“Firma Melodiya” was founded in 1964 as a state-owned company for production, storage and distribution of sound recordings. Being the successor of All-Union Recording Studio “Melodiya” it was the only record company in the country till the collapse of the Soviet Union. Recording studios of “Melodiya” were situated in Moscow, Leningrad, Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius and other cities. Each Union republic had a shop of “Melodiya”. “Melodiya” showed the sound history of the past century in a variety of genres (from light to classical music, from folklore to works of composers of all the former Union republics), gathered together masterpieces of art of prominent Soviet artists, ensembles, orchestras, musical theaters. Representing the domestic arts at home and abroad, on all continents, “Melodiya” became the guardian of the national musical heritage of many generations.
Today “Melodiya” is:
the national heritage of Russia, the most valuable archive which includes more than 230,000 sound recordings
beautiful music, bringing together several generations
variety of genres: classical music, folk, pop, rock, jazz
masterpieces of the world musical art of famous bands and artists
works of well-known composers and conductors
“Alma Mater” of the leading professionals in the field of sound recording and musical art
legendary music library “Hermitage” which includes wonderful music, fairy tales for the children, audio books (prose performed by the masters of the scene, poetic cycles), performances, recordings of brilliant actors, readers, composers, musicians, and many other unique projects.
The company’s library of recordings is an important cultural asset. That’s why we pay special attention to its high-quality restoration and releasing of archival records. However, “Melodiya” not only cherishes the unique musical heritage but also grows in the conditions of today’s music market. Archival records of “Melodiya” show the best pieces of the Russian performing arts of the XX century and the best composer’s works. Traditionally, “Melodiya” introduces the music of the forgotten classics of the Soviet period - Moses Weinberg, Herman Galynin, Boris Tchaikovsky and others. “Composer-performer” series is an authorized interpretation of symphonic and chamber compositions. “Melodiya” offers an anthology of outstanding soloists and groups: among them – “Russian play Russians” (conductor Kirill Kondrashin), “60 years of glory”) (State Borodin Quartet). “Silver Melody” series includes records with the voices of Anna German, Leonid Utiosov, Larisa Mondrus, Edyta Piecha.
In 2006, on the occasion of centenary of the birth of Claudia Shulzhenko, “Melodiya” released CD with a unique recording of two of her concerts in the House of Actors in 1966. Strategic vector of “Melodiya” is transition from preservation to creativity. “Melodiya” continues to publish experimental works created by mixing of different genres of music. “Classics in Jazz” series is the interaction and the pulses of both art forms. “The True Story of the Soviet light music” is an alternative view of the history of the “light genre”.
“Great Composers” is a joint project of “Melodiya” and “Komsomolskaya Pravda”. Fans of classical music not only learn a lot about the life and works of famous composers, but also enjoy rare recordings of the immortal music, performed under the guidance of the renowned Russian and foreign conductors. The project includes 55 editions of classical music.
The joint project with “Silver Rain” radio station called “Silver Melody” presented the best and most interesting musical compositions of 50-60-70-80-ies which has never been published before. They were restored and played on “Silver rain”. “Melodiya” pays special attention to modern projects. These include production of audio books, literary, musical compositions representing the masterpieces of the Russian literature and performed by the great actors of the past and the present. For example, the following fairy-tales were issued in audio format: “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (Alexander Pushkin) performed by Vera Maretskaya, “The Little Prince” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) performed by Yakov Smolenskiy, “Cinderella” (Eugene Schwartz) performed by A. Raikin, O. Tabakov, M. Babanova and others, “The Wizard of Oz” (music of G. Gladkov) and many others. Eternal classical works full of kindness and sincerity help to implant good taste since childhood.
The company’s activity attracts growing public interest. “Melodiya” has partnership relations with state and public organizations, Russian companies, mass media (print, electronic media). In 2011 “Melodiya” became the official partner of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition.
“Melodiya” regularly presents its products at international exhibitions, including the International Fair of Intellectual Literature “Non Fiction”, Moscow Family Festival “Baby Time”, Saint-Petersburg International Book Fair, an international exhibition of consumer electronics “CONSUMER ELECTRONICS & PHOTO EXPO” and the world famous specialized musical exhibition MIDEM which is held every year in Cannes, France. “Melodiya” is well-known to the foreign public. For example, in 2011 “Melodiya” won the award of Classical Music International Classical Music Awards (ICMA-2011) in the category “Historical Recording”. Collection of Sibelius symphonies on 3 CDs performed by the Grand Orchestra of All-Soviet Union Radio and Television conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky was recognized as the best disk of February 2011 by the Luxembourg magazine “Pizzicato”.
The activity of the company is based on the Russian legislation on copyright and related rights. “Melodiya” has exclusive agreements with many right owners. On the official website of “Firma Melodiya” you can find a list of CD’s with music and literary works for every taste, as well as information about artists, news, plans for releases, joint projects and stores where you can buy the production of “Melodiya”. You can order discs online: http://shop.melody.su.
Times change, “Melodiya” stays with you.
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