This fall, the record label and digital distributor Naxos has begun releasing several new digital products, beginning this September with its first four iBooks exploring lives of great composers. The books—devoted to Joaquín Rodrigo, Dmitri Shostakovich, Joseph Martin Kraus (“the Swedish Mozart”), and Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739-1813)—are designed to be read on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPads, with each title including audio samples that can be accessed by tapping the screen. Further titles in the same series set for this fall will cover Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Mahler, Haydn, Chopin, and Liszt. Three additional iBooks—Discover Music of the Baroque Era, Discover Music of the Classical Era, and Discover Early Music—are scheduled for release in December. Naxos also has released its first app designed for the iPad, intended as an introduction to classical music for children age 5 and up. The app, an interactive version of My First Classical Music Book, introduces classical music and great composers, explores the sections of the orchestra, and allows users to hear what each instrument sounds like.
October 27, 2011
