There are no Majors anymore...
Wed, Jun 16 2010, 8:46AM
I was astounded, when I read pages 124/126 of the July 2010 issue. No new recordings by Decca, DG, one (Goodall) by EMI, one by Sony and one by RCA. I think we can redefine the verb "majors", in the classical music industry...
Rolf
Wed, Jun 16 2010, 9:43AM
#2
RE: There are no Majors anymore...
Ditto; the majors do seem to have given up on serious music releases. My heart also sinks every time I read a news article about the latest photogenic twenty year old being signed up, inevitably to a major. Whatever happened to experience and the skills built up over years of craft and workmanship?
Or even worse, they poach them: Julia Fischer released a lot of varied and acclaimed recordings for Pentatone, but I can't recall seeing any releases since she was bought up by a major (I can't even remember which one!).
Thank goodnes for the independents!
Wed, Jun 16 2010, 10:59AM
#3
RE: There are no Majors anymore...
Julia Fischer released a lot of varied and acclaimed recordings for Pentatone, but I can't recall seeing any releases since she was bought up by a major (I can't even remember which one!).
Decca.
They released her Bach Violin Concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in 2009 and will be releasing her Paganini: 24 Caprices in August.
Wed, Jun 16 2010, 4:59PM
#4
RE: There are no Majors anymore...
Julia Fischer released a lot of varied and acclaimed recordings for Pentatone, but I can't recall seeing any releases since she was bought up by a major (I can't even remember which one!).
Decca.
They released her Bach Violin Concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in 2009 and will be releasing her Paganini: 24 Caprices in August.
One CD a year... She used to do a couple (SA)CD's for Pentatone.
And let's face it, it did not help her recording with world class orchestra's...
Downside is, there is also less advertisement budget for magazines like the Gramophone. They have to find new ways to survive...
Rolf
Thu, Jun 17 2010, 1:11PM
#5
RE: There are no Majors anymore...
I agree that the "majors" are being ultra conservative at the moment.
Looking at the way they treat their opera stars is a case in point. I get totally bored with the same old repertoire on recital discs and wait the inevitable "best of" album after perhaps three or four recitals - Netrebko being a current case in point.
They also seem to be spending their time recycling their old back catalogues. I find it irritating to see the same old recordings again and again in different guises. Take the Schippers La Boheme. EMI have that in at least three different series at the moment - GROC, EMI Classics and The Home of Opera. The same can also be said for the De Sabata/Callas Tosca which I think has had five reincarnations in as many years. I am not entirely sure who these recycled recordings are for and whether the money spent on cover art, production and distribution is warranted.
This, perhaps most frustratingly from my perspective, is at the expense of recordings from their back catalouges that have never seen the light of day on CD or are now deleted. I cannot understand why Decca and EMI don't follow in DG's footsteps and make available their entire back catalogue on download only.
Sat, Jun 19 2010, 8:59PM
#6
RE: There are no Majors anymore...
Yes,it's truly unfortunate that the major labels such as DG,Decca,EMI, etc aren't relaesing much new material these days, but why shouldn't talented young musicians get a chance to make recordings for these or other labels?
Do you really mean to say they shouldn't make recordings until they've reached their 50s or 60s? That doesn't make any sense to me.
Barenboim was already making a substantial number of recordings for EMI in his 20s,for example.
Its rare for me to buy a "major" disc these days, and has been for a long time. Hyperion, Harmonia Mundi, BIS, Onyx... these are the people that have been putting out interesting new recordings.