Has anyone noticed that when Naxos issue cs's of Spanish or American music, they stick the country's flag on the front. Is this meant to be a warning that one might have to make allowances for the music or a nationalistic appeal to interested parties?
Maybe both?
Sterling do so all the time with their releases.
Morten
The point you make is right Sterling do it on ALL their releases.
I've never looked at it that way. The American Classics series is done the same way. Maybe it's just a marketing thing, or something to draw attention to the cd that the music is outside the mainstream (German/Austrian/Russian/French/Italian) school. Some collectors might use it as a tool for organizing their disks.
I believe that Naxos largest market is England. I am trying to fly the kite for English music.
What a strange idea that it could be some kind of warning. Too many people today are embarrassed about flying the flag. I'm no rabid patriot, but I think it's a nice idea to add the flag to an appropriate series of CDs dedicated to the music of a particular country. I never thought it was any more than a design/marketing thing.
It might even teach a few ill-educated people about flags of the world!
Naxos also has or had their "Patrimoine" (or in other languages equivalents) series, local equivalents of a sort of the USA "American Classics" series (so releases marketed internationally on Marco Polo of French music would be marketed in France at budget price in that series) - or so I am told... related if not the same? I don't know. (This was more current and topical when they were actually using the Marco Polo label for music other than their Strauss series; now it seems they are releasing everything on Naxos. I've noticed. At least, in the US. Anyway.)
Eric
Quote from: giles.enders on Tuesday 13 July 2010, 14:46
Has anyone noticed that when Naxos issue cs's of Spanish or American music, they stick the country's flag on the front. Is this meant to be a warning that one might have to make allowances for the music or a nationalistic appeal to interested parties?
The British flag appears on discs in their British Light Music series: Addinsell, Coates, Farnon, etc.
I would rather they put the flag on Elgar, Alwyn, Vaughan Williams etc:
I think it's a cute, but rather strange idea to put flags on covers. It may work with Spain and America, which didn't have any significant border changes since romantic times, but how about 'flagging' Dvorák? Didn't Austria-Hungary came to an end after his death? Bit of an anachronism to assign him a flag of a state (Czechia - or Czech Republic) which didn't come into existence until after his death, even though we do consider his music to be typically Czech.
Or what about Franck? A French composer, born in Belgium, which was part of the Netherlands at the time of his birth...
And Schumann? Would he have gone by the East-German flag until the late 80's?
Flags might only really work with modern composers, who usually compose in an idiom so international that designating flags is rather useless. The flag thing is a paradox, altogether.
Giles wrote:
QuoteSterling do it on ALL their releases.
Indeed Bo does and his idea is to boost sales in the native country of the composer. Of course, in Sterling's case, these are by definition unsung composers who may not otherwise be known in their native lands. Apparently it works. To be honest, I don't think it appropriate for any other reason but I can't really see that it does any harm.