FYI In a move that has surprised the classical record industry as much as the people involved, Warner Classics has, in essence, ceased to be an active record label. Matthew Cosgrove, who has steered Warner Classics and created a respected niche label that has attracted musicians of the calibre of mezzo Susan Graham, pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Nikolay Lugansky, conductors Daniel Barenboim and Sakari Oramo, had left the company (and it is thought that he will be announced at the new Vice President of A&R at Deutsche Grammophon within the next few days). Warner Music made a substantial investment in classical music under the leadership of Ramon Lopez in the 1990s, building on the impressive legacies of the French Erato label and the Teldec label in Germany. When the company downsized its classical division, Cosgrove was given the brief to revive the company with a greatly reduced staff (indeed, his team was smaller than at many independent companies). His recordings have consistently garnered critical acclaim and have balanced often inspired 'core' classical projects with explorations of the more arcane areas of the repertoire (two discs of the music of John Foulds have been particularly well received, both being named Gramophone Editor's Choices and both featuring in the short lists for the Classic FM Gramophone Awards). Warner Classics is being rolled into Rhino, Warner's reissue division, though it is unclear at the moment of the parent company's ambitions in the classical music world. This move by Warner reduces the so-called majors in the classical record arena to just EMI, Universal and Sony-BMG. James Jolly, The Gramophone, editor-in-chief Karl