Violinist Maxim Vengerov is making his new releases exclusive to classical-music streaming service Idagio, and as part of the deal has been named as an ambassador for the company. The first release is Vengerov’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. A second exclusive album, a performance from Carnegie Hall, lands on 4 February with a recording of a performance at the Albert Hall in London follows in June.
Idagio will put its full promotional weight behind the albums and says that more ambassadors will be signed up this year, although it is not clear if they will also be trading exclusives as part of the deal.
In the mainstream music-streaming world, exclusives for music have pretty much died out, although video content and live sessions are still up for grabs. Perhaps there is more scope for them on the classical specialist services though, with more variables (featured musicians + orchestras + conductors + compositions) to play with. The news comes shortly after Idagio launched a free tier in November 2019, having previously been subscription-only.
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