The lines appear to have been drawn.  In one corner are the "Naxos First"
folks who swear by the label and whose collections have a high percentage
of Naxos recordings.  In the other corner are the "Naxos for Novices and
Poor Folk" group who think that the Naxos price advantage is "swaying" the
opinions of the true believers.  Standing tall in the middle of the ring
are Roger Hecht, myself, and a few others who just see Naxos as another
worthy label which competes with all other labels for our purchasing
dollars.

My other comments:

a.  What about Arte Nova? The Naxos lovers seem to treat this other budget
label as a non-entity.

b.  Don't any of you get bored with those Naxos covers which are so
ordinary and repetitive? Yes, it does beat looking at some ugly guy who
has an air of superiority about him.  I think Brendel's great, but I can't
figure why Philips thinks I want to look at him.

c.  What area of repertoire has Naxos been applauded for the most?

d.  What is the significance of a Penguin rosette? Any day now, I expect to
see a group of penguins parading past my backyard carrying large rosettes
on their chests - the invasion of the penguins.  I'll take a body snatcher
anytime.

e.  I'd like to mention a "bad" label that's not at budget price.  It's
none other than Bongiovanni.  Anyone like this label?

f.  I just have one more thing to say - goodbye.

Don Satz