Robert Clements regarding the Naxos "promise" never to duplicate material
in their catalog:

>Officially, the policy was no unneccessary duplications & no deletions;

That phrase matches almost exactly the language I had remembered Klaus
Heymann using in an interview some years ago.  He was discussing the
tendency of the majors to re-record complete cycles with every hip, new
conductor who comes down the road and being in a situation where these
new renditions have to compete against classic recordings from their own
catalogs at half the price.  It's been a messy situation for years in many
ways, and he rightly wanted to avoid that.

In my opinion, it's not reasonable for a long-lived label to make a
promise to never re-record any repertoire.  Over time as new artists
emerge, and recording technology changes, it's not only inevitable but
perfectly reasonable that duplication take place.  As far as I'm concerned,
Naxos/Marco Polo has done a remarkable job of exploring continually new
repertoire rather than dwelling on the same old same old.

>..., Klaus H has more or less kept within the letter (& perhaps also the
>spirit - there's remarkably little duplication in full HNH catalog) of his
>decree.

I agree completely.

BIS was also mentioned disparagingly in this regard, I think unfairly.
I've been racking my brain trying to remember the exact reason for
re-recording the Sibelius symphonies, but it was specific to the
circumstance (perhaps something about Robert von Bahr, BIS's founder,
not being happy with the sound or performance in one or more of the Jarvi
performances).  In any case, if Vanska was available, he's a great choice
for a new cycle as the critics have generally concurred.  To say nothing
of the fact that this revisit has uncovered such gems as the original 1915
version of the 5th Symphony and the original 1903/4 version of the Violin
Concerto.  This duplication seems like an excellent decision in this light.

I don't see either label moving away from their core philosophies with
respect to duplication.  Von Bahr's essay at the BIS site is worth reading
(though it doesn't specifically mention duplication):

   http://www.bis.se/aboutbis.htm

As are Heymann's thoughts the HNH website:

   http://www.hnh.com/

Where it reads, in part:

   "Another very important decision was made right at the beginning...
   there would be little or no duplication of repertoire and, once a
   recording of the highest artistic and technical quality was in the
   catalogue, it would not be replaced by another, merely to satisfy an
   artist's desire to record the same repertoire."

That sure seems reasonable from both an artistic and a business point of
view, and I believe we've seen them carry through with this philosophy.

Dave
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