Label news: Naxos rewrites its history
OrchestrasThe budget label made its critical breakthrough in the late 1990s with a cycle of Bruckner symphonies conducted by the little-known Canada-based conductor Georg Tintner. A Hitler exile from Vienna, Tintner brought idiomatic assurance to the works, cutting through their sometimes rambling argumentation.
But time stands still for no label.
Next month Naxos release its second Bruckner cycle, this one conducted by Markus Poschner with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF radio symphony orchestra.
Its other leading release features works by Tony Banks of the Genesis rock group.
Norman can you explain how releasing another Bruckner cycle is “rewriting its history.” Those words don’t make sense together. They got rid of the Tinter cycle? You can no longer hear 90’s Naxos releases? What are you trying to suggest with your headline?
Also the cycle is issued under Capriccio and not Naxos. Naxos has a network of labels, just like Universal.
Although all the individual issues are on the Capriccio label, the complete cycle (boxed up in slimline sleeves, with what looks like a fairly substantial booklet) is in fact being issued on the Naxos label.
The set will be sold by Naxos and was first sold under Capriccio.
19 years of formal education and I cannot for the life of me understand what the title of this posting means: Label news: Naxos rewrites its history. Two Bruckner cycles in over 25 years, in what way is that rewriting history?
Three words: Maestros. Masterpieces [and] Madness.
You left out the most salient detail:
The set contains the various editions of the symphonies that have various editions — it’s billed as 11 symphonies, 18 versions, on 18 CDs.
And these are the recordings made for Capriccio.
If you go by William Carragan’s Bruckner “Red Book” – (I don’t, because I simply don’t care enough about this topic) – there are far more than 18 versions.
Naxos’s critical breakthrough came a lot sooner than Georg Tintner’s excellent Bruckner, as the critics were amazed that fine performances could be recorded in churches in Eastern Europe by contract producers and sound engineers and musicians that nobody had ever heard of. There were of course some substandard discs, but these were generally replaced over time. What seems to have happened more recently is that as a repertoire based label Naxos has simply run out of repertoire and is releasing some very peripheral stuff indeed on disc. What it has done is develop its online music library.
“Naxos has simply run out of repertoire”.
This is an exaggeration. There’s actually a lot of non-standard repertoire that Naxos still haven’t touched.
Just three of many possible examples: they still haven’t recorded any string quartets by Ned Rorem or Murray Schaefer. Philip Glass is up to nine string quartets; Naxos have only recorded the first five.
I’ve started to buy the Spohr string quartets. On Marco Polo, the only label to have these enjoyable works available on disc, played by ensembles from Budapest and Russia. I may, for all I know, be the only current purchaser.
You are not alone, Andrew, – I have two volumes of the quartets on Marco Polo and the three volumes of piano trios and the piano quintet on Naxos (re-issues of the original Marco Polos).
The trouble with Spohr is that he was too prolific for his own good! I always approach such composers with trepidation – if I like one work, my fear is that I might be tempted to buy recordings of all of them; seems that there are 37 Spohr string quartets in all!
I believe that in his lifetime, in some quarters, Spohr was rated even higher than Beethoven; his chromatic harmonies would, at the time, have sounded decidedly ‘modern’ and his endless fund of suave melodies would have been most attractive. He is even mentioned with Bach and Beethoven by W S Gilbert in The Mikado.
His first clarinet concerto, especially as recorded in the 1960s by Gervase de Peyer, is delightful too.
He’s one of those composers who were forgotten until handsomely resurrected in the age of vinyl records and CDs.
Yes, and Glass’ last one went like this: “number nine; number nine; number nine, number nine . . . etc.
Run out of repertoire? Never. There’s still so much unrecorded music and some of it’s forgotten for good reason. Still…where are the symphonies of Ebenezer Prout, Robert Russell Bennett and so many others? Naxos, CPO, Chandos and other outfits have done a great service by recording so much unknown music – but there’s still a vast amount waiting its turn. I know…there probably aren’t listeners.
I think that if an ensemble approached Naxos with a project to record, say, Robert Russell Bennett, and were prepared to contribute towards the cost of production and marketing, Naxos might be interested. At the moment they seem to specialise in modern composers from (e.g.) the Baltic States, or performances of rarely played operas by Donizetti, all of which are unlikely to make money for Naxos or anybody else.
There is at least one exception to the Naxos ‘rule’ of paying flat fees and no royalties. The very fine oboeist Anthony Camden had made several recordings for other labels when Principal Oboe and Chairman of the LSO. When he moved to Hong Kong in the early 1990s as Dean of Music at its excellent Academy for Performing Arts, he approached Naxos’ founder Klaus Heymann as he wished to record a set of 6 Albinoni concerti. Heymann’s view was that it would not sell sufficiently well. So Camden proposed that he pay for an ensemble made up of some of the finest musicians in London (including John Georgiadis) and the hire a suitable venue. All Naxos would need to do would be provide the engineer and then market the resultant CD. It would pay no fees; only provide a royalty. Heymann agreed.
When a year or so later he wanted to record the other 6, he approached Heymann with the same offer. After checking his sales charts, Heymann said he would only do so on the standard fee basis. The original Albinoni set had actually outsold by some margin the average for Naxos CDs and Camden had therefore made considerably more in royalties than Heymann had expected!
Back when Naxos was a genuine budget label — but nonetheless issuing new recordings — I remember in particular their Moyzes Quartet recordings being a top choice for standard repertoire at a low price and in never less than decent recorded sound. Even the very slender jewel boxes were appreciated.
I don’t know about in the UK or continental Europe, but Naxos DISTRIBUTES many labels in the U.S. Cappricio is just one of them. The Poschner cycle is on Cappricio.
Everything that happens is a rewriting of history. Other than in specific circumstances, such as when new facts have been discovered, it is a completely empty and spurious phrase. Particularly empty and spurious in this context.
Naxos can no longer be considered a budget label – their cds releases are quite expensive now.
“Somewhat rambling argumentation” – that’s rich coming from an old Jew who bangs on about Mahler all the time.
Let’s not get too excited here: Naxos won’t be able to GIVE this Bruckner cycle away.
Glad to see Naxos is not preying off talented but underpaid Eastern European orchestras with low pay buy-out contracts any longer.
All those orchestras with which which Naxos recorded in its early years were thrilled to have the opportunity to record CDs. Same with the conductors and soloists whom the major labels decided were not profit worthy. Besides, musicians in eastern European orchestras still had their salaries paid. They certainly did not depend on income from Naxos.
And when I wonder did @Save the MET last look at the Naxos cataolgue? The Royal Scottish National, Scottish Chamber, Bournemouth Symphony, Halle, Baltimore Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Danish Chamber, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Iceland Philharmonic, Sao Paolo Symphony are only a fraction of the large number of splendid non-Eastern European orchestras in its catalogue,. And that is before you consider its extensive American Classics series featuring well over 200 works of which few are included on other labels. Naxos is to be admired and thanked for its very adventurous repertoire policy as well as for giving many worldwide orchestras the opportunity to make recordings.