Wigmore Hall Live relaunches today as a digital-only platform in partnership with Apple Music Classical, with all recording royalties flowing directly to artists, Gramophone reports.
Wigmore Hall is a prestigious 550-seat concert hall on Wigmore Street in Marylebone, London, widely regarded as one of the world’s most important venues for chamber music, early music and vocal recitals. Opened in 1901 and renowned for its particularly good acoustics, the Grade II listed building hosts more than 500 concerts each year. The new partnership with Apple was announced this year as part of the Hall’s 125th anniversary celebrations.
Under the artist-driven model, Wigmore Hall will cover all production costs for each release and will take no share of recording revenues, passing on 100% of royalties received directly to the performing artists. The platform will release four digital-only recordings per year, taken from live performances at the Hall and developed in close collaboration with artists. Each new release from Wigmore Hall Live will be streamed exclusively on Apple Music Classical for three months.
Director John Gilhooly said the partnership would allow listeners “to experience the Wigmore Hall concerts as close to the live event as possible”, citing the sound quality of Apple Music Classical as central to this goal.
The first release under the new model is pianist Boris Giltburg’s recording of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Nos. 4, 8, 9, 20 (“Pathétique”) and 26 (“Les Adieux”), recorded live at Wigmore Hall in February 2025. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major is available now, and the full album will be released tomorrow. The release includes an artist commentary track in which Giltburg offers a more in-depth look at the repertoire.
Apple Music Classical has already collaborated with institutions such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and Vienna Philharmonic. The app launched in most countries in March 2023 and is included in a standard “Apple Music” subscription at no additional cost, providing access to more than five million classical music tracks. It is based on Primephonic, a classical music streaming service acquired by Apple in 2021.
