DEAG’s Classic Double

DEAG believes sales revenues of its classical music business will double to more than euro 10 million this year.

The 4-year-old DEAG Classics AG, which has a 2007 "Galaxy Of Stars" series featuring top international stars like Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Edita Gruberova, Anja Harteros and Jonas Kaufmann, is also inking in some major shows for 2008.

International star pianist Lang Lang is slotted for dates in Switzerland, Germany and the Mediterranean region, plus an open-air show in Vienna on the eve of the European Soccer Championship.

He has a June 28 performance with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of conductor Zubin Mehta in front of Schönbrunn Castle, while the football final takes place in the city’s Ernst Happel Stadion the following day.

As a first step toward further market consolidation, DEAG has signed a letter of intent regarding a 50 percent stake in wdp Entertainment GmbH, owned by classical music promoter Felix Scheuerpflug.

Scheuerpflug has organised concerts with Plácido Domingo all over the world during the last years and achieved considerable success in the field of sponsorship.