Supraphon Music Publishing is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.

History

The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. The name was used for the label of domestic albums produced for export by Ultraphon company. After World War II, Ultraphon was nationalized and its name changed to ''Gramofonové závody''. In 1961, the name was changed to ''Gramofonové závody – Supraphon'' and later simplified to ''Supraphon'' in 1969. In

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, Supraphon was one of the three major state-owned labels, the other two being Panton and

Opus Opus (: opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera ...

. By January 2013, Supraphon was the official Czech distributor for the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

. The Czech branch of Warner Music revived after the company acquired

EMI Czech Republic Warner Music Czech Republic (formerly EMI Czech Republic and Parlophone Czech Republic) is a record label based in the Czech Republic. The company was founded under the name Monitor in 1990. EMI purchased the label in 1994 and maintained it un ...

. Panton is currently a division of Supraphon. Opus, operating in Slovakia, became independent after the break-up of Czechoslovakia and was acquired by

in 2019. In January 2025,

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

Entertainment announced its acquisition of Supraphon.

Catalogues

The artistic direction of the firm gave rise to a broad catalogue of titles which systematically mapped out the works of

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( ; ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded ...

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...

and

Jan Dismas Zelenka Jan Dismas Zelenka (16 October 1679 – 23 December 1745), baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka was a Bohemian composer and musician of the Baroque period. His music is admired for its harmonic inventiveness and mastery of counterpoint. Zelenka was ...

, as well as other representatives of both the Czech and the international music worlds. Significant domestic and foreign soloists, chamber ensembles, orchestras and conductors all contributed to its collection of recordings. Supraphon archives contain the recordings of Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Václav Talich, Karel Ančerl, Karel Šejna, Václav Neumann and others, as well as recordings of Saša Večtomov and such non-Czechoslovak artists as

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...

Emil Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (19 October 191614 October 1985, born Samuil) was a Soviet pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. His sister Elizabeth, three years his junior, was a violinist. His daughter Elena ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

Ida Haendel Ida Haendel, (15 December 1928 - or 1923, the exact year remains uncertain 1 July 2020) was a world renowned Polish-British-Canadian violinist. Haendel was a child prodigy, her career spanning over seven decades. She also became an influentia ...

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Bolesław Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish- Mexican violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname ...

, Hélène Boschi or

André Gertler André Gertler (26 July 1907 – 23 July 1998) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (1940–1977), Professor at the Cologne Academy of Music (1954–1957), Professor at the College of Mus ...

. Many recordings have been reissued in editions ''Archive'', ''Ančerl Gold Edition'', ''Talich Special Edition''. The label also focused on collaboration with the present classical music interpreters, with recordings by the Pavel Haas Quartet awarded ''BBC Music Magazine''s "Chamber Choice". Among other artists working with Supraphon were

Jiří Bělohlávek Jiří Bělohlávek, (; 24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasio ...

and Sir

Charles Mackerras Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...

. The company's first stereo records were issued in 1961, although recordings were in the format from 1958. The label's earliest stereophonic pop music was recorded in 1964. In the 1970s, Supraphon made some records in four channel stereo using the

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic, also called quadrasonic or by the neologism quadio ortmanteau, formed by analogy with "stereo" sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are po ...

('SQ')system. For example: Two-LP-set

: Má Vlast. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor: Václav Neumann. Supraphon Stereo/Quad 1410 2021/2 P 1976. Since 1981, Supraphon was recording in digital and first CDs were produced in Japan in 1984. Supraphon started releasing popular music on CDs from 1987. In 1988, Grammy nominated artists The Moody Brothers recorded an album in Prague with Jiří Brabec and Country Beat. The album ''Friends'' was the first such country music cooperative production between an American company,

Lamon Records Lamon Records is an indie record label that was established in North Carolina before moving to Nashville, Tennessee. Lamon Records concentrates its efforts in country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, alternative rock, alternative and ...

and Supraphon. The recording earned critical acclaim and won the Moodys and Brabec, along with the producers, engineers and studios involved in the project the Ampex Golden Reel Award.Morris, Edward "Moodys Play With Czech Mates" ''Billboard Magazine''. September 1988 The company has continued producing new recordings in the 21st century, including output by the Collegium Marianum and the Pavel Haas Quartet.

References

External links

Official website of Supraphon

Supraphonline
– Online music store
Supraphon Label
- history and list of series * {{Authority control Czech record labels Record labels established in 1932 Classical music record labels Pop record labels IFPI members Czech brands Czechoslovak companies established in 1932 State-owned record labels

History

Catalogues

See also

References

External links