Bad taste?

[Mark Thomas]

Is it me, or is this album from Collins in very bad taste?

It seems to be a compilation of music current in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, illustrated with a photo of them taken in Sarajevo shortly before they were both shot dead by Prinzip. As far as I know the archduke's interests centred on hunting, not music. The outbreak of WWI, the only possible reason for remembering him, is surely something which should be marked seriously, not used as another opportunity to roll out more bleeding chunks from the back catalogue in some egregiously cynical marketing ploy.

[giles.enders]

I agree, Franz Ferdinand, shot or not was hardly a figure to be looked up to.  I think the name has stuck in peoples subconscious memories, there was a pop band called Franz Ferdinand and I bet most of the followers hadn't a clue who he was. 
More interestingly for me is that Royal Classics  have been able to use the old Collins Classics logo.  Both Naxos,  Hyperion, and Peter Maxwell Davis bought up chunks of their catalogue. 

[adriano]

Bad taste indeed - or, at least, very silly. Since it's an English label, they could dedicate the next CD to poor Princess Diana, getting even better sales than with Franz Ferdinand. I hate all these "subject" CD compilations.

[semloh]

It seems totally misconceived to me.

Strongly contrasting opinions, linked to ethnic identities, have Ferdinand and Sophie as tragic victims of a crazed murderer, or see Prinzip as a national hero fighting for the liberation of his people. The recent WW1 commemorations in Bosnia, featuring the Vienna PO, were boycotted by Serbia, and comprised German and Austrian music (it was broadcast here on Australian ABC radio). I thought the choice of orchestra was insensitive, and the programme, particularly music by Berg, was in bad taste.

[Archangelo]

I thought it might be just a bit of cynical commercialism given that the Archduke's name was adopted (a la Engelbert Humperdinck) by a UK band who has enjoyed recent success.  Perhaps they hope to sell quite a few units to unsuspecting youths whose appreciation of historical events/figures might extend back about as far as last Friday.

[regriba]

Sorry that I am so ignorant, but why is Berg particularly bad? Was he a die-hard Austrian nationalist? Not that I know that much about him, but from what I've read he was a pretty decent fellow.

[semloh]

Let's not stray too far from UC's remit...  I'll just say that Berg was explicitly in favour of going to war, and seems to have thought it was necessary for upholding the honour of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although this was undoubtedly the popular view at the time, it is hardly something to celebrate, and so a decidedly insensitive choice of composer - in my opinion. I am sure everyone at UC could have chosen a more appropriate programme. And, maybe some of the neglected works of our UCs would fit the bill - so often they express regret at loss, on one hand, and are life-affirming on the other.

[Gareth Vaughan]

It is undoubtedly a monument of bad taste and the less oxygen we give it the better.

[semloh]

Yes, maybe time to close this thread?