The Philadelphia Orchestra signed a recording contract with Ondine, a Finnish label, earlier this year, nearly ten years after its long relationship with EMI ended. Under the three-year agreement, the orchestra records and engineers live recordings and Ondine distributes them.
Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli's Opera Proibita topped the Billboard classical chart for the third straight week last week, with Ren_e Fleming's Sacred Songs remaining at number two.
Movers included a London Philharmonic recording of Mozart's first five violin concertos, with Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist and conductor, which rose from number five to number three in its second week on the chart.
On the classical-crossover chart, Il Divo maintained its grip on the top two spots, with The Christmas Collection at number one and Il Divo at number two. There were no new entries.