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Valentina Lisitsa signs to Decca

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Oscar

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May 25, 2012, 3:52:47 AM5/25/12
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Reportedly the world's #1 YouTube pianist (43 million hits), Valentina
Lisitsa has signed to Decca. Her first CD will be recorded live in
recital next month at Royal Albert Hall. We can hope that this image
will not be the cover art http://tiny.cc/19suew According to Norman
Lebrecht, Lisitsa has recorded — at her own expense — the four
Rachmaninov concertos, plus Paganini Variations, with the London
Symphony Orchestra and conductor Michael Francis. These may follow the
Albert Hall recital disc.

Lisitsa's YouTube catalog: http://tiny.cc/0gtuew


Press release
25 May 2012
Internationally acclaimed pianist Valentina Lisitsa signs to Decca
Classics and takes over Royal Albert Hall for her London debut
concert.

Today it was announced that internationally acclaimed pianist
Valentina Lisitsa has signed an exclusive recording contract with
Decca Classics.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Valentina began playing the piano at the age of
three and performed her first solo recital just one year later. She
has won prestigious awards for her playing internationally, including
the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition (together with her husband
Alexei Kuznetsoff).

Valentina Lisitsa has already performed at major international venues
including Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York and the
Vienna Musikverein, and in countries as far apart as the Netherlands
and Brazil. She has played with renowned orchestras including Chicago
Symphony, Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and the Pittsburgh
Symphony, collaborating with conductors Manfred Honeck, Yannick Nézet-
Séguin, and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, among others. Upcoming performances
are confirmed with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Philharmonie im
Gasteig, Munich with Muenchner Symphoniker and recitals at the
Victoria Hall in Geneva and Philharmonie Berlin.

With more than 43 million views and over 52,000 subscribers to her
YouTube channel, the young pianist is not only one of the fastest-
rising stars of the international concert scene but probably the
single most-watched classical musician, having rapidlyovertaken long-
established giants of the piano world in terms of global online
viewing figures.

Paul Moseley, Managing Director, Decca Classics, said: “Valentina is a
truly unique artist. Her YouTube fame is genuine and well-deserved,
and we are proud to be working with her as she reaches out to huge
numbers of classical fans in a modern and very immediate way”.

Where most classical artists merely use the social media to help
promote their existing touring and recording schedules,Valentina
Lisitsa has turned the traditional business model upside-down by
becoming the first classical solo artist to launch her career all on
her own, without first signing up with a tour promoter or record
company.

In a move that proves just how successfully an artist can use the
social media not only to champion classical music and performance but
even to kick-start an entirely self-made career, on June 19th
Valentina Lisitsa will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall, one of
the world’s most famous classical venues and home of the BBC Proms.

Jasper Hope, Chief Operating Officer, Royal Albert Hall said:
“Valentina is a force of nature and an extraordinary talent. I don’t
know anybody else who has done this before and we simply had to open
our doors to her and give her this opportunity on the world’s most
famous stage”

As a ‘thank you’ to her current online fans Valentina is determined to
make the concert a fully digital and interactive experience – by
inviting fans to vote online to decide what she will play and by fully
streaming the concert live via YouTube for those who can’t travel to
London. This level of online digital interaction is a first for a solo
classical concert.

Aptly for a truly global artist, Decca will immediately make the
recording of her Royal Albert Hall concert available for pre-order
with a digital-only release on June 25th, to be followed by the
release in CD format on 3rd July.

Valentina Lisitsa said: “I am thrilled signing to Decca Classics today
and immensely looking forward to my debut concert at the Royal Albert
Hall. I could not have done this without all my online fans around the
world. Their reactions tell me every day that I am doing the right
thing and that’s the best reward for my hard work. Now I want to say
thank you and give them a great concert live and online. Basically
it’s a gathering for friends old and new. It’s a concert, but it’s
also a celebration. There’s a lady from Barbados coming, even people
from New Zealand.”

td

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May 25, 2012, 5:44:23 AM5/25/12
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On May 25, 3:52 am, Oscar <oscaredwardwilliam...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Reportedly the world's #1 YouTube pianist (43 million hits), Valentina
> Lisitsa has signed to Decca.

This is not really news. Norman Lebrecht is revealing something most
people in the industry suspected for some time now. Norman is being
coy, of course.

Her Rachmaninoff Picos, produced by former DG VP Michael Fine, will be
issued on the Decca label. They were finished a few months ago, just
awaiting this announcement.

TD

Oscar

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May 25, 2012, 6:27:04 AM5/25/12
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On May 25, 2:44 am, td wrote:
>
> > Reportedly the world's #1 YouTube pianist (43 million hits), Valentina
> > Lisitsa has signed to Decca.
>
> This is not really news. Norman Lebrecht is revealing something most
> people in the industry suspected for some time now. Norman is being
> coy, of course.

Of course it's news. That's why a press release was issued by Decca
publicity.

td

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May 25, 2012, 6:50:15 AM5/25/12
to
On May 25, 6:27 am, Oscar <oscaredwardwilliam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On May 25, 2:44 am, td wrote:
>
>
>
> > > Reportedly the world's #1 YouTube pianist (43 million hits), Valentina
> > > Lisitsa has signed to Decca.
>
> > This is not really news. Norman Lebrecht is revealing something most
> > people in the industry suspected for some time now. Norman is being
> > coy, of course.
>
> Of course it's news. That's why a press release was issued by Decca
> publicity.

Hmmmmm.

But of course. I am just surprised it is news.

TD

Dufus

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Jul 23, 2012, 10:56:06 PM7/23/12
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>On May 25, 2:52 am, Oscar <oscaredwardwilliam...@gmail.com> wrote:

Playing Thalberg's "Grande fantasie pour le Barber de Seville " :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8KIHWph1fI&feature=related

Mark S

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Jul 24, 2012, 1:31:55 AM7/24/12
to
On May 25, 12:52 am, Oscar <oscaredwardwilliam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Reportedly the world's #1 YouTube pianist (43 million hits), Valentina
> Lisitsa has signed to Decca. Her first CD will be recorded live in
> recital next month at Royal Albert Hall. We can hope that this image
> will not be the cover arthttp://tiny.cc/19suew

I've met Ms Lisitsa, who is a fab pianist and a real stunner. Such a
shame that Decca has elected to doctor her picture to cash in on the
current rage over everything that has to do with vampires.

BTW - this will be her Decca debut. She was already featured with
Hillary Hahn on a DG recording of the Ives Violin Sonatas that was
released in January, not to mention that she has appeared on any
number of CDs on Naxos, VAI, and a number of boutique labels in
recordings going back to the mid-1990s. So Decca calling this her
"first CD" is stretching the truth.

Steve de Mena

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Jul 25, 2012, 4:37:07 AM7/25/12
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I didn't see (in the press release that started this thread) any
mention of this being her "first CD". Did I miss something?

Steve

JohnGavin

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Jul 25, 2012, 9:30:24 AM7/25/12
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What makes this interesting, of course, is that YouTube has served V. Lisitsa the way winning a competition gold medal has served other soloists, and perhaps ever more so. How many people actually sit in on competitions? She has a huge audience-fan club from the internet - does this usher in some kind of new era?

I have seen her interviews - she seems like a really lovely person, very humble and down-to-earth. By the way, there is a DVD of her playing the 24 Etudes of Chopin.

She seems to have what it takes to be a world-class concert pianist, yet, I'm not entirely sure about that little extra yet necessary quality - true originality, that element that renders a performer instantly recognizable and distinct. I guess time will tell.

Matthew�B.�Tepper

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Jul 25, 2012, 10:31:05 AM7/25/12
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JohnGavin <dag...@gmail.com> appears to have caused the following letters
to be typed in news:e29bcb3e-df22-4bee...@googlegroups.com:

> What makes this interesting, of course, is that YouTube has served V.
> Lisitsa the way winning a competition gold medal has served other
> soloists, and perhaps ever more so. How many people actually sit in on
> competitions? She has a huge audience-fan club from the internet - does
> this usher in some kind of new era?

Classical music's answer to Justin Bieber?

> I have seen her interviews - she seems like a really lovely person, very
> humble and down-to-earth. By the way, there is a DVD of her playing the
> 24 Etudes of Chopin.
>
> She seems to have what it takes to be a world-class concert pianist,
> yet, I'm not entirely sure about that little extra yet necessary quality
> - true originality, that element that renders a performer instantly
> recognizable and distinct. I guess time will tell.

Yes, but she does have that other little extra yet necessary quality that
today's marketers yearn for. She's a hot babe.

--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!!
Read about "Proty" here: http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/proty.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employers.

Dufus

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Jul 25, 2012, 11:09:30 AM7/25/12
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>On Jul 25, 9:31 am, "Matthew B. Tepper" <oy @earthlink.net> wrote:

> Yes, but she does have that other little extra yet necessary quality that
> today's marketers yearn for.  She's a hot babe.

Just think if Myra Hess or Clara Haskill had to audition today. Sort
of like the actors who did not survive the "talkies" ?

Dufus

MiNe 109

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Jul 25, 2012, 11:42:09 AM7/25/12
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In article <XnsA09B4C6F26A...@216.168.3.70>,
"Matthew B. Tepper" <oyþ@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Classical music's answer to Justin Bieber?

So says tons of publicity. She's almost 40, btw.

Stephen

Mark S

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Jul 25, 2012, 11:54:24 AM7/25/12
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Sorry. The Decca website is touting this as her Debut CD. The article
doesn't - to my eyes - make it clear that this isn't her very first CD.

Matthew�B.�Tepper

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Jul 25, 2012, 12:00:50 PM7/25/12
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Dufus <steve...@gmail.com> appears to have caused the following letters to
be typed in news:a87027c8-1555-43d4-a7ca-0ef6d4987f92
@w6g2000yqg.googlegroups.com:
They had fingers then!

Kip Williams

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Jul 25, 2012, 12:10:53 PM7/25/12
to
Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
> Dufus <steve...@gmail.com> appears to have caused the following letters to
> be typed in news:a87027c8-1555-43d4-a7ca-0ef6d4987f92
> @w6g2000yqg.googlegroups.com:
>
>>> On Jul 25, 9:31 am, "Matthew B. Tepper" <oy @earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Yes, but she does have that other little extra yet necessary quality that
>>> today's marketers yearn for. She's a hot babe.
>>
>> Just think if Myra Hess or Clara Haskill had to audition today. Sort
>> of like the actors who did not survive the "talkies" ?
>
> They had fingers then!

It was the keys that got small.


Kip W


Matthew B. Tepper

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Jul 25, 2012, 3:52:12 PM7/25/12
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Kip Williams <mrk...@gmail.com> appears to have caused the following
letters to be typed in news:hUUPr.7728$z66...@newsfe10.iad:
Touché.

Matthew B. Tepper

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Jul 25, 2012, 3:52:12 PM7/25/12
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Mark S <markst...@yahoo.com> appears to have caused the following
letters to be typed in
news:9943cfbf-c765-43e7...@rx5g2000pbc.googlegroups.com:

> On Jul 25, 1:37 am, Steve de Mena <st...@demena.com> wrote:
>>
>> I didn't see (in the press release that started this thread) any
>> mention of this being her "first CD". Did I miss something?
>
> Sorry. The Decca website is touting this as her Debut CD. The article
> doesn't - to my eyes - make it clear that this isn't her very first CD.

What!? A record label's PR makes a misleading claim without qualifying it?
How could that possibly happen???

Steve de Mena

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Jul 25, 2012, 6:12:48 PM7/25/12
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On 7/25/12 12:52 PM, Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
> Mark S <markst...@yahoo.com> appears to have caused the following
> letters to be typed in
> news:9943cfbf-c765-43e7...@rx5g2000pbc.googlegroups.com:
>
>> On Jul 25, 1:37 am, Steve de Mena <st...@demena.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I didn't see (in the press release that started this thread) any
>>> mention of this being her "first CD". Did I miss something?
>>
>> Sorry. The Decca website is touting this as her Debut CD. The article
>> doesn't - to my eyes - make it clear that this isn't her very first CD.
>
> What!? A record label's PR makes a misleading claim without qualifying it?
> How could that possibly happen???

I saw a mention of it being her "Decca Debut" on deccaclassics.com
last night (a reference I can't find today) but not a general "Debut
CD" claim.

http://deccaclassics.com/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4784572

Steve

John Thomas

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Jul 25, 2012, 6:48:09 PM7/25/12
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On Jul 25, 7:31 am, "Matthew B. Tepper" <oy @earthlink.net> wrote:
> JohnGavin <dagd...@gmail.com> appears to have caused the following letters
> to be typed innews:e29bcb3e-df22-4bee...@googlegroups.com:
>
> > What makes this interesting, of course, is that YouTube has served V.
> > Lisitsa the way winning a competition gold medal has served other
> > soloists, and perhaps ever more so.  How many people actually sit in on
> > competitions? She has a huge audience-fan club from the internet - does
> > this usher in some kind of new era?
>
> Classical music's answer to Justin Bieber?
>
> > I have seen her interviews - she seems like a really lovely person, very
> > humble and down-to-earth.  By the way, there is a DVD of her playing the
> > 24 Etudes of Chopin.
>
> > She seems to have what it takes to be a world-class concert pianist,
> > yet, I'm not entirely sure about that little extra yet necessary quality
> > - true originality, that element that renders a performer instantly
> > recognizable and distinct.  I guess time will tell.
>
> Yes, but she does have that other little extra yet necessary quality that
> today's marketers yearn for.  She's a hot babe.


Really? Why does the only publicity pic I've seen make her look like
a zombie? Is it because zombies are *in* these days?

Oscar

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Jul 25, 2012, 7:16:22 PM7/25/12
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On Wednesday, July 25, 2012 3:48:09 PM, John Thomas wrote:
>
> Really? Why does the only publicity pic I've seen make her look like
> a zombie? Is it because zombies are *in* these days?

It really is hideous cover art, isn't it? I can't believe IMG signed off on it, let alone Ms. Lisitsa. Criminy, and they had the perfect album cover _already_ in the can! http://tinyurl.com/cggumlc

Kirk McElhearn at dot

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Jul 26, 2012, 3:24:26 AM7/26/12
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On 2012-07-25 22:48:09 +0000, John Thomas <abras...@gmail.com> said:

>> Yes, but she does have that other little extra yet necessary quality that
>> today's marketers yearn for.  She's a hot babe.
>
>
> Really? Why does the only publicity pic I've seen make her look like
> a zombie? Is it because zombies are *in* these days?

Ditto. I think I saw a pic of her on iTunes recently; she looks like
she's on thorazine.

Kirk
--

Kirkville -- http://www.mcelhearn.com
Writings about more than just Macs
Take Control of iTunes 10: The FAQ: http://www.mcelhearn.com/itunes

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