Purchases Today

[Karl Henning]

2. Naxos DOES very occasionally make money off a recording - but it usually involves very famous music and/or famous artists. It makes sense to combine those two factors. Even though "yet another Brahms symphony" might sound like a loser to GMGers, the Alsop Brahms CDs certainly sold far better than, say, the Turina solo piano music series.

I was mistaken, then.

[Brian]

They are cheap to make and they sell (surprisingly) well. And even if Heimann throws the occasional bone to a conductor (for example an implicit "I'll record your Bruckner 4th if I get the Wagner Orchestral Songs with Singer X", to take an example from a Naxos sub-label), it's a business decision first and foremost.

My favorite example here involves Antoni Wit, who complained publicly - in an interview with a Naxos writer! on naxos.com! - that he was not being allowed to record the Brahms German Requiem because the execs wanted different artists - and then a few years later the Alsop German Requiem came out, closely followed by...Antoni Wit's.

[aligreto]

You're welcome! It's certainly in my 'Top 5 Cello Concertos'. Finzi was dying as he wrote the work, so it retains a bittersweetness to it that I find wholly palpable.

Thank you for the background information, which is always pertinent.

[jlaurson]

Did you mean Brian's last post, Jens?

Indeed.

Did you mean Brian's last post, Jens?

What Joe-Biden-look-alike Heymann wants, Heymann gets. Usually. He's just not used to democratic orchestras that might refuse to work with just any (American) conductor of his choosing, only because he foots (part of) the bill. 

[PerfectWagnerite]

My favorite example here involves Antoni Wit, who complained publicly - in an interview with a Naxos writer! on naxos.com! - that he was not being allowed to record the Brahms German Requiem because the execs wanted different artists - and then a few years later the Alsop German Requiem came out, closely followed by...Antoni Wit's.

Another example I can give that makes me scratch my head is how many Appalachian Springs there are (or will be) in the Naxos catalogue. We all love Appalachian Spring but do we need 5 versions on the same label?

Regarding the Brahms symphonies I can understand Naxos trying to be more "prestigious" but WHY would you choose the Brahms Symphonies or all things? The London Philharmonic must have multiple Brahms cycles out there already... The competition is SO stiff that it is pretty much a no-win situation.

[jlaurson]

Regarding the Brahms symphonies I can understand Naxos trying to be more "prestigious" but WHY would you choose the Brahms Symphonies or all things? The London Philharmonic must have multiple Brahms cycles out there already... The competition is SO stiff that it is pretty much a no-win situation.

Heymann doesn't look at other labels so much as at Naxos and his Music Library. And he wants to have the repertoire covered ... and preferably covered with artists of some repute or his particular liking. And if the LPO is available, he'll take the LPO... and if the LSO is $500 cheaper, he'll take that... and if the DSO Berlin can be had for free, he'll take that. Whatever works, given the connections of the artists and his underlings and the financial situation and so forth. There's not strategic planning as the record collector might think or do, if in that position. For one, the revenue doesn't come primarily from collectors (anymore).

[Brian]

What Joe-Biden-look-alike Heymann wants

For those who are unaware







(To me he looks more like a cross between Biden and Boulez [for the less rectangular head shape])

[Parsifal]

Regarding the Brahms symphonies I can understand Naxos trying to be more "prestigious" but WHY would you choose the Brahms Symphonies or all things? The London Philharmonic must have multiple Brahms cycles out there already... The competition is SO stiff that it is pretty much a no-win situation.

Maybe you should consider the possibility that the managers of Naxos know what sells, of that they see a value in reinforcing Alsop's perceived prestige by choosing her to record Brahms.

[André]

I didn't have that one. Indeed, didn't even know it existed.

[Ken B]

Maybe you should consider the possibility that the managers of Naxos know what sells, of that they see a value in reinforcing Alsop's perceived prestige by choosing her to record Brahms.

That's a perfectly possible answer. But answering a question is very different from saying only a sexist could ask it.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Maybe you should consider the possibility that the managers of Naxos know what sells, of that they see a value in reinforcing Alsop's perceived prestige by choosing her to record Brahms.

I can believe they know what sells, but a Brahms cycle with ANY conductor unless there is something new (like a new version of the score or something HIP) doesn't sound like it strikes the chord with most audiences.

[Madiel]

That's a perfectly possible answer. But answering a question is very different from saying only a sexist could ask it.

*rolls eyes*

By all means, continue missing the distinction between substance and form.

[Wanderer]

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[Florestan]

the Alsop Brahms CDs certainly sold far better than, say, the Turina solo piano music series.

Which is really a pitty because that´s a fine series with fine music and fine performances.

Actually this doesn´t apply only to recordings but to concerts as well. Schumann´s PC, for instance, is a perennial warhorse --- but when was the last time you have heard live a piano concert by his nemesis Henri Herz? Mozart´s violin concertos are heard over and over all over the world´s concert halls --- while the equally fine concertos of Viotti and Myslivecek are performed, what, maybe once in a blue moon? And then they complain about concert attendance shrinking. Well, when I can listen to whatever I want in the comfort of my home why should I bother to go to a live concert only to hear for the zillionth time Eroica and Tchaikovsky´s Violin Concerto? I have them in multiple, way much better, performances. Thanks but no thanks.

[Sergeant Rock]

Mozart Piano Concertos 1-4, Malcolm Bilson fortepiano




Sarge

[aligreto]

Delalande:  Les Folies de Cardenio [Coin]....

[king ubu]

That Coin is actually the one Delalande disc I bought where I'm unsure I really need it ... but let us know what you think, I might have to give it a few more listens (I think I only gave it one, actually, but as I so much enjoy Delalande's vocal music, and as I also quite enjoy the royal supper music by Reyne, I didn't feel compelled to put it in the player again after that first so-so impression).

Got the big Charles Munch box yesterday ... and some other goodies today (Haydn Op. 9 by The London Haydn Quartet on Hyperion, Schnabel doing Bach on Naxos, Monteverdi Madrigali Vol. 1: Cremona by Les Arts Flo/Agnew, the first Gardiner Vespro from the seventies, and the third volume of Antonini's Haydn series).

[Parsifal]

Ridiculous. The context of the discussion was Naxos's business model. How can Naxos justify, as a commercial decision, carrying yet more Brahms symphonies in their catalog? Conductors DO need permission in such cases, and in the past even HvK and Bernstein were denied it by their labels. Von Karajan accounted for more than one quarter of DG's sales, yet still needed permission to record yet more Beethoven. Bernstein left Columbia over their refusal to allow him to record opera. Recording is expensive and labels are businesses which must justify to their stakeholders the risks.
So questioning why a conductor, even a trendy marketable one like Alsop, is allowed to record warhorses is not a new, not an irrelevant, not a sexist question.

I find the phrasing "what is truly amazing is that she is allowed to record such warhorses" is condescending, mainly the use of the word, "allowed" as though she is subservient to authority that decides what she is "allowed" to record. It would have been better to say it is "amazing that Naxos allowed her to record such warhorses." I would have been appropriate to say "it is amazing that they would agree to record warhorses with yer."

You are correct that there is nothing overtly sexist in the statement, although I have often see comments and reviews of Alsop which strike me as sexist.

[Parsifal]

I can believe they know what sells, but a Brahms cycle with ANY conductor unless there is something new (like a new version of the score or something HIP) doesn't sound like it strikes the chord with most audiences.

You've adopted the Trump rhetorical technique, every statement containing a claim and its opposite. You're sure they know, but you know they're wrong.

I like Brahms and I continue to be interested in new recordings of his works. I doubt I'm the only one. I've recently acquired three Brahms symphony cycles, Chailly, Manse and Barbirolli. Maybe that's why Brahms is still recorded.

Seeing Alsop's Brahms 2 described as the worst ever has me intrigued. Maybe I need to get it.

[Parsifal]

Well, when I can listen to whatever I want in the comfort of my home why should I bother to go to a live concert only to hear for the zillionth time Eroica and Tchaikovsky´s Violin Concerto? I have them in multiple, way much better, performances. Thanks but no thanks.

Huh, when you listen to a record in your home it sounds as good being in the hall with a real symphony orchestra? My CD purchases are mostly obscure composers or works, but when I manage to get to the concert hall I welcome hearing a familiar work with the sonic beauty and frisson of a live performance, even if it's not Furtwangler (or substitute whatever conductor you idolize).