The Minnesota Orchestra and its music director Osmo Vänskä has launched a new download initiative. To mark the launch of the orchestra’s own download store, two works are being made available free of charge: Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony (they will be available for download until October 2010). Five works have been selected from the Minnesota Orchestra’s 2010-11 season for download (at 256kbps and at a price comparable to similar download stores). They are Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (available in November), Mozart’s Symphony No 41, Jupiter (January 2011), Brahms’s Symphony No 4 (February), Sibelius’s Symphony No 5 (April) and Orff’s Carmina burana (June).

The Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä embark on a European tour in the late summer which takes in two concerts at the BBC Proms (the programme on August 27 features music by Barber, Shostakovich and Bruckner – the Fourth Symphony; the one on August 28 links the Berg Violin Concerto with Beethoven’s Choral Symphony). The most recent release by Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra is of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony; it’s available on BIS.

To download the two free works, simply register at the Minnesota Orchestra’s website - www.minnesotaorchestra.org/musicondemand.

James Jolly