Purchases Today

[MusicTurner]

Like I suggested above, it's a distribution relationship with Dacapo, not an ownership. Dacapo probably found that releasing or offering some of their stuff later on the budget Naxos label could generate some overall profits.

(Verified here in a 2017 source https://www.dacapo-records.dk/da/nyheder/dacapo-soeger-presse-og-markedsfoeringsmedarbejder-0)'

In general, niche labels are hardly profitable, and need foundation support - though there are exceptions. But sometimes one is also baffled by their programming say of commercially senseless recital programmes, couplings of works, and repertoire repeats, etc.
DaCapo has generally been good at logical and consumer-friendly programming, I think.

[Brian]

I think regarding Dacapo, there's probably a rather loose distribution and collaboration relation with Naxos, because DaCapo, ever since its founding in 1989, has primarily been financed in the main by state authorities, with the aim of making the small nation's cultural heritage more generally available. Various associations here are also supporting its projects, plus its own profits of course, should they occur. DaCapo is currently working on the basis of an agreement running in 2017-2020, with state support from Statens Kunstfond, a board that distributes tax money for cultural purposes.

(https://www.dacapo-records.dk/sites/default/files/attachments/DacapoEdition-S_Rammeaftale_2017-2020.pdf)

Thanks for this, it's helpful. I suppose an expert global business partner is really useful to them.

71dB, the labels Naxos buys are generally on the brink of financial collapse. I think Ondine was nearly broke when Naxos stepped in and that they actually bought it as a kindness. Naxos makes its money on physical and digital distribution and logistics, and the actual recordings - even its own! - are a "prestige" business to gain respect and trust, and/or passion projects where they really want the music to be recorded.

[71 dB]

71dB, the labels Naxos buys are generally on the brink of financial collapse. I think Ondine was nearly broke when Naxos stepped in and that they actually bought it as a kindness. Naxos makes its money on physical and digital distribution and logistics, and the actual recordings - even its own! - are a "prestige" business to gain respect and trust, and/or passion projects where they really want the music to be recorded.

Well, I have been interested of the music itself rather than all the business/financial stuff behind it all. I am not a business person myself. So, I have never followed the financial stability of labels like Ondine. At some point (a decade or so) ago I remember Hyperion was in trouble, but they are still in the business! I don't even know what saved them. As long as a company exists and operates I assume them to be profitable and when they go bankrupt I know they were not profitable and capitalism killed them off.

I don't believe Naxos does things only out of kindness. Ownership of Ondine must mean some benefits (less competition + bigger dominance in the classical music market for example.).

[MusicTurner]

There are 100s of classical labels, some of them are truly idealistic, so buying a relatively small one usually doesn't mean less competition.

Naxos I think has been economically successful, making expansion as well as idealist projects possible, but Marco Polo less so, some of the repertoire is just too exotic to become profitable. Orchestral recordings in particular are often very expensive to produce, especially if you use Western orchestras.

[Symphonic Addict]

One more:

Good, John. The only work I know that appear on that CD is the Serenade for strings.

[71 dB]

There are 100s of classical labels, some of them are truly idealistic, so buying a relatively small one usually doesn't mean less competition.

Yeah, but if you buy 20 of them it starts to add up to something...

Naxos I think has been economically successful, making expansion as well as idealist projects possible, but Marco Polo less so, some of the repertoire is just too exotic to become profitable. Orchestral recordings in particular are often very expensive to produce, especially if you use Western orchestras.

Marco Polo's marketing was always very lame and non-existing. People saw the white CDs on bookstores and perhaps bought some of them, but how many knew about the blue CDs? Imho, they should have had themed series for the "exotic stuff" so that when people start collecting a series they are more willing to buy more obscure stuff. For example Hyperion's "The Romantic Piano Concerto" series is a good example of this. Are you going to skip Sauer & Scharwenka if you already have volumes 1-10? Have numbers on the discs! If someone has discs numbered 15 and 17, they might ask "Hey what is dics number 16?" It makes people interested of your cataloque and when they browse your cataloque they are more likely to buy more of your releases after making discoveries.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A more polite/thorough reply here might be to point out that Naxos literally owns Ondine. Klaus Heymann at Naxos is very conscious of not duplicating works within his label family - and even with other labels he distributes. Of course, sometimes he has to duplicate because another label has a series, or because a major artist like Leonard Slatkin gets to record whatever he wants. But as an example, Naxos and Chandos actually agreed to "split" Weinberg, releasing non-overlapping series of his music. Originally the deal was that Naxos would take the bigger, more complex symphonies that required singing etc. Then Chandos abandoned their Weinberg series (last release: 2015) so now Naxos has to pick up the slack.

Anyway - point being, Naxos likely will not release a bunch of Englund recordings that compete with their own sublabel.

Hi Brian,

How did you hear/read about those decisions...just curious here.   

Best,

PD

[Mirror Image]

Good, John. The only work I know that appear on that CD is the Serenade for strings.

The same with me, Cesar. Serenade for Strings is fine work, but I'm definitely interested in the other works on this disc.

[MusicTurner]

Yeah, but if you buy 20 of them it starts to add up to something...

Marco Polo's marketing was always very lame and non-existing. People saw the white CDs on bookstores and perhaps bought some of them, but how many knew about the blue CDs? Imho, they should have had themed series for the "exotic stuff" so that when people start collecting a series they are more willing to buy more obscure stuff. For example Hyperion's "The Romantic Piano Concerto" series is a good example of this. Are you going to skip Sauer & Scharwenka if you already have volumes 1-10? Have numbers on the discs! If someone has discs numbered 15 and 17, they might ask "Hey what is dics number 16?" It makes people interested of your cataloque and when they browse your cataloque they are more likely to buy more of your releases after making discoveries.

I agree that Marco Polo overall  hasn't been that good at marketing. And those painted portraits of the composers on the cover can even have an aura of amateurishness.

The website of a specialist shop in my city lists the selected classical labels they have, and there are more than 100 of them just starting with the letters A or B. So controlling 20 won't really mean much in relation to say Naxos' overall market share, but maybe strengthen the distinctive profile of some of the smaller ones, and make some logistics less costly for them.

[Brian]

Hi Brian,

How did you hear/read about those decisions...just curious here.   

Best,

PD

Nerdiness! Heymann especially has been very candid in interviews over the years - I'm not sure I can find them right away. But he definitely gave an interview where he talked about setting up the new release schedule so that if, for example, two different labels have brand new releases of Elgar's first, they at least come out 1-2 months apart rather than the same time.

Yeah, but if you buy 20 of them it starts to add up to something...

Most record labels in classical do not make profits. Dacapo is a government partnership, Melodiya and Supraphon started as state run agencies, Cedille is a nonprofit, Naxos and Harmonia Mundi are distributors, BIS runs the shop eClassical, Deutsche Grammophon licenses recordings which are produced and paid for by the artists, etc. Some labels, like MSR Classics, actually charge the artists money to act as distributors and get their profits from the artists themselves!

As MusicTurner says, recording is just not a money making business. You have to spend a ton of money to secure great artists for a few days and record and mix, master, etc their work. Many CDs may only sell a few hundred copies! The successful business models are very rare. So when you think of a news story like Naxos buying Ondine, I encourage you to think of it as subsidizing new recordings, not limiting them.

Also - in the 90s Decca, EMI, DG, and Sony came near to turning the record industry into a near monopoly situation, so even though Universal has only grown since then, it is actually heartening to see independents like Naxos, Onyx, Avie, BIS etc continue to exist.

Btw Marco Polo is mostly being folded into Naxos or Grand Piano except certain series that are continuing from years past, like Godowsky piano and the complete Strauss family waltzes.

[Madiel]

I have know about 25 years, that Naxos, Da Capo and Marco Polo are closely related and always thought Da Capo and Marco Polo the full price section of Naxos. Same cover art design apart from white, blue and red color themes (and the catalogue numbering system as you mentioned).

That's a reference to what Da Capo's cover art was like almost 20 years ago.

[Undersea]

Some intensely endearing music waits for you in this magnificent set.

Well worth having once they get to you.

Pounds the table!

I remember reading good things about the Bartok and am looking forward to your reviews.  Langgaard is also on my radar.  :-)

PD

Thanks for all your comments - I received the Langgaard set yesterday and have been listening to it (I think it's awesome so far...)

[marvinbrown]

OK, so I didn't follow my no-purchase rule this year. But next week is return to work week, as life gets back to "normal". Cause for celebration?



Giuseppe Verdi: Tutto Verdi - The Complete Operas (Blu-ray)
Medium: 27 Blu-ray Discs

  I love this set! You are in for a real treat!  The productions err on the side of traditional, which suites me just fine. I love the staging of Rigoletto.  Last night I just finished watching Luisa Miller- what powerful and dramatic acting by Marcelo Alvarez!

Aside from Leo Nucci there aren't many big name performers, at least none that I recognised but the singing and the acting overall are excellent- and everything seems to be true and faithful to Maestro Verdi!

   [asin]B07GVX9BPT[/asin]


I only wish they would do the same for Wagner.  I am fed up with regi-theatre productions, which are basically what a lot of Wagner productions have become these days and as much as I love the Wagner faithful productions of the MET of the 1990s- the picture quality is no where near what blu-ray is capable of producing and it is all aspect ratio 4:3.....


  marvin

[71 dB]

Thanks everyone for the information about classical music company business model. I am not much into that world myself so I won't comment more. At least I understand now better that Ondine is a label to go to for Englund and other Finnish composers because it's kind of the "role" of the label to "take care" of such releases.

That's a reference to what Da Capo's cover art was like almost 20 years ago.

Yes. Even Naxos discs don't often look like what used to look like in 1995. A quarter of the century ago people tolerated cataloque numbers on the cover art. Not anymore.

[springrite]

  I love this set! You are in for a real treat!  The productions err on the side of traditional, which suites me just fine. I love the staging of Rigoletto.  Last night I just finished watching Luisa Miller- what powerful and dramatic acting by Marcelo Alvarez!

Aside from Leo Nucci there aren't many big name performers, at least none that I recognised but the singing and the acting overall are excellent- and everything seems to be true and faithful to Maestro Verdi!

   [asin]B07GVX9BPT[/asin]




  marvin

I am so looking forward to watch them!!! Thanks for the recommendations!!!

[T. D.]

I was impressed by an old Russian Disc release of Rostropovich playing concerti by Boris Tchaikovsky and Arno Babadjanyan. Saw this box on discogs at an attractive price and ordered. The content (lots of 20th century works and Eastern Bloc composers) appeals to me more than the larger Rostropovich collection.

[TheGSMoeller]

Picked up a few more from Europadisc...

[Brian]

Over at eClassical, and until the end of May 31, several hundred Naxos titles are available in highres (24-bit) FLAC for 50% off - making them cheaper than MP3s. And, thanks to eClassical's by-the-minute pricing, they're also cheaper than physical CDs.

My haul of 23 full albums, 1 box set, and 3 partial albums came out to $142.21, or $4.84 per physical CD plus the three bonuses (which are a combined $5.50). A steal for downloads in quality that's allegedly higher than CD.

 

plus the symphony only from this



and the First Concerto only from this



and the "Midsummer Ale Overture" only from this



I'm annoyed they inexplicably don't have the Tingaud album of Poulenc ballet suites, which kicks butt and which I'd happily buy. Some of these recordings are well known to me from streaming - Giltburg and Petrenko's Shostakovich is razor sharp, Wit's Dvorak Requiem is top of the class, the romantic French horn disc is quite lovely background music. Others will be interesting journeys of discovery. Adam Fischer's Beethoven cycle is there because after I kicked up a big discussion of it in the Beethoven thread, it seems only fair to buy it and give it much closer attention.

[André]

[JBS]

Over at eClassical, and until the end of May 31, several hundred Naxos titles are available in highres (24-bit) FLAC for 50% off - making them cheaper than MP3s. And, thanks to eClassical's by-the-minute pricing, they're also cheaper than physical CDs.

My haul of 23 full albums, 1 box set, and 3 partial albums came out to $142.21, or $4.84 per physical CD plus the three bonuses (which are a combined $5.50). A steal for downloads in quality that's allegedly higher than CD.

 

plus the symphony only from this



and the First Concerto only from this



and the "Midsummer Ale Overture" only from this



I'm annoyed they inexplicably don't have the Tingaud album of Poulenc ballet suites, which kicks butt and which I'd happily buy. Some of these recordings are well known to me from streaming - Giltburg and Petrenko's Shostakovich is razor sharp, Wit's Dvorak Requiem is top of the class, the romantic French horn disc is quite lovely background music. Others will be interesting journeys of discovery. Adam Fischer's Beethoven cycle is there because after I kicked up a big discussion of it in the Beethoven thread, it seems only fair to buy it and give it much closer attention.

From what I remember of the Leshnoff, you bought the least impressive of the three works on that CD.

I have about half a dozen of those CDs. The Shostakovich CDs and the Sierra were the ones I liked best.