New app celebrates composer’s birthdays with newly available archive recordings.

German music-publisher Andante Media, one of the largest European independent rights-owners, has launched a new iPhone App that celebrates the birthdays of composers great and small. “ClassiCal is kind of like those chocolate eggs for kids with a surprise toy in the middle – only it’s for lovers of classical music”, says Diane Ziegler, the company’s owner and publishing director.

The ClassiCal Music Calendar offers a hand-picked piece of music every day from the extensive Andante Media archives. Today we got a rather fine fourth movement of the New World Symphony performed by the Radio Symphony orchestra Ljublijana under Anton Nanut. If that sounds a bit ‘B-grade’, don’t be fooled – it really was a nice performance.

In addition, each day you get the dates of birth or death of classical music composers. Today, it turns out, is Carl Czerny’s 223rd birthday and Léo Delibes is 178 – so happy birthday to them!

Features include 7 days free access (after that the musical excerpts are non-downloadable unless you subscribe), complete details about each piece: composers, conductors, orchestras and solo artists, high-quality audio (256kb AAC-format), established orchestras, conductors and soloists from Germany...