Naxos album covers

[bigshot]

Bad design is not a style, and lack of style is not clarity.

[Mirror Image]

Naxos covers are poor in design, but, as mentioned, they're improving. The covers aren't really a lot of their problem anyway. Their problem is devoting more recording time to repertoire that has already been done better on another label. I mean did Alsop actually think she'll do a better job with Dvorak than Kertesz? He had the LSO for crying out loud! Did she think she'll do better than Kubelik or even Neumann? They need to stop this endless, and pointless, charade of trying to compete with other labels in oft-recorded repertoire. They need to get back to doing what they excel in: unheard repertoire from unknown composers.

[The new erato]

I guess Klaus Heymann knows best what butters his bread.

[Brian]

repertoire that has already been done better on another label. They need to stop this endless, and pointless, charade of trying to compete with other labels in oft-recorded repertoire.

Here are a few examples of releases post-2005 that prove oft-recorded repertoire can be recorded again with success.



And I was just getting warmed up. There is no need for people to stop recording music once it's been recorded successfully. There is no such thing as "definitive." But there is a need for quality control. I agree with you that Marin Alsop's Dvorak was totally unnecessary, but I don't share your pointless anger and contempt. Naxos can release what it wants. They've done well by mainstream repertoire before and they'll do well by it again.

[Fafner]

I guess Klaus Heymann knows best what butters his bread.

This.
Klaus Heymann has always tried to micro-manage everything that was going on in his company (or at least he did when they started). He is definitely not an artist or a designer, but he is a savvy businessman. These covers managed to convey exactly the message he intended: cheap, no-frills, with the DDD stamp prominently featured, which is what was in demand at that time. It may not be pretty, but it was distinctive enough to build him a recognized brand.

Today, Naxos is a well established player on the market; possibly one of the few who are profitable and it kind of makes sense they are trying to expand beyond the "budget label" image.

[Karl Henning]

. . . There is no need for people to stop recording music once it's been recorded successfully. There is no such thing as "definitive." But there is a need for quality control. I agree with you that Marin Alsop's Dvorak was totally unnecessary, but I don't share your pointless anger and contempt. Naxos can release what it wants . . . .

Excellent points, all. It would be neither fair nor quite rational to demand of Naxos a 100% artistic success rate.

[Mirror Image]

And I was just getting warmed up. There is no need for people to stop recording music once it's been recorded successfully. There is no such thing as "definitive." But there is a need for quality control. I agree with you that Marin Alsop's Dvorak was totally unnecessary, but I don't share your pointless anger and contempt. Naxos can release what it wants. They've done well by mainstream repertoire before and they'll do well by it again.

I have no anger towards Naxos just pointing out how I feel about their current creative direction. Where I'm getting at is that Naxos used to be a label where you could hear music off the beaten path. Yeah, the company can release what it wants, that's an obvious statement, but this doesn't mean I have to nod my head and praise them for everything they release. They're like any other label --- they have their flaws.

[The new erato]

They're like any other label --- they have their flaws.

Like making boring moneyspinners that subsidizes the stuff you are interested in? I would se that as a blessing rather than a flaw and wish more companies used the surplus from their mainstream issues to subsidize lossmaking issues of marginal repertoire.

[Mirror Image]

Like making boring moneyspinners that subsidizes the stuff you are interested in? I would see that as a blessing rather than a flaw and wish more companies used the surplus from their mainstream issues to subsidize lossmaking issues of marginal repertoire.

I see your point here, erato. Naxos have been quite intelligent in the way they continue to do this. I wonder what kind of profit Naxos makes for their distribution? Many labels let Naxos handle all of their worldwide distribution, which I think is impressive.

[Brian]

Like making boring moneyspinners that subsidizes the stuff you are interested in? I would se that as a blessing rather than a flaw and wish more companies used the surplus from their mainstream issues to subsidize lossmaking issues of marginal repertoire.

Exactly. DG puts out one or two interesting discs a year - Szymanowski recently - but look at this month's new releases from Naxos: there's a Mozart divertimenti CD along with Clementi, Gliere, Camargo Guarneri, Maxwell Davies, and Whitbourn. Which one's gonna pay for the others?

I have no anger towards Naxos just pointing out how I feel about their current creative direction. Where I'm getting at is that Naxos used to be a label where you could hear music off the beaten path.

See above. I do not see a change in Naxos' creative path. If anything they have become more devoted to the unrecorded repertoire. Antoni Wit, one of the best conductors on earth, has a full schedule right now recording Panufnik, Moniuszko, Weinberg, Bacewicz, and Penderecki. When he started on the label in the early 1990s, he was recording Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Dvorak. That's just one example.

[bigshot]

Naxos is no longer budget priced. Super budget prices from big label back catalog has usurped that.

[Fafner]

Naxos is no longer budget priced. Super budget prices from big label back catalog has usurped that.

They are still considerably cheaper with their new releases.
Box sets and reissues are a different animal altogether.

[mc ukrneal]

They are still considerably cheaper with their new releases.
Box sets and reissues are a different animal altogether.

Hmmm. On Amazon, most new releases seem to be in the $13 range (see upcoming Gliere as an example). Meanwhile, Hyperion is about $17.99 with new releases, Chandos seem to be at about $17-20, and so they are really not so much budget as they used to be.

[Mirror Image]

Buying directly from Amazon for a single recording can be quite expensive. This is why I go through Amazon MP sellers most notably Classical Music Superstore (aka Naxos of America). They offer better prices on Naxos and Naxos-related recordings than any of their competitors.

(This is not an advertisement, but it sure does sound like one.)

[Octave]

Of many, many Naxos purchases, even fairly recent releases, I have only seen one instance of a "true"/clamshell type box for a box set, instead of a cheap cardboard sleeve housing the previous single jewelcase releases.  It's this Poulenc by Tharaud et al:

[asin]B000SKJQWK[/asin]

Why was this given the clamshell-with-cardboard-sleeves treatment and not other Naxos box sets?  Or perhaps there are others.  I see the cover art is rather different from the usual Naxos cover.  More....Gallic?  [sic]

[Mirror Image]

Of many, many Naxos purchases, even fairly recent releases, I have only seen one instance of a "true"/clamshell type box for a box set, instead of a cheap cardboard sleeve housing the previous single jewelcase releases.  It's this Poulenc by Tharaud et al:

[asin]B000SKJQWK[/asin]

Why was this given the clamshell-with-cardboard-sleeves treatment and not other Naxos box sets?  Or perhaps there are others.  I see the cover art is rather different from the usual Naxos cover.  More....Gallic?  [sic]

This Debussy/Markl box set got the deluxe Naxos treatment:



These is a true box set with cardboard sleeves and a detailed booklet.

Edit: If there was any set in Naxos' catalog to receive this treatment, their Poulenc chamber series is most deserving of it IMHO. It's simply marvelous music-making.

[Kontrapunctus]

I'll take almost anything over DG's penchant for the air-brushed/photo-shopped super model approach! Hyperion usually manages to have classy covers, and many of Naxos' are fine, too.

[Fafner]

Boston Symphony Chamber Players:

[asin]B0043WBZP0[/asin]

Is this an example of DG trying to immitate Naxos cover style (and failing badly)?   

[The new erato]

This isn't DG. It's the Australian budget Eloquence label (with rights to reissue Universal catalogue). I think the cover is fine BTW.

[Fafner]

This isn't DG. It's the Australian budget Eloquence label (with rights to reissue Universal catalogue). I think the cover is fine BTW.

I did not know Eloquence was a real label. I thought it was just Universal's own line of budget reissues.