The yellow label's artists

Karajan recorded for Deutsche Grammophon (DG) for over 50 years, releasing four different recordings of all nine Beethoven symphonies and countless other works on the "yellow label." The official website of the conductor mentions 1,279 recordings altogether. Standard-setting interpretations with a bent towards perfection and a lively interest in technological developments were among his hallmarks.

As principal conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, he made a major contribution to rebuilding music life in postwar Germany. Born in Budapest in 1914, Fricsay was particularly noted for his warm, dramatic and ardent renditions of Mozart. He signed an exclusive contract with DG in 1948 and never recorded for a different label.

Responsible for a renaissance in art song, he recorded all 500 of Franz Schubert's lieder and hundreds more: his recording activities were nearly encyclopedic. His intellectually informed renditions, impeccable vocal technique and clear musical messaging were so standard-setting that every singer of lieder today is influenced in some way by Fischer-Dieskau.

After World War II, many Jewish artists steered clear of the company for decades. Bernstein was one of the few to break that trend, beginning his association with DG in the late 70s and later signing an exclusive contract. The many recordings of his later years with the Vienna Philharmonic have legendary status.

The violinist has been associated with DG for 40 years, one-third of the label's history. Discovered as a 13-year-old by the conductor Herbert von Karajan, her first album was released in 1978, with Mutter as soloist in Mozart violin concertos accompanied by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. That was followed by 46 more releases comprising more than 140 works.

DG had its first recording session with the Italian pianist in 1960, so in 2020 the artist and the label will celebrate 60 years of collaboration. Pollini praises the company's policy of publishing not only the mainstream, but also lesser-known yet important works of music.

"Since my childhood in Barquisimeto, DG has been part of my DNA," says the Venezualean conductor. The artists on the recordings opened up a world to him far beyond his home town and "as big as my imagination." Now principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dudamel has been called classical music's greatest hope.

As with probably every conductor of his generation, recordings on DG made a deep impression during his youth. Currently leading two world-class orchestras, the Latvian is involved in a major project with both: recording a cycle of Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and an Anton Bruckner symphony cycle with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig.

The 43-year-old Canadian features on a number of recordings with the orchestras he has led in Rotterdam and Philadelphia. Now begins a new era: as future principle conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the conductor people fondly call "Yannick" is positioned to lead decades of performances to be preserved for posterity.

It's a credit to him that tens of millions of Chinese children now take piano lessons. Lang Lang appreciates DG's "unique synergy of the traditional and the new."

The Times of London describes him as "beyond question, the most astonishing pianist of our times." His singular, utterly unpredictable performances have made the 27-year-old Russian a cult figure. Trifonov's premiere album in 2013 was a live-recorded recital in Carnegie Hall. A recording released two years later includes "Rachmaniana," a piece written by Trifonov himself.

During her childhood in Russia, recordings from Western Europe were not widespread and thus not among her most formative influences – but all the more so when the now famous diva began studying music. Today there is hardly a classical musician who has been uninfluenced by the recordings made by their predecessors.