Question about "bargain" classical music CDs

[sal]

Having recently begun to explore the endless joys of classical music, I've been purchasing some discs from the "bargain" section of the Border's classical music section. Alot of these discs are very reasonably priced, usually in the $6.99 - $7.99 range. The predominant labels I've seen/purchased have been the Seraphim Classics, Naxos, or EMI Classics labels. I've noticed that on these labels, particular recordings of certain pieces, such as Mozart's "Requiem" and Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", are the versions that seem to be the most well known, or most often played on television or in films in some cases.

I guess my question is....what is the reason that these particular recordings are priced so reasonably? Lord knows I'm not complaining, but it has me curious. Are the versions of these recordings inferior (for lack of a better word) to other, more expensive versions? Are they cheaper for the purpose of drawing in new listeners to the genere of classical music? As you can tell, I am only beginning to learn about this beautiful form of music, and am quite clueless on many aspects of it. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Rooster_Ties]

I'm sure others here will have more insight about this topic than I do...

But it's my understanding that most of these bargain recordings fall into roughly two categories...

1) Reissues of older recordings that have already paid for themselves. Not necessarily really old recordings, but even fully-digital recordings from the 80's and or even early 90's. Of the labels you listed, I'm pretty darn sure that EMI Classics falls in this category, and Seraphim Classics probably does too (though I'm having a tough time remembering the Seraphim series - but I'm sure I'd recognize it if I saw one).

2) Now Naxos is a different story, as I understand it. They record primarily less well-known orchestras and chamber groups (and frequently non-union orchestras - I think), and they have a fairly "medium tech" recording process and set-up that they use. (I don't want to call it "low tech", but I'm sure they use somewhat less than "state of the art" equipment, and they have their own engineers that probably do their thing on the cheap (to some extent) too). Naxos also always has fairly generic cover art, which requires relatively little expense (or at least less than the norm for any release on Sony Classical, for instance). And the conductors and soloists they employ are usually not very well recorded folks who can command higher wages.

I love Naxos. Most of their recordings are very good, IMHO. Is every Naxos recording the best version of a given work?? Probably not. Are most Naxos discs fairly good versions, most of the time?? I think so. And often their recordings are really great. And while they don't always hit a home run, every time, with every recording --- I have yet to find a Naxos disc that I really disliked. (And I've probably got close to 200 Naxos CD's)

AND, Naxos' WONDERFUL "American Composers" series is worth it's weight in gold. Many of the works are receiving their world premier release on CD, or even world premier recording (in any format). And in most cases, I would gladly pay nearly double for most of the "American Composers" series. And as a direct result of all of them being priced at $6.99 to $7.99 per disc - I own nearly the entire series.

[BERIGAN]

Just to quickly chime in...if you are near a Media Play, they have dumps full of cheap cds (3.99 or 4 for $10.00) and mixed in with the crap, and the crap classical cds, are some name older classical cds from Sony, EMI, etc.....

[sal]

Just to quickly chime in...if you are near a Media Play, they have dumps full of cheap cds (3.99 or 4 for $10.00) and mixed in with the crap, and the crap classical cds, are some name older classical cds from Sony, EMI, etc.....

Thanks Rooster! That makes sense.

Berigan, I guess I'm wondering what distinguishes a "crap" classical recording? Is because a classical CD has the "EMI Classics" label on it automaticaly mean its sub par? I'm just asking, because I honestly don't know these things.

[A Lark Ascending]

Rooster sums it up well.

In general the very, very cheap discs can be carelessly put together, normally from older recordings. But there are, today, excellent low price discs - reissues by major labels and others; new recordings by labels, notably Naxos. I share Rooster's enthusiasm for Naxos - they are doing a brilliant job of exploring unfamiliar repetoire. The American series he mentions is wonderful - I'm looking forward to more Piston, Harris and Schumann there. I'd also point to their championing of British composers, an enthusiasm of mine.

In the end you can't judge quality by the price (often with the full price EMI disc you are paying for celebrity rather than 'better' music).

There are online resources that compare recordings and can give you a guide (though as with all guides, they are only as good as the reviewer and how far he/she fits with your own tastes).

I use UK classical magazine, Gramophone, in the first instance. You have to register and its search method takes a bit of working out but it's got a huge range of reviews going way back. Think of a specific piece you want to get a CD of and see what they say.

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/details.asp?forum=

[Muskrat Ramble]

Budget-priced classical discs are extremely common and often excellent. In addition to checking out Gramophone's site and the mag itself for reviews, consider mags like Fanfare (for the hardest of the hardcore collectors--I remember a Wagner opera review that ran for like four pages) and books like the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and the Good CD Guide (from Gramophone).

In addition to Naxos and the budget discs from once-dominant labels like EMI, DG, Decca/London, etc., an interesting budget-priced label well worth checking out is Brilliant Classics. They sell a combination of their own new recordings and recordings licensed from other labels. They sell their discs insanely cheaply and some of them are awesome, award-winning recordings.

[Stefan Wood]

I agree with Clinton. Naxos has now quite a few highly rated and award winning recordings. Sound quality is not an issue -- most recordings of the past 5 years are very well done. My favorites are the American Classics series (MacDowell, Barber especially), Spanish Classics (Turina and Rodrigo), and the entire Bax symphonies series.

[Claude]

Dunno if this has already been mentionned, but Naxos is not just a budget label, it is now the classical music label with the largest in print repertoire. They record many works which are being ignored by the "majors". Naxos CDs also remain in print much longer.

[Muskrat Ramble]

You all may find this column relevant and interesting:

http://www.classicstoday.com/features/f1_0104.asp

[mikeweil]

I agree that most Naxos CDs can be bought without risking too much. Some of it, like the ongoing complete recording the lute music of Sylvius Weiss, a contemporary and friend of J.S. Bach and one of the greatest lute players of all time, is fantastic, and well recorded as well.

Naxos operates from Hongkong and thus saves on costs, but is headed by a German, who BTW cut his teeth with the Marco Polo label, a high-price specialist for rare late romanticism, some of which is now reissued on Naxos.

Their success forced all the majors to inaugurate similar lines: BMG's is called Arte Nova and features one of the most striking recordings of the Beethoven symphonies by David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich; they now do a cycle of Strauss' orchestral music to high critical acclaim. One of their newer ventures is a series with the Basle Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Hogwood, called "Classicistical Modernism", featuring original concert programs from the 1920's to 1940's originally premiered in that city, featuring works by Martinu, Stravinsky, Honegger, Tippett and Britten (so far), that I heartily recommend.

Many low-price CDs of the majors are scaled-down (as far as info is concerned) reissues of older recordings of varying quality, as far as sound and interpretational qualities are concerned - if you know what you are looking for there are some great bargains. But most of these are deleted pretty soon, they seem to try to capture the buyer's attention with new methods every three or so years.

[ejp626]

Dunno if this has already been mentionned, but Naxos is not just a budget label, it is now the classical music label with the largest in print repertoire. They record many works which are being ignored by the "majors". Naxos CDs also remain in print much longer.

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I'd consider myself a fan of Naxos. They are generally good quality recordings, sometimes very good. For obscure Baroque composers, they are usually the only titles in print at any given time. Right now I am staring at Naxos recordings of concertos composed by Locatelli and Geminiani.

In any case, I just ran across something called the Naxos Music Library, where you can join and stream essentially any Naxos title. I'm going to sign up for the 7-day free trial and see how I like it. At least according to the website, the user has complete control over what is being streamed, unlike Blue Note radio for example.

Naxos Music Library

[BruceH]

What Rooster said.

Some of these major-label reissues of older recordings at budget prices are extrmemly valuable. If it's a performance that you've heard good things about, this lets you check it out more easily.

Count me as yet another fan of Naxos. The label is a godsend. (But then, I also like Hyperion, which is sort of the anti-Naxos in that it's a small label that costs more.)