Ruben Stam wrote:

>My general impression is that the quality of performers and recording at
>least rivals that of Naxos, and Arte Nova seems to produce more modern
>work.

I agree that Arte Nova is hot on the trail of Naxos as the premier
classical budget label.  That's not surprising given that BMG easily
has sufficient resources to compete with any budget competitors.

Of course, Naxos currently has a much larger inventory of recordings, and
the label keeps churning out many releases every month.  Naxos also has
"special" projects such as the historical series and American series.  Arte
Nova will have to come up with special projects of its own that catch fire
with the classical music buyers.

Koch Discover, with few exceptions, has not provided a quality commensurate
with either Naxos or Arte Nova.  So, it would appear that it's Naxos vs.
Arte Nova.  It will be interesting to see what these two labels do in the
next 2 or 3 years.  Regardless, Naxos no longer has the field to itself,
and I'm sure that Klaus expected some heavy competition.

Don Satz