Naxos mess

[Plamen Ivanov]

Hello!

Just want to share some impressions. It seems the Naxos edition becomes more popular and popular and invades the musical market all over the world, thank to the low prices (mainly) of it`s products. I`m waiting for years to see any mandolin recordings published by Naxos. Yesterday I was casting my eyes about mandolin CDs in a music store and found this (http://www.naxos.com/naxos/naxos_marco_polo.htm).

For you perhaps will be difficult to see, but the man in the right on the cover is holding a mandolin. And that was what captured my eye. Then I realized it`s a guitar music CD. I was a little bit disappointed.

Good luck!

[Jim Garber]

I don't see any cover with a mandolin. Do you want to post the jpeg?

Jim

[Plamen Ivanov]

The link is fake. Here it is:

[Jim Garber]

For some reason there is a tradition of classical record labels to put an illustration on the coverthat has littel to do with the recording. And rarely do they ever picture the actual artists playing.

Jim

[Bob A]

Not just the record labels. The sheet music for the Boccherini Night Music features a bunch of 16th century angels fluttering about. They are holding instruments of a sort, but there's no connection between the illustration and the contents. Probably the Night Watch would have been more appropriate.

Some sort of cerebral disconnect? A plot of some kind, perpetuated by those initiated into art graphic circles? Pynchon would find a code, passed thru generations, underlining an arcane but troubling collusion of hidden forces, shaping our destinies behind the scenes. I, of course, would agree.

[Eugene]

There is also Naxos's Regondi CD (another recording of solo guitar music). #The guy in the foreground is playing mandolin. #I have both recordings and like them very much, but the complete lack of mandolin recordings in the Naxos catalog does inspire a touch of sorrow. #I'd be willing to bet Naxos would be open to the concept of a mandolin recording if approached by a capable player who hasn't yet established himself/herself on a major label. #They have an early music competition (I believe annually) involving a recording contract too. #Perhaps some aspiring mandolinist with a Lambert or 18th-c. Vinaccia reproduction should enter.

[Eugene]

The Naxos modus operandi seems to be "Italian-named composers of solo guitar music get mandolins for CD cover art."

[Martin Jonas]

Well, Naxos have released a Dave Swarbrick CD ("English Fiddler -- Swarbrick Plays Swarbrick"). He is a *great* mandolin player, but unfortunately this seems to be the only one of his solo studio albums on which he plays only violin, no mandolin.

Martin

[Plamen Ivanov]

Any idea about this:

[Plamen Ivanov]

and this...

[Plamen Ivanov]

and this...

[Plamen Ivanov]

I hate to see mandolins hanging on the wall and also laid down on their strings - that brings to mind thoughts of death. Anyway, notwithstanding all these things, I think it`s good that the designers find it attractive to put mandolins on the covers of different CDs.