Coblence's courage is even more evident in the new Andante record label. The classical record business has fallen on hard times, with corporate consolidation and audience attrition the norm. Yet Andante—which has already released six lavishly packaged and annotated 4-CD sets—plans to issue nearly 1,000 CDs over the next 10 years, most of them historical and many never before available. The company, which uses a painstaking digital remastering process developed with Art & Son Studio in Paris, states that its aim is to "preserve the heritage of recordings and broadcasts created by the great classical music masters of the 20th century."

We have heard a few of these recordings, both on the site and over the radio, and the performances and sound quality were excellent. But Andante's focus will not be limited to historical recordings—the company has struck deals with some of the world's leading orchestras (including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the London Symphony and the Vienna Philharmonic) to record and broadcast current performances, as well. The label's obvious devotion to quality should help set it apart in the marketplace (Andante CDs will be sold online, and in special sections of select retail outlets) and make it very appealing to music lovers; both advantages are essential to the company's long-term prospects.

Andante's quality will not come cheap: 4-CD sets will sell for $79 (although the debut sets are presently available for $64). We don't think the label's core audience will be terribly put off by this; indeed, the sets' luxurious packaging and documentation reflect the higher standards of an earlier era.

"As a child," Coblence told the Times, "record collecting was my greatest joy and obsession, and part of that joy was in the beauty of the object, and the whole ritual involved in opening the LP, pulling out the record and playing it. All this has wholly disappeared with CDs and jewel boxes. My idea was to restore this sense of love and respect to the recording as an object of culture."

Younger listeners are apt to come to the label—and perhaps to classical music itself—through the Web site, which is also first-rate. The Andante site has a magazine section with timely classical music news, interviews and commentary; a calendar database of current performances; an extensive reference section; a business directory for classical musicians; profiles of classical composers and performers, and an online boutique where Andante's CDs are offered. A "Learning" section, currently under development, will be aimed at music organizations, musicians, teachers, parents and students. Some of these references and services will require a subscription, but most are currently available for free.

It is the "Music Room" which is the site's star attraction, though. There, visitors can listen to Webcasts and to Andante Radio, which is streamed around the clock. The wide-ranging playlist is excellent, featuring great-sounding historic performances, contemporary music seldom heard elsewhere and recent recordings from a variety of labels; there are no third-party ads on the station (or the site) to distract from the musical focus. Andante uses the free RealPlayer for cross-platform streaming, and sound quality is good even over a dial-up modem. Typical of Andante's elegant and sophisticated site design, the player has been customized to show the composer of the piece currently playing, along with the work's duration, the performers, and the recording date, label and catalog number. The customized player only seems to work in Internet Explorer for Windows, but Netscape and Mac users will have no trouble hearing the music through the standard RealPlayer interface.

Andante is a superb new resource, and we wish the site and the label a long and prosperous life.

(Reviewed December 13, 2001)