 29 years, and we are honoured to share them now together with such a prestigious partner.'

The first issue (released in audio format on March 25, and scheduled as a video on DG Stage on April 16) is of Verdi’s Requiem, Gianandrea Noseda conducting the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Torino and soloists Maria Agrestra, Daniela Barcellona, Piotr Beczala and Ildar Abdrazakov, a performance given in 2013. That will be followed on April 22 by a Mendelssohn album featuring Yuja Wang playing the composer’s First Piano Concerto, with the Verbier Festival Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur, and with Kirill Troussov (violin), David Aaron Carpenter and Maxim Rysanov (violas), Sol Gabetta (cello) and Leigh Mesh (double bass) she plays the Piano Sextet in D, Op 110.

May’s release, from 2011, finds Sir Bryn Terfel joined by fellow Welshman Llŷr Williams performing songs by Schubert, Schumann (the Op 39 Liederkreis), Ibert, Quilter and a few encores, while June sees Kristóf Baráti performing JS Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin.