# Naxos fans...unite!



## Tapkaara

When I first started listening to/collecting classical records in high school, Naxos made it easy for me. Inexpensive but quality recordings. It really opened me up to so much music, but in a way that was financially possible.

So, I have a soft spot for Naxos. It's been there since the beginning for me, and I certainly feel a loyalty for the company. It's been exciting to watch them grow into what is, probably, the biggest classical label in the world. They have come a long way from their early recordings of basic repertoire with the Slovaks to putting out world-class recording after world-class recording today.

And the scope of repertoire they present is just unbeatable.

I own more Naxos recordings than any other label. They still make it very easy to hear good music at a very reasonable price.

Anyone else a fan?


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## andruini

Definitely.. Naxos is such a lifesaver for us economically challenged music fans and students.. 
The amount of stuff they have and their different series really make them probably my favorite classical label.. 
Go Naxos!


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## Mirror Image

I enjoy Naxos recordings. They offer, but not always, good, all-around performances of repertoire that you otherwise would never hear done. I have been impressed with much of their work.

They do, however, offer some higher-end recordings like the box set of Langgaard on the Dacapo label, which is a subsidiary of Naxos and on the Phoenix Edition label, which has a great set of Prokofiev recordings with Kitajenko available.


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> I enjoy Naxos recordings. They offer, but not always, good, all-around performances...


That can be said of any label, including Naxos.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> That can be said of any label, including Naxos.


This seems to happen the most with Naxos though, because some of the orchestras that play on their label aren't always that great.


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> This seems to happen the most with Naxos though, because some of the orchestras that play on their label aren't always that great.


I'd tend to disagree. At least nowadays Naxos utilizes many great orchestras that may not have the brand name like Chicago Symphony or something like that. Notwithstanding, I cannot think of any recent Naxos discs where the playing was less than good.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> I'd tend to disagree. At least nowadays Naxos utilizes many great orchestras that may not have the brand name like Chicago Symphony or something like that. Notwithstanding, I cannot think of any recent Naxos discs where the playing was less than good.


I'm not talking about brand names. I'm talking about superior orchestras. So what you're telling me is an orchestra like the National Orchestra of Ukraine, for example, plays better than the Vienna Philharmonic or the Royal Concertgebouw? I don't think so.

As I stated, Naxos is a great label, but can't compete with the frontrunners represented on EMI, Decca, Philips, or even Telarc, but I love what Naxos do even if I find _*some*_ performances less than adequate.


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## Tapkaara

I don't recall saying or implying that the National Orchestra of Ukraine, for example, is better than the Vienna Phil or anything along those lines. But it is still a very good, perhaps world class orchestra. 

My point is: Naxos generally does not record with the biggest "brand name" orchestras like CSO, Berliner Philharmoniker, LA Phil, etc. And these orchestra are brand name for a reason: they are the best in the world. But orchestras can still be very good if not world class and still come from places like Ukraine, or Bournemouth, etc.

So, just because Naxos does not have the same access to the world's best orchestras like Deutsche Grammaphon, that still does not mean their product is inherently lesser. Thus, it should not be held against them.


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## Weston

I like Naxos for all the above reasons. You may find this a trivial aspect, but I also like the consistency of the package. One look at a Naxos CD and you know what it is. There is usually some nice, but understated piece of art on a white background and very readable succinct copy lettering. I have detected a slight change in the visual format lately, but I hope this is not going to be a trend.

Some complain of less than stellar musicianship, but after all these years of being a classical fan, I'm still very much into the composers and less into the interpreters. I have heard Jeno Jando put down in some forums, but to me he is an non-intrusive interpreter. When he plays, I don't hear Jando. I hear Beethoven. 

Naxos has also been able to make orchestras that I have heard live sound better than they do, if that makes any sense.


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## Tapkaara

Jando is a great pianist and I agree with you about is "non intrusive" playing.

I think most legitimate complaints about Naxos come from when it was a budding label in the late 1980s. A lot of second-rate Eastern European orchestras and often muddy sound. But they have steadily gone up and up over the years in terms of everything: quality sound, quality repertoire, quality orchestras, etc. It may not be THE BEST, but it is still quality and more than worth the budget price.

I, too, like the simplicity and consistancy of their packaging. I'm always curious to see what artwork they will use to "represent" the spirit of the recording. Sometimes, I have bought recordings of something I have never heard for the artwork alone hoping there is some sort of connection to the music. I have had many pleasant surprises that way!


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## vavaving

Naxos has an accessible web presence, which I often appreciate.


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## Tapkaara

vavaving said:


> Naxos has an accessible web presence, which I often appreciate.


Yeah, their site is great. I always look forward to the first of the month to see what their new releases will be.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> I don't recall saying or implying that the National Orchestra of Ukraine, for example, is better than the Vienna Phil or anything along those lines. But it is still a very good, perhaps world class orchestra.
> 
> My point is: Naxos generally does not record with the biggest "brand name" orchestras like CSO, Berliner Philharmoniker, LA Phil, etc. And these orchestra are brand name for a reason: they are the best in the world. But orchestras can still be very good if not world class and still come from places like Ukraine, or Bournemouth, etc.
> 
> So, just because Naxos does not have the same access to the world's best orchestras like Deutsche Grammaphon, that still does not mean their product is inherently lesser. Thus, it should not be held against them.


I think you're misunderstanding me here, but I think it's important for people to realize Naxos are a budget label. Yes, they have produced some high quality performances from good orchestras, but the demand for their product is a lot less than say EMI, Decca, or Philips. How many times do you hear a collector mention the Naxos name? If you're not around collectors then you have no idea what I'm talking about.

I'm a collector, which may not mean that much to you, but I can tell you that Naxos recordings are not that in high demand. They also aren't the first ones to go out-of-print either.

I never said Naxos was a bad label. I like and enjoy many of their recordings, but from a pure collecting standpoint they're not on the top of many people's lists, including mine.

That's all I'm saying. Take it or leave it. I have met many collectors and they all are after what I'm after, which are the hard to find recordings on the major labels, because major labels don't keep things in-print that long and they become much more valuable.


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## Tapkaara

I'm a collecter too, MI, and Naxos is a very big part of my library of discs. And if you meet collectors who have never heard of what is probably the biggest classical label nowadays that wins a few Grammy awards every year for the past several years, maybe they should branch out a little.

If you are only looking to collect rarer, out of print discs than maybe Naxos isn't for you. But if you are someone like me, who likes discovering new music of a high quality at a reletively budget price, than a label like Naxos is wonderful.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> I'm a collecter too, MI, and Naxos is a very big part of my library of discs. And if you meet collectors who have never heard of what is probably the biggest classical label nowadays that wins a few Grammy awards every year for the past several years, maybe they should branch out a little.
> 
> If you are only looking to collect rarer, out of print discs than maybe Naxos isn't for you. But if you are someone like me, who likes discovering new music of a high quality at a reletively budget price, than a label like Naxos is wonderful.


Perhaps they should, but I'm going by what's in demand, Tapkaara and Naxos isn't in-demand from a collecting standpoint.

Let me tell what is in-demand: Karajan, Bernstein, Kubelik, Metropolis, Tennstedt, Jarvi, Colin Davis, Boult, Barbirolli, Handley, Thomson, Hickox, Beecham, Abbado, etc.

These conductors' recordings are in-demand. They sell. No matter if you're starting to build a classical collection or not, they sell.


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> Perhaps they should, but I'm going by what's in demand, Tapkaara and Naxos isn't in-demand.
> 
> Let me tell what is in-demand: Karajan, Bernstein, Kubelik, Metropolis, Tennstedt, Jarvi, Colin Davis, Boult, Barbirolli, Handley, Thomson, Hickox, Beecham, Abbado, etc.
> 
> These conductors' recordings are in-demand. They sell. No matter if you're a starting to build a classical collection or not, they sell.


Not everyone who purchases classical music ONLY buys DG, EMI, Karajan, Bernstein, etc. I think to the general classical music buying public who is just looking to buy new recordings, Naxos is VERY MUCH in demand. They would not have become what is likely the biggest classical label in recent years if that were not the case.

But, again, if your main interest is only the top orchestras, top labels, and top conductors, I could understand why Naxos would not matter much.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> But, again, if your main interest is only the top orchestras, top labels, and top conductors, I could understand why Naxos would not matter much.


I love Naxos, Tapkaara or I wouldn't be buying their recordings or even sitting here talking about them.

All I was saying is that these major labels create a demand that is much greater than the one created by Naxos.

Speaking of labels, I'm trying to acquire more Chandos, which I already own a good bit of, and Hyperion, whose recordings are quite expensive. I like those labels too.

I'm not trying to argue with you Tapkaara. I'm just telling you from a pure collecting standpoint, that Naxos are generally going to be worth less. That's all I'm saying. It doesn't mean I don't like Naxos. I never said I don't enjoy their recordings, because I do. Their label has many composers that you will never even hear on a major label and for this alone I think is a good reason to acquire their recordings.


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## Tapkaara

Not that it is pertinant to the purpose of this thread, but I am just curious what information you have that other labels are in more demand than Naxos?


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> Not that it is pertinant to the purpose of this thread, but I am just curious what information you have that other labels are in more demand than Naxos?


Go look anywhere online and look at the prices of out-of-print Decca, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon recordings. The demand for these are quite high.


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> Go look anywhere online and look at the prices of out-of-print Decca, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon recordings. The demand for these are quite high.


But that's if you are looking for out of print stuff. Anyway this thread is not about the collectability of Naxos recordings and how much they can earn you back if you were to sell them. This is about whether or not you are a fan of the label, regardless of the re-sale value of the discs. Maybe I should have made that clearer.

You've said you are a fan, so we'll take that as your answer.

Anyway, _in general_ Naxos IS sought after as a label by the classical-buying public. According to our friends at Wikipedia, Naxos is one of the two biggest labels in the world:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxos_(record_label)

Naxos recordings may not be all that rare or worth a lot to collectors of rare discs, but they still sell a lot of music. Good for them!


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## Mirror Image

On a pure delightful note, I love Naxos and I'm proud of the ones I own. I'm really a fan of Marin Alsop these past few weeks and her recordings are on the Naxos label. Her Barber recordings are amazing and are in great sound. One thing that's great about Naxos is they do sound quite good. Probably better than many of the Deutsche Grammophons I've heard lately.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> But that's if you are looking for out of print stuff. Anyway this thread is not about the collectability of Naxos recordings and how much they can earn you back if you were to sell them. This is about whether or not you are a fan of the label, regardless of the re-sale value of the discs. Maybe I should have made that clearer.
> 
> You've said you are a fan, so we'll take that as your answer.
> 
> Anyway, _in general_ Naxos IS sought after as a label by the classical-buying public. According to our friends at Wikipedia, Naxos is one of the two biggest labels in the world:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxos_(record_label)
> 
> Naxos recordings may not be all that rare or worth a lot to collectors of rare discs, but they still sell a lot of music. Good for them!


Yeah, I'm a fan and I like the label, but I don't put them up on a high pedestal like you do as if they somehow can't do any wrong. All record labels put out crap and Naxos has put out a lot of crap over the years.


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## Tapkaara

Not EVERY recording Naxos has produced is solid gold, and again, nowhere have I made that statement. Of course there have been bad recordings. I mentioned the muddy sonics of their earlier efforts in this thread. They have put out recordings that have certainly been bettered by other ensembles. Jeez Louise, MI, I am not putting them on a pedestal and claiming they do no wrong. I have no stock in Naxos or anything like that. I'm a fan of the label, a big fan if you will. Please don't skew or misinterpret my statements or intentions here. I beg of you.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> Not EVERY recording Naxos has produced is solid gold, and again, nowhere have I made that statement. Of course there have been bad recordings. I mentioned the muddy sonics of their earlier efforts in this thread. They have put out recordings that have certainly been bettered by other ensembles. Jeez Louise, MI, I am not putting them on a pedestal and claiming they do no wrong. I have no stock in Naxos or anything like that. I'm a fan of the label, a big fan if you will. Please don't skew or misinterpret my statements or intentions here. I beg of you.


Okay, I won't.


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## Weston

I'm curious if anyone cares for their Life and Works series of audio composer biographies on Naxos. I have the one for Beethoven and it's fairly riveting for me -- except I don't care much for the voice of the actor doing the voice for Beethoven. I always imagined the man sounding more -- I don't know, Germanic.

Has anyone heard the other composers bios in this series, and are they worth a listen?


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## Tapkaara

Weston said:


> I'm curious if anyone cares for their Life and Works series of audio composer biographies on Naxos. I have the one for Beethoven and it's fairly riveting for me -- except I don't care much for the voice of the actor doing the voice for Beethoven. I always imagined the man sounding more -- I don't know, Germanic.
> 
> Has anyone heard the other composers bios in this series, and are they worth a listen?


Unfortunately I have not heard these, but they sound interesting...!


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## Mirror Image

Weston said:


> I'm curious if anyone cares for their Life and Works series of audio composer biographies on Naxos. I have the one for Beethoven and it's fairly riveting for me -- except I don't care much for the voice of the actor doing the voice for Beethoven. I always imagined the man sounding more -- I don't know, Germanic.
> 
> Has anyone heard the other composers bios in this series, and are they worth a listen?


I never heard of this before, I'm not a big fan of people reading stuff back to me though. After awhile, I think I would get rather annoyed, but maybe that's just me.


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## Mirror Image

I just want to thank Tapkaara for posting this thread. I think a lot of times we take labels like Naxos, Hyperion, Chandos, Regis, Nimbus...for granted. I know I certainly do.

Naxos has really built up their reputation and turned into one of hell of a record label. We should all be grateful for the music they put out and make available to the public.


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## Mongoose

I think that many of these artistes have appeared on the Naxos label,in their historical series. But I don't think that many of these are availabel in the US.
I recall seeing some of the first Naxos discs in a local branch of Woolworth,back in the 1980's,but I can't remember my first purchase.
Mongoose.


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## Rondo

I love Naxos. Not only are their CDs inexpensive, but they also include a lot of very obscure composers and works that, if not for Naxos, I would never have been exposed to.


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## vavaving

Mongoose said:


> I don't think that many of these are availabel in the US.


Capitol Records, Inc. v Naxos of Am., Inc.


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## Air

Rondo said:


> I love Naxos. Not only are their CDs *inexpensive*, but they also include *a lot of very obscure composers and works* that, if not for Naxos, *I would never have been exposed to.*





Mirror Image said:


> Naxos has really built up their reputation and turned into one of hell of a record label. We should all be grateful for the music they put out and make *available to the public.*


You both make good points here. Companies like DG, EMI, Philips, Decca, etc. provide the "mainstream" recordings for the public at higher prices while Naxos provides the less-in-demand recordings, consequently, for lower prices. The thing is, Tapkaara, if an EMI recording sold for the price of a Naxos recording, it will probably sell better than the Naxos recording, however, Naxos is the largest and most well-known company to monopolize on recordings, composers, and pieces that *tend to be less accessible to the public* at a *reasonable price*. Therefore, Naxos releases these recordings at a price desirable to the public and as a result, they have almost total control over this area.

For example: Where else would one buy the fine Prokofiev recordings of Kuchar/Ukraine if they desire so? Not everyone has the time to dig through ancient Soviet archives.

Hah, I still have my "Best of Chopin", "Best of Beethoven", and "Best of Tchaikovsky" Naxos recordings. They were my first, and I've been meaning to sell them for years. Just looking at them make me sick


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## Tapkaara

I have two of the Kuchar/Prokofiev recordings: Symphonies 5 and 6. They are very well done.


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## jhar26

I like Naxos and have quite a few of their recordings. However - am I the only one who thinks that the sound is often kinda thin, a little underpowered? I don't know if I phrase this correctly, but I hope you know what I mean.


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## Tapkaara

jhar26 said:


> I like Naxos and have quite a few of their recordings. However - am I the only one who thinks that the sound is often kinda thin, a little underpowered? I don't know if I phrase this correctly, but I hope you know what I mean.


I think Naxos has some of the best sound in the business, quite frankly. For example, their Pictures at an Exhibition (Ravel orch.) has very rich rich sound and a delicious bass drum. A more recent purchase of Bax: Symphony no 1 FLOORED me with the realistic sound of the brass. Rarely do I hear a recording where the brass (here, the trombone) sounds like it is in the room with me.

Of course, some recordings will be better than others, so it depends on what you hear.


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## BuddhaBandit

Rondo said:


> I love Naxos. Not only are their CDs inexpensive, but they also include a lot of very obscure composers and works that, if not for Naxos, I would never have been exposed to.


I think this is the true value of Naxos. I haven't been very impressed with their recordings of "standard repertoire" pieces, but Naxos discs of premieres and more obscure pieces are stunning.


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## Mirror Image

jhar26 said:


> I like Naxos and have quite a few of their recordings. However - am I the only one who thinks that the sound is often kinda thin, a little underpowered? I don't know if I phrase this correctly, but I hope you know what I mean.


Ultimately, this depends on what you hear I think. I'm impressed with how good their recordings sound. All of the Naxos recordings I own sound great. They're not as thick as say Chandos, but their recordings have a nice, rounded type of sound.


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## Sid James

I am a big fan of Naxos. & I agree with some of the above posters - good on Naxos for catering to more adventurous people like us & releasing some under (or never before) recorded repertoire.

I've recently been getting into their American Classics series, which offers many such gems. & I think that they have done a fairly good job with the standard repertoire as well. It's also great that on Naxos you are not restricted to European composers, there are alot of North American cds in the series I mentioned, as well as South American, Japanese, and some Australian composers also available. It's good that they are not so Euro-centric, I think...

& yes, their website is very well done. Informative about the composers and you can downlaod cd notes to find out more about what's on their individual cd's as well...


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## Mirror Image

I think a kudos should go to Chandos as well. They actually give you the entire booklet to the CDs so you can read the liner notes before you even buy the CD. What record company does that?


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> I think a kudos should go to Chandos as well. They actually give you the entire booklet to the CDs so you can read the liner notes before you even buy the CD. What record company does that?


Naxos........


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## BuddhaBandit

Andre said:


> I've recently been getting into their American Classics series, which offers many such gems..


I think Naxos' series approach is one of the best aspects to the label. Besides American Classics (which is very well known), they've got a great early music series, a Japanese classics series, a series showcasing lesser-known composers of the Classical era, and others. The series are a great way to discover new repertoire.


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## handlebar

I own close to a hundred Naxos cd's as well. Their American series is by far my favourite. I only wish they would spend more time on more obscure composers instead of the usual big classical names. After all, Naxos made their name by their willingness to record those who need the exposure and by their prices.

Jim


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## Elgarian

handlebar said:


> I own close to a hundred Naxos cd's as well. Their American series is by far my favourite. I only wish they would spend more time on more obscure composers instead of the usual big classical names. After all, Naxos made their name by their willingness to record those who need the exposure and by their prices.


I'm grateful to anyone who prices good music so I can afford it when times are hard. Off the top of my head, here are three things I'm delighted to thank Naxos for:

1. Looking around some years ago for a Sibelius set to replace the motley collection of vinyl I'd got rid of, I bought this:










It was as cheap as chips then, and although I'm sure there are more acclaimed sets, there was something about those Icelanders that I found very attractive and still do. Plenty of Sibelian snow and ice in their playing. At any rate, I've not been inclined to seek out alternatives since, though maybe the cheap Colin Davis LSO set would be a good supplement. (I listen to Sibelius a lot less these days than of yore, and it's not worth paying big money.) What would you say, Tapkaara? - you're the expert.

2. And then there was this:










I bought this blind, because it was cheap, and because it was RVW. I had no idea that it would prove a major discovery. I still regard this recording of the Phantasy Quintet as one of the very loveliest recordings I own.

3. And my third example:










I still remember my first listening to this. I'd brought it home reluctantly; how could anyone possibly piece together Elgar's third symphony from the mess of bits he'd left behind? The whole idea was absurd. It sat on my shelf for several weeks until I reluctantly chucked it into the player, with zero expectations. And then came those sombre, dark, warning notes, like a great sea beating against a wall. And then oh so typically Elgar, in came the lovely, lovely feminine second theme. I needed no further convincing. As far as I was concerned I was listening to something as close to Elgar as anyone could possibly get. Anthony Payne's reconstruction is absolutely superb in its sensitivity, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Daniel ... well, no one, I declare, could do it better. Different, yes. Better, no. Magnificent in every way. (Later, I read Payne's book on his reconstruction - it makes for fascinating reading.)

So - three very personal reasons for giving a cheer to Naxos.


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## Tapkaara

Elgarian said:


> It was as cheap as chips then, and although I'm sure there are more acclaimed sets, there was something about those Icelanders that I found very attractive and still do. Plenty of Sibelian snow and ice in their playing. At any rate, I've not been inclined to seek out alternatives since, though maybe the cheap Colin Davis LSO set would be a good supplement. (I listen to Sibelius a lot less these days than of yore, and it's not worth paying big money.) What would you say, Tapkaara? - you're the expert.
> 
> .


I would avoid the term expert, Elgarian. Let's just say I'm well-read on Sibelius. 

The Naxos Sibelius symphony cycle with Sakari/Iceland is by no means my favorite cycle. While good in parts, I find most of the performances to be "middle of the road." Their reading of the 5th is especially lackluster. By far the best disc in the cycle is the one of the 6th and 7th. Though the recorded sound is somewhat distant and fuzzy (as it is throughout the cycle) the players seem invigorated by the music and they pull it off very, very well.

I can't comment on the Davis/LSO cylce you are talking about (his "middle cycle") because I have not heard it. Why have I not heard it? Because I've heard pretty bad things about it across the board, so I'm in no hurry to get my hands on it, especially when I have other, (apparently) better cycles to keep my attention.


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## Elgarian

Tapkaara said:


> Because I've heard pretty bad things about it across the board.


I mustn't hijack this thread, so I'll find somewhere else to ask you more about this!


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## Tapkaara

Elgarian said:


> I mustn't hijack this thread, so I'll find somewhere else to ask you more about this!


No matter where you go, Elgarian, I will hear your call and I will come to you.


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## Mirror Image

I agree that the Sibelius Naxos releases are crap. Naxos needs to stick to what they're good at and that's promoting lesser known composers' music like William Grant Still for example.


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## handlebar

Mirror Image said:


> I agree that the Sibelius Naxos releases are crap. Naxos needs to stick to what they're good at and that's promoting lesser known composers' music like William Grant Still for example.


This is where the competition does increase a wee bit. Other companies produce recordings from obscure composers such as Chandos, Hyperion,Lyrita,etc. I have to admire Chandos in some of their releases. But their prices are still way above Naxos.
That's why one sees lesser known orchestra recording for Naxos:less expensive rates.
Still, many of the ensembles are good. Who would have thought that the Ukraine National Symphony would produce an outstanding Creston CD?

Jim


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## Mirror Image

handlebar said:


> This is where the competition does increase a wee bit. Other companies produce recordings from obscure composers such as Chandos, Hyperion,Lyrita,etc. I have to admire Chandos in some of their releases. But their prices are still way above Naxos.
> That's why one sees lesser known orchestra recording for Naxos:less expensive rates.
> Still, many of the ensembles are good. Who would have thought that the Ukraine National Symphony would produce an outstanding Creston CD?
> 
> Jim


That's so true Jim. Chandos, while a great label, are pretty expensive and Hyperion, in my opinion, are way overpriced.

You bring up another interesting point in regards to these foreign ensembles like the National Symphony of Ukraine playing American music. It's a shame that you can't even hear Creston's music in the States. I mean you have to go overseas to hear a composer from your own country. That's just ridiculous, but it's one reason I don't go see live classical, because they never play anything that I want to hear live. If they were going to play some say Roy Harris, John Alden Carpenter, David Diamond, or Frederick McKay, then yeah I'll be there, but this won't be happening in Atlanta.


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## Elgarian

Mirror Image said:


> I agree that the Sibelius Naxos releases are crap.


No shades of grey, here ....


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> No shades of grey, here ....


Nope and you won't find any either. It's either good or it's rubbish in my opinion. There is no middle ground for me when talking about music. I either dig it or I don't.


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> I agree that the Sibelius Naxos releases are crap. Naxos needs to stick to what they're good at and that's promoting lesser known composers' music like William Grant Still for example.


Not ALL of the Sibelius recordings on Naxos are crap. There are some that are even superior recordings.

The Night Ride and Sunrise recording with Inkinen/New Zealand is exemplary, and my favorite recording of that work.

Also note I said that the Sakari/Iceland recording of the 6th and 7th is very good.

Naxos is good at recording lesser known composers, but there are many recordings on their label of standard repertoire that are just as good as any other recording. Naxos is good at many things.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> Naxos is good at recording lesser known composers, but there are many recordings on their label of standard repertoire that are just as good as any other recording. Naxos is good at many things.


The best Sibelius I've heard is on the Bis label bar none. Blows all other labels away. Naxos aren't good at everything, Tapkaara, they've done a lot of crap like all labels have.

That said they're Sibelius recordings are adequate at best.


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> The best Sibelius I've heard is on the Bis label bar none. Blows all other labels away. Naxos aren't good at everything, Tapkaara, they've done a lot of crap like all labels have.
> 
> That said they're Sibelius recordings are adequate at best.


There you go again, not reading my posts. (Can anyone else bail me out here? Am I really that unclear?) There is GOOD Naxos, and there is BAD Naxos. There is GOOD Sibelius on Naxos (Night Ride, Scènes historiques) and there is BAD (at least not so good) Sibelius on Naxos (most of Sakari's symphony cycle.) I have no idea, MI, what kick you have been on lately, but I see a little bit more Jtech these days instead of the warmer, fuzzier Mirror Image we ALL know and love.

In particular, you are taking my comments on Naxos out of context and warping them. It's kind of grating that you are on this type of attack. Just read my posts and agree with them or disagree with them. Please don't try to expose an agenda on my part that is not there. Please.

Moving on, Bis is certainly a label that specializes in Sibelius and many of their recordings of the repertoire are unequalled. They are not the only show in town, though, and several other labels also produce great Sibelius.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> There you go again, not reading my posts. (Can anyone else bail me out here? Am I really that unclear?) There is GOOD Naxos, and there is BAD Naxos. There is GOOD Sibelius on Naxos (Night Ride, Scènes historiques) and there is BAD (at least not so good) Sibelius on Naxos (most of Sakari's symphony cycle.) I have no idea, MI, what kick you have been on lately, but I see a little bit more Jtech these days instead of the warmer, fuzzier Mirror Image we ALL know and love.
> 
> In particular, you are taking my comments on Naxos out of context and warping them. It's kind of grating that you are on this type of attack. Just read my posts and agree with them or disagree with them. Please don't try to expose an agenda on my part that is not there. Please.
> 
> Moving on, Bis is certainly a label that specializes in Sibelius and many of their recordings of the repertoire are unequalled. They are not the only show in town, though, and several other labels also produce great Sibelius.


In voice of Igor "As you wish master, as you wish..."


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## Sid James

Tapkaara said:


> Naxos is good at recording lesser known composers, but there are many recordings on their label of standard repertoire that are just as good as any other recording. Naxos is good at many things.


I agree with this. I'm a musical layperson. I haven't studied music, I'm just interested in it & enjoy it. To my ears, the recordings I have heard of Naxos have been pretty good.

Mind you, I tend to buy some of the more less-travelled composers in their catalogue, like on the American Classics series, & composers like Henze, Varese, Bloch, Piazzolla, Rubbra, Walton, etc. I don't have any of their Sibelius, so I can't comment.

I also heard that their Milken Archive of American Jewish Music is pretty good. Some of those cd's have won Grammys. I'll have to buy some in the future...

& I don't think Tapkaara & Mirror Image really have cause for argument. You are both basically saying that there is good & bad Naxos, as with any other label...


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## Elgarian

Mirror Image said:


> It's either good or it's rubbish in my opinion. There is no middle ground for me when talking about music.


Reminds me of old John Wayne westerns, where people are either 'good' or 'no-good'. When they're 'no-good', you shoot 'em.

Well, for the sake of anyone passing who might be interested (probably no one), I here record that I listened to the 1st symphony again yesterday from the Naxos set (the latest of many listenings) and was so engrossed in the music that I let the disc run on and listened to the 3rd symphony that followed. Those Icelanders may not be the finest in the world, but they play with an infectious enthusiasm that is a long way from being 'crap' for this listener. Not the purest white, indeed, but a very acceptable light shade of grey.


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## Edward Elgar

As a music student, you can get access to the Naxos Music Library which has every recording online to listen to free. What I'll do is see if the piece I'm looking for is any good and then get it out of a library on Deutsche Grammophone. Naxos use the same mediocre pianist for all their recordings of piano concertos and basically contract second rate performers (usually from Eastern European countries so they will be cheap). However, Naxos is a fantastic label if you buy your music or are looking for an alternative performance of a piece.


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> Reminds me of old John Wayne westerns, where people are either 'good' or 'no-good'. When they're 'no-good', you shoot 'em.
> 
> Well, for the sake of anyone passing who might be interested (probably no one), I here record that I listened to the 1st symphony again yesterday from the Naxos set (the latest of many listenings) and was so engrossed in the music that I let the disc run on and listened to the 3rd symphony that followed. Those Icelanders may not be the finest in the world, but they play with an infectious enthusiasm that is a long way from being 'crap' for this listener. Not the purest white, indeed, but a very acceptable light shade of grey.


The difference between you and me is quite simple: I call things the way I see it. If I make a mistake I happily admit I'm wrong.

You're one to talk anyway, you completely dismissed Debussy's and Ravel's music or any composers who is considered an "impressionist." You talk about me being a "black and whilte" listener. A person who listens and adores impressionism doesn't see just black and white, they see the whole spectrum of colors available.

It's too bad you don't "get" Debussy or Ravel, because you're missing out on a truly great color experience.


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## Elgarian

Mirror Image said:


> The difference between you and me is quite simple: I call things the way I see it. If I make a mistake I happily admit I'm wrong.
> 
> You're one to talk anyway, you completely dismissed Debussy's and Ravel's music or any composers who is considered an "impressionist." You talk about me being a "black and whilte" listener. A person who listens and adores impressionism doesn't see just black and white, they see the whole spectrum of colors available.
> 
> It's too bad you don't "get" Debussy or Ravel, because you're missing out on a truly great color experience.


MI, you are the person who said "It's either good or it's rubbish", are you not? That's pretty black and white, isn't it? And perhaps deserves just a little bit of teasing?

The whole point of my listening philosophy, which I've explained now several times, is that I _don't_ dismiss things out of hand, even if my initial response to them is negative. I've never dismissed the work of Debussy or Ravel, though I've admitted that so far I don't enjoy it much. It makes sense to keep trying, periodically, with music I don't enjoy initially. Remember our recent conversation about Bantock? If you feel an urge to attack my attitude to these things I would ask you to read my posts again, and assess what I _ really_ say - not what you _think_ I've said.

This has snowballed because I've expressed a different assessment of the Naxos Sibelius set to yours. Please stop and think about this. Do you really want to respond so aggressively with me over something so unimportant? We aren't opponents, you know. We're just fellow music listeners with different approaches, dislikes, and loves. Can we just acknowledge that and drop it? We've both expressed our views. That's all there is to it.


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> MI, you are the person who said "It's either good or it's rubbish", are you not? That's pretty black and white, isn't it? And perhaps deserves just a little bit of teasing?
> 
> The whole point of my listening philosophy, which I've explained now several times, is that I _don't_ dismiss things out of hand, even if my initial response to them is negative. I've never dismissed the work of Debussy or Ravel, though I've admitted that so far I don't enjoy it much. It makes sense to keep trying, periodically, with music I don't enjoy initially. Remember our recent conversation about Bantock? If you feel an urge to attack my attitude to these things I would ask you to read my posts again, and assess what I _ really_ say - not what you _think_ I've said.
> 
> This has snowballed because I've expressed a different assessment of the Naxos Sibelius set to yours. Please stop and think about this. Do you really want to respond so aggressively with me over something so unimportant? We aren't opponents, you know. We're just fellow music listeners with different approaches, dislikes, and loves. Can we just acknowledge that and drop it? We've both expressed our views. That's all there is to it.


Elgarian, I could careless if you like the Sibelius Naxos or not. My opinion of those recordings are the same as they always will be: they're crap.

My tastes span a wide variety of composers, Elgarian probably a lot more than yours. If you don't understand Impressionism now, then you'll never understand it. I find your whole attitude about music to be ridiculous. If I don't particularly like a composer's work and I have given them a fair amount of time to sink in, then I move on to somebody else. It's as simple as that. Going back and listening to something that you don't get and have tried to get is absurd.

Face it, you'll never understand or enjoy the works of Debussy, Ravel, Dukas, or Delius, because YOU DON'T GET IT. Deal with that and move on.


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## bassClef

MI - must you constantly deride people? If other people don't like something then according to you they don't "get it", "understand it" or can't "grasp it". If you don't like something then "it's crap"! You wonder why you wind people up the wrong way? Have some respect for other people's opinions please.


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## Mirror Image

jezbo said:


> MI - must you constantly deride people? If other people don't like something then according to you they don't "get it", "understand it" or can't "grasp it". If you don't like something then "it's crap"! You wonder why you wind people up the wrong way? Have some respect for other people's opinions please.


You're absolutely right, Jezbo. I need to lighten up.

Elgarian, I'm sorry for being a jerk to you. Please accept my apology.


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## Elgarian

Mirror Image said:


> You're absolutely right, Jezbo. I need to lighten up.
> 
> Elgarian, I'm sorry for being a jerk to you. Please accept my apology.


Accepted, with no hard feelings. Thank you.


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> Accepted, with no hard feelings. Thank you.


Thank you my friend. I appreciate it.

Since you're a big fan of Elgar, what do you think of the Naxos Elgar releases?


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## Elgarian

Mirror Image said:


> Since you're a big fan of Elgar, what do you think of the Naxos Elgar releases?


The one I most value is the third symphony, which I wrote about earlier, so I'll start by quoting that again here:










I still remember my first listening to this. I'd brought it home reluctantly; how could anyone possibly piece together Elgar's third symphony from the mess of bits he'd left behind? The whole idea was absurd. It sat on my shelf for several weeks until I reluctantly chucked it into the player, with zero expectations. And then came those sombre, dark, warning notes, like a great sea beating against a wall. And then oh so typically Elgar, in came the lovely, lovely feminine second theme. I needed no further convincing. As far as I was concerned I was listening to something as close to Elgar as anyone could possibly get. Anthony Payne's reconstruction is absolutely superb in its sensitivity, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Daniel ... well, no one, I declare, could do it better. Different, yes. Better, no. Magnificent in every way. (Later, I read Payne's book on his reconstruction - it makes for fascinating reading.)

I only have about half a dozen others, but two that I especially value are these:

















The Kang violin concerto is a very remarkable performance of a concerto that's of enormous personal importance to me; it's highly idiosyncratic and not at all what one would expect - he plays with a romany-esque, gypsy-like character, and my initial response to it was 'Oh no!' But to my surprise, he won me over within five minutes, and it's become a favourite. If I were only to own one recording of the violin concerto, it wouldn't be this one. But it might be my _second_ choice.

The Lamsma recording has all sorts of charm; she was quite young when she made this record, so to tackle something as mature as the violin sonata was quite brave, I think; but I do think there's an essential feminine component present in much of Elgar's music, and it's not surprising that a female violinist, albeit an inexperienced one, might find it and present it movingly. I have no way of assessing it technically; for all I know it might be full of technical flaws; but I find her playing really quite moving. I'm just listening to it again now... maybe a little brash in places, but very lovely, very Elgar.


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## JoeGreen

Heh, i must admit at first i used to avoid Naxos mainly because of the bland looking covers, but now I've really open up to them and I've come to terms with the rather simple packaging.


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> The one I most value is the third symphony, which I wrote about earlier, so I'll start by quoting that again here:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I still remember my first listening to this. I'd brought it home reluctantly; how could anyone possibly piece together Elgar's third symphony from the mess of bits he'd left behind? The whole idea was absurd. It sat on my shelf for several weeks until I reluctantly chucked it into the player, with zero expectations. And then came those sombre, dark, warning notes, like a great sea beating against a wall. And then oh so typically Elgar, in came the lovely, lovely feminine second theme. I needed no further convincing. As far as I was concerned I was listening to something as close to Elgar as anyone could possibly get. Anthony Payne's reconstruction is absolutely superb in its sensitivity, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Daniel ... well, no one, I declare, could do it better. Different, yes. Better, no. Magnificent in every way. (Later, I read Payne's book on his reconstruction - it makes for fascinating reading.)
> 
> I only have about half a dozen others, but two that I especially value are these:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Kang violin concerto is a very remarkable performance of a concerto that's of enormous personal importance to me; it's highly idiosyncratic and not at all what one would expect - he plays with a romany-esque, gypsy-like character, and my initial response to it was 'Oh no!' But to my surprise, he won me over within five minutes, and it's become a favourite. If I were only to own one recording of the violin concerto, it wouldn't be this one. But it might be my _second_ choice.
> 
> The Lamsma recording has all sorts of charm; she was quite young when she made this record, so to tackle something as mature as the violin sonata was quite brave, I think; but I do think there's an essential feminine component present in much of Elgar's music, and it's not surprising that a female violinist, albeit an inexperienced one, might find it and present it movingly. I have no way of assessing it technically; for all I know it might be full of technical flaws; but I find her playing really quite moving. I'm just listening to it again now... maybe a little brash in places, but very lovely, very Elgar.


Well thanks Elgarian, I always know I could count on your for Elgar recommendations.

Not to change labels here, but have you heard Sir Andrew Davis' Elgar cycle on Warner Classics, Elgarian?










This is a great cycle. Davis also did a great job with Vaughan Williams. I'm lucky I was able to get both when they were on sale.

Sorry for the big picture guys.


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## Saturnus

I love them! The recordings aren't always the best around (though sometimes they are!), but still they're always above mediocrity so those good prices easily compensate for that. I've never been disappointed by any Naxos recording.


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## Sid James

Agreed, Saturnus. I was just listening last night to the Naxos Schnittke chamber music cd, recorded here in Australia, and it was superb!


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## Elgarian

JoeGreen said:


> i must admit at first i used to avoid Naxos mainly because of the bland looking covers.


Yes - I've never really got over that, actually. The music is of course the most important thing, but there's a lot of pleasure in looking at and handling well-designed cover art, and I find the standard Naxos 'look' is quite off-putting in that respect.


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## Elgarian

Mirror Image said:


> Not to change labels here, but have you heard Sir Andrew Davis' Elgar cycle on Warner Classics, Elgarian?


Oh yes - there are some good things in that box. The _Penguin Guide_ describes it as 'uneven' but I find the performances never less than good, and some are very fine indeed.


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## Jaime77

naxos is fantastic. in the last few years in particular there has been a plethora of top notch recordings and not just of more obscure works or less recorded composers.


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> Oh yes - there are some good things in that box. The _Penguin Guide_ describes it as 'uneven' but I find the performances never less than good, and some are very fine indeed.


Man, those guys at "The Penguin Guide" are either deaf or aren't listening hard enough. It's a great set, perhaps not in the same league as the Barbirolli, but it's certainly a grade A performance and interpretation.


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> Yes - I've never really got over that, actually. The music is of course the most important thing, but there's a lot of pleasure in looking at and handling well-designed cover art, and I find the standard Naxos 'look' is quite off-putting in that respect.


I can definitely agree with this, but I think it's important to not judge a book by it's cover. I mean how many classical recordings are we forced to look at that have the conductor's expression plastered on the front cover, the back cover, and in the inside jacket? I think Naxos covers, while kind of bland or plain looking, are doing a service to the music where it becomes more about the music on the disc than the conductor or orchestra.


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## Elgarian

Mirror Image said:


> Man, those guys at "The Penguin Guide" are either deaf or aren't listening hard enough. It's a great set, perhaps not in the same league as the Barbirolli, but it's certainly a grade A performance and interpretation.


Well, let's be fair to them: they describe it as _uneven_ - not as poor. In fact they gave some of these performances 'rosette' or 'key' awards when they were issued singly first time around. So they rate some of the performances very highly (rightly in my view, and I expect in yours too) - the 2nd symphony, In the South, Enigma, Cockaigne, Falstaff, Froissart, Intro and Allegro, Serenade for Strings. That's a pretty good strike rate, I think. They're less impressed with the 1st symphony and The Music Makers. Now, I think the 1st symphony is done pretty well, myself - but even if I have a few quibbles over the detail, I think they've done a thorough job on most of the things in the set. Certainly I'd be happy to recommend that box to anyone.


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## Mirror Image

Elgarian said:


> Well, let's be fair to them: they describe it as _uneven_ - not as poor. In fact they gave some of these performances 'rosette' or 'key' awards when they were issued singly first time around. So they rate some of the performances very highly (rightly in my view, and I expect in yours too) - the 2nd symphony, In the South, Enigma, Cockaigne, Falstaff, Froissart, Intro and Allegro, Serenade for Strings. That's a pretty good strike rate, I think. They're less impressed with the 1st symphony and The Music Makers. Now, I think the 1st symphony is done pretty well, myself - but even if I have a few quibbles over the detail, I think they've done a thorough job on most of the things in the set. Certainly I'd be happy to recommend that box to anyone.


I don't read "The Penguin Guide," so I chose to refrain from any kind of comment about their reviews or any other classical magazine.

All I can tell you is I know what I like and what I heard and while the Davis Elgar set may not be top-drawer on every selection, it certainly warrants a listen from Elgar fans or people interested in his music.

My first recommendation for people is always the Barbirolli set just because it had a certain magic to it I think. It was intense, passionate, but elegant and refined, which sums up Elgar's music quite nicely.


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## classicalmusicfan

*Celebrate Indie-pendence*

Thank God I found this thread! Obviously, I unite with you guys in commending Naxos for their great job in delivering satisfying services to all the classical music fellas around the world. You can get your favorites at nice deals and prices and be able to stretch your collection at low cost.

By the way, I've recently visited another site under Naxos.com, the NaxosDirect.com which sells classical music, free mp3s, opera music, jazz music and music dvds from the Naxos label and other fine labels from across the world. Anyone familiar? I just found out that there's a site-wide sale there until July 10. Well another interesting stuff to get crazy of! NaxosDirect came up with this to celebrate with America's Independence.

This is really a great thread. Good job.


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## Mirror Image

classicalmusicfan said:


> This is really a great thread. Good job.


Yes, this is a great thread. Naxos are great.

I







Naxos.


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## maestro267

I have about 60-70 Naxos recordings. They've done wonders when it comes to recording unusual repertoire, such as Brian's Gothic Symphony and Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (both fantastic works).

I'm hoping they carry on with the Roussel symphonies (I have both discs they've released so far, Nos. 2 and 3 with Deneve).


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## Mirror Image

Well I love Naxos, but my true love is for Chandos. I have been looking through my collection and I think I have more Chandos then I do Naxos.


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## Marco01

I have several Naxos recordings, including 'Rite of Spring' recorded by Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Rahbari.

It is the best version I have heard to date, and frankly, in my opinion, is head and shoulders above the Boulez/Cleveland Orchestra version. To me, it comes across as how the 'Rite of Spring' *should* sound, but that is of course personal preference.


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## StlukesguildOhio

I have about 60-70 Naxos recordings. They've done wonders when it comes to recording unusual repertoire, such as Brian's Gothic Symphony and Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (both fantastic works).

Indeed. I've just come across both of these works myself and I'm currently listening to the Bolcom... which I quite like so far.


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## Mirror Image

Marco01 said:


> I have several Naxos recordings, including 'Rite of Spring' recorded by Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Rahbari.
> 
> It is the best version I have heard to date, and frankly, in my opinion, is head and shoulders above the Boulez/Cleveland Orchestra version. To me, it comes across as how the 'Rite of Spring' *should* sound, but that is of course personal preference.


For me, Seiji Ozawa/BSO has turned in the best account of "The Rite of Spring" with Yoel Levi/ASO and Tilson Thomas/SFSO coming in a close second.


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## StlukesguildOhio

Naxos is indeed good for recording a lot of music that is otherwise ignored... whether we are speaking of Modern/Contemporary music... or even older works outside of central figures: ie. Louis Spohr, Carl Stamitz, C.P.E. Bach, etc... I especially love their marvelous recordings of Haydn's string quartets.


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## Mirror Image

Speaking of Naxos, I bought the whole Malcolm Arnold symphony set tonight with Andrew Penny. I've heard nothing but good things about it.


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## Sid James

Yes, Naxos do have some duds (particularly some of their earlier efforts), but they also have some excellent recordings. As people have said, you can get quite alot of good coverage of late C20th composers (eg. the complete orchestral works of Lutoslawski & Penderecki), and also rarer old music. They also have the excellent American Classics series & the Milken Archive of American Jewish music. So I think it's worth, as always, checking out the reviews online of their releases before you buy. Generally, they are a great recording company, & I wouldn't be without them (even though the price of their cd's has risen recently here in Australia, but that's another story)...


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## StlukesguildOhio

A recent Naxos purchase... and a wonderful one at that. Just gorgeous music.


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## Mirror Image

I love Naxos and have enjoyed many of their recordings, but I keep coming back to Chandos time and time again.


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## StlukesguildOhio

Chandos is certainly a marvelous label as well... as is EMI and Deutsche Grammophone... but I think what is unique about Naxos is the fact that it is essentially a budget label... but it also offers a great many quality recordings... and many by composers that are far too often ignored elsewhere.


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## maestro267

I had a count earlier today and found that I've got 95 Naxos CDs in my collection (probably more than half my collection; I haven't counted the others yet). A great label for introducing unusual repertoire (Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony, just as an example).


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## Mozartgirl92

I like Naxos. Ever since I started collecting classical music at the age of 12. I have been able to afford some amazing music. Mozart and Vivaldi among others.
I think Naxos is good for, like another user before me said, average people with not so much money.


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## Tapkaara

Naxos is indeed good for folks without tons of money to spend on over-priced classical CDs. I believe that I have more Naxos in my collection than any other label.

When I first got into classical my senior year of high school, I did not have a lot of money to spend on recordings. Naxos, however, made it easy and I was able to get exposed to a wide range of composers and styles early on. Really, I owe Naxos a debt of gratitude for helping me nourish my burgeoning love of classical music.


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## Aramis

Tapkaara said:


> Naxos is indeed good for folks without tons of money to spend on over-priced classical CDs. I believe that I have more Naxos in my collection than any other label.
> 
> When I first got into classical my senior year of high school, I did not have a lot of money to spend on recordings. Naxos, however, made it easy and I was able to get exposed to a wide range of composers and styles early on. Really, I owe Naxos a debt of gratitude for helping me nourish my burgeoning love of classical music.


Perhaps prices of CDs are completely diffrent where we live, because I feel the same about Deutsche Grammophon and DECCA.

And about the Naxos - I really hate how they put meaningless paintings as the CD covers, just without ANY context.


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## Tapkaara

Aramis said:


> Perhaps prices of CDs are completely diffrent where we live, because I feel the same about Deutsche Grammophon and DECCA.
> 
> And about the Naxos - I really hate how they put meaningless paintings as the CD covers, just without ANY context.


I disagree that there is no context on the Naxos cover art. But I see where you are coming from. If you have a disc o Beethoven piano sonatas, for example, what art can you possibly choose to represent this? A desert landscape with palm trees and camels probably doesn;t work so well, but what about a scene of a 19th century German village? Not that a German village painting necessarily is a visual depiction of a Beethoven piano sonata, but there is some type of context by association, isn't there? I mean, if you look closely at on of those buildings in the painting, there will be a front door. Perhaps someone is behind that door playing Beethoven on the piano. (Is this a stretch.)

Their Sibelius CDs usually feature an arctic-looking landscape by a Finnish painter. Again, I think this good context.

Perhaps that could be a fun addition to this thread: the most non-sequitur Naxos cover art!


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## Aramis

Tapkaara said:


> I disagree that there is no context on the Naxos cover art. But I see where you are coming from. If you have a disc o Beethoven piano sonatas, for example, what art can you possibly choose to represent this? A desert landscape with palm trees and camels probably doesn;t work so well, but what about a scene of a 19th century German village? Not that a German village painting necessarily is a visual depiction of a Beethoven piano sonata, but there is some type of context by association, isn't there? I mean, if you look closely at on of those buildings in the painting, there will be a front door. Perhaps someone is behind that door playing Beethoven on the piano. (Is this a stretch.)
> 
> Their Sibelius CDs usually feature an arctic-looking landscape by a Finnish painter. Again, I think this good context.
> 
> Perhaps that could be a fun addition to this thread: the most non-sequitur Naxos cover art!


That's a point. Anyway, I saw many non-naxos classical CDs with landscape paintings as covers and I find it borind and not too original. As for well-choseness of Naxos covers: after reading your recent post I've made a quick research to find out if they are really so cheap as you say. I found this:










I fail to see any context here. Saying that someone riding in this coach is full of hope and he/she rides somewhere because he/she can't give up in the face of adversity, just like Beethoven composing The 9th, would be overstatement.


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## Tapkaara

Aramis said:


> That's a point. Anyway, I saw many non-naxos classical CDs with landscape paintings as covers and I find it borind and not too original. As for well-choseness of Naxos covers: after reading your recent post I've made a quick research to find out if they are really so cheap as you say. I found this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I fail to see any context here. Saying that someone riding in this coach is full of hope and he/she rides somewhere because he/she can't give up in the face of adversity, just like Beethoven composing The 9th, would be overstatement.


That cloud in the background kind of looks like Beethoven, though, doesn't it. I think THAT'S the connection.

And the coach certainly represents hope. Hope that you arrive to your destination. Hope that you won't fall off that cliff. That's the message of the 9th!

(That's a good recording of the 9th, by the way. I do happen to have it.)


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## qualityaudio

If you are looking for an economical way to access music, might I suggest subscribing to a music service such as Rhapsody. Not only can you listen to, I'm assuming, the entire Naxos catalog, but recordings from almost every other label as well. The only tricky part is interfacing your computer with you hifi system, but there are many different ways to accomplish this. 

That said I have sampled some of the Naxos recordings and find them a bit lacking in quality in terms of both performance and sonics. They do offer an international venue for what appears to be mostly former Soviet Bloc performers and orchestras which I appreciate, and their repertoire includes less well known composers and works than the more "highly respected" labels. Generally, however, if I'm searching for a particular piece of music, I'll typically listen to releases on DG or Philips before any other.


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## Tapkaara

qualityaudio said:


> If you are looking for an economical way to access music, might I suggest subscribing to a music service such as Rhapsody. Not only can you listen to, I'm assuming, the entire Naxos catalog, but recordings from almost every other label as well. The only tricky part is interfacing your computer with you hifi system, but there are many different ways to accomplish this.
> 
> That said I have sampled some of the Naxos recordings and find them a bit lacking in quality in terms of both performance and sonics. They do offer an international venue for what appears to be mostly former Soviet Bloc performers and orchestras which I appreciate, and their repertoire includes less well known composers and works than the more "highly respected" labels. Generally, however, if I'm searching for a particular piece of music, I'll typically listen to releases on DG or Philips before any other.


As for the "former Soviet bloc" comment, this is certainly true when Naxos first came to be in the late 1980s into the early 1990s. That is not really true anymore. While you do not see emsembles like Berlin, Vienna, Chicago, etc. on Naxos, you will see ensembles like Bournemouth and the Royal Scottish which are, by the way, no puny orchestras by any stretch. They simply lack an established international reputation. Fortunately, they do not lack skill and are world class.

Naxos wins multiple awards every year and even took the Grammy award last year for Best Classical Recording.

Long story short, Naxos has come a long way. Today, theo offer myriad high quality recordings with excellent international ensembles and some of the best sonics in the business. Those who see Naxos as the tiny label with nothing but poorly recorded Eastern European Orchestras has not really kept up with the label for the past 15 or so years. They are now the biggest classical label (bigger than DG, Philps, etc.) and that's for a reason.


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## qualityaudio

Tapkaara said:


> As for the "former Soviet bloc" comment, this is certainly true when Naxos first came to be in the late 1980s into the early 1990s. That is not really true anymore. While you do not see emsembles like Berlin, Vienna, Chicago, etc. on Naxos, you will see ensembles like Bournemouth and the Royal Scottish which are, by the way, no puny orchestras by any stretch. They simply lack an established international reputation. Fortunately, they do not lack skill and are world class.
> 
> Naxos wins multiple awards every year and even took the Grammy award last year for Best Classical Recording.
> 
> Long story short, Naxos has come a long way. Today, theo offer myriad high quality recordings with excellent international ensembles and some of the best sonics in the business. Those who see Naxos as the tiny label with nothing but poorly recorded Eastern European Orchestras has not really kept up with the label for the past 15 or so years. They are now the biggest classical label (bigger than DG, Philps, etc.) and that's for a reason.


Thanks for that. My perspective is probably skewed by the selection offered on Rhapsody. I'll check to see if there are titles from those other ensembles you mention. I see they do have "Tower: Made In America" which won in '07 so I'll give that a listen tonight.

BTW Fellow San Diegan here, though I spend more time in Palm Springs these days. Used to work for the San Diego Symphony when Talmi was conductor just before they went dark for a season or two. Haven't had a chance to hear them lately. Have they any recent recordings I should look for?


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## Tapkaara

qualityaudio said:


> Thanks for that. My perspective is probably skewed by the selection offered on Rhapsody. I'll check to see if there are titles from those other ensembles you mention. I see they do have "Tower: Made In America" which won in '07 so I'll give that a listen tonight.
> 
> BTW Fellow San Diegan here, though I spend more time in Palm Springs these days. Used to work for the San Diego Symphony when Talmi was conductor just before they went dark for a season or two. Haven't had a chance to hear them lately. Have they any recent recordings I should look for?


Well, I'm glad I could bring you up to speed on the Naxos story!

Cool that you are in San Diego! I spend lot of time up in the Palm Springs area myself as well 'cause my mom lives in Indian Wells!

I attend several SD Symphony performances a year/ They sound great. Jahja Ling has done a commendable job with our local band. They always sound solid as can be and Ling often leads inspired performances. You should go hear them!!!

There are a few SD Symphony recordings on...believe it or not...Naxos! This are recordings with Talmi, by the way. They were doing a series of Berlioz. The Symphonie fantastique is on Naxos as well as another disc with outtakes from Romeo and Juliet and Les Troyens. This is mid-90's Naxos and the sound is very good, as are the performances. You should check them out!

You really should try to hear some of the more modern Naxos recordings. Their sound truly is some of the best in the business and they do hire great sounding orchestras. You'll probably be shocked!


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## qualityaudio

Well, I have just listened to a number of Naxos recordings and I'm going to have to stand by my original post. Their recordings are very inconsistent to say the least. The SD Symphony recording of Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" is a fine performance but the recording quality is quite poor, for which I mostly blame the venue. I don't know where it was recorded but I assume it was at Symphony Hall which I know well and has just OK acoustics. It just doesn't measure up to other venues on the West Coast. If I'm right, they probably should have gone to Escondido for the sessions.

I then played "Made In America" performed by the Nashville Symphony. I loved this! It's a wonderful recording in both respects: performance and sonics and I can see why it got the Grammy. I've permanently added it to my library.

From there I moved on to the Bournemouth Symphony per your suggestion. I first played the Stokowski transcription of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" which again was fine in both respects. The performance was very nice compared to Stokowski's own performance from "Fantasia" and much better sonically, but then the "Heroes Symphony" by Philip Glass was IMO _unlistenable. _A dreadful recording even when _not _comparing it to the original, which I highly recommend. This was a sloppy performance and the sound muddy. The opening piece, "The Light", was better in both respects, however.

Finally I sampled a couple of tracks from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra: Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2, and Holst's "The Planets". I didn't give these a full listen, but from what I heard they sounded OK. I'll give them a full spin later.

Part of my problem is, as an audiophile, it takes a really fine performance to overcome less than superb sound quality. For example the Detroit Symphony lead by Paul Paray performing Saint Saens 3rd Symphony on Mercury Living Presence is about a 7 sonically (not too shabby for 1957), but a solid 10 performance and thus the recording of this I listen to most often. My second choice is the Charles Dutoit/Montreal Symphony recording on Philips, the first (I believe) all digital recording of the Organ Symphony. I'd give it a 9 for performance and 10 (even 11!) for sonics. The Naxos engineers just don't seem to pay as much attention to detail as those from other labels. That's just my take on it.

That all said, I won't in the future immediately dismiss a performance of a piece on Naxos as they do turn out some nice stuff from time to time.


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## Tapkaara

Well, all labels, I suppose, will have good recordings and bad ones. Take for example Telarc. They are usually considered a bastion of audiophile quality sound. But listen to their recording of Paavo Jarvi conducting Bald Mountain and Pictures with Cincinnati. HORRIBLE recording, if you ask me. Miked from ticket booth, it sounds like. Certainly a black mark against this label's otherwise stellar reputation.

I am surprised you thought the Holst/Lloyd-Jones recording of The Planets was merely OK. I think it is one of the most spectacularly recorded versions of the work around!

I won't go so far as to call myself an "audiophile," but I certainly crave above-average sound whenever I can get it. Truth be told, no two audiophiles are alike and good sound, like music itself, will always and only be in the ear of the beholder.


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## Sid James

I also think it's great that Naxos is not as Euro-centric as (maybe) other labels are, devoting considerable effort to making classical music from Japan and the Americas more widely available. I also think their Milken Archive of American Jewish music is an interesting introduction to repertoire not recorded by anyone else. & their reissues on the Naxos Historical label are also extensive and finely remastered. I agree with Tapkaara, the label has come a long way since it's beginnings, and now includes many fine recordings, some of them world premiere recordings. There's so much to discover on this label, it's not a matter of what tired old warhorse will I listen to yet again, but what new things will I discover today...


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## tenor02

i love their online catalog. real easy to use and has a LOT of music.


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## Tapkaara

From the Naxos website:

http://www.naxos.com/news/default.asp?op=689&displayMenu=Naxos_News&type=2

Nominated for several Grammys, with two recordings on the label nominated for Classical Album of the Year.

As you can see, Naxos has certainly become a force to be reckoned with.

It has also been voted Label of the Year on Musicweb International for this year...as it was last year:

http://www.naxos.com/news/default.asp?op=690&displayMenu=Naxos_News&type=2


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## qualityaudio

Tapkaara said:


> Well, all labels, I suppose, will have good recordings and bad ones. Take for example Telarc. They are usually considered a bastion of audiophile quality sound. But listen to their recording of Paavo Jarvi conducting Bald Mountain and Pictures with Cincinnati. HORRIBLE recording, if you ask me. Miked from ticket booth, it sounds like. Certainly a black mark against this label's otherwise stellar reputation.
> 
> I am surprised you thought the Holst/Lloyd-Jones recording of The Planets was merely OK. I think it is one of the most spectacularly recorded versions of the work around!
> 
> I won't go so far as to call myself an "audiophile," but I certainly crave above-average sound whenever I can get it. Truth be told, no two audiophiles are alike and good sound, like music itself, will always and only be in the ear of the beholder.


Total agreement here. Just look at the differences in the speakers you and I are using. Totally different design and engineering philosophies. Virtually polar opposites. In regards to "The Planets", _OK _was not really a judgement. I only used it in the sense that I would be happy to listen to it later when I had more time. Thanks to this thread, I no longer consider Naxos to be the RCA Red Seal of our time.


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## Tapkaara

qualityaudio said:


> Total agreement here. Just look at the differences in the speakers you and I are using. Totally different design and engineering philosophies. Virtually polar opposites. In regards to "The Planets", _OK _was not really a judgement. I only used it in the sense that I would be happy to listen to it later when I had more time. Thanks to this thread, I no longer consider Naxos to be the RCA Red Seal of our time.


Yes, I do own the dreaded, maligned Bose 901s. Quite honestly, they sound great to me...and while I may not consider myself an audiophile per se, I'm also not a complete idiot when it comes to sound. I have been listening to music for a long time...I know the difference between good and bad sound. The Bose really do work for me and, I think, much of the hatred for them is probably more audiophile dogma than a "fair and balanced" opinion. If "real audiophiles" do not own Bose 901s, and friends of real audiophile do not own them, where are they hearing them to make this negative opinions? And if all you hear is crap about them day in and day out, when you finally do hear them, isn't it possible you may come to them preeconditioned to be biased? I think the same sort of pre-conditioned bias applies to Naxos too...after all, all they do is record with lousy Slovak orchestras!!

(I use a H/K amp and player with them, by the way.)

One of the Naxos discs nominated for the Grammy for Best Recording is the recording of Bernstein's Mass that has gooten so mch good buzz this year. I have not heard this CD (I am a fan of Bernstein the conductor, NOT the composer) but with all that has been written about it, I'd be surprised if it did not win.


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## qualityaudio

Hey, just in case you thought so, I was not making _any _judgement call on your choice of speakers. Having sold audio for many years I've never been able to explain why two people choose two different speakers, except that their ears must perceive sound differently or they have different priorities. Everything's a compromise. Who am I to say which imperfections _I_ think someone else should find acceptable. Bose has been making the 901's for decades so obviously enough people like them to keep them on the market so long.

Thanks for the tip on the Bernstein disc. I sang some of that in High School and would like to hear it again. I'm more familiar of course with "West Side Story" which I love but I agree he was a greater conductor. I did manage to see him perform "Rhapsody In Blue", as conductor _and _ soloist, which was a real treat.


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## Tapkaara

qualityaudio said:


> Hey, just in case you thought so, I was not making _any _judgement call on your choice of speakers. Having sold audio for many years I've never been able to explain why two people choose two different speakers, except that their ears must perceive sound differently or they have different priorities. Everything's a compromise. Who am I to say which imperfections _I_ think someone else should find acceptable. Bose has been making the 901's for decades so obviously enough people like them to keep them on the market so long.
> 
> Thanks for the tip on the Bernstein disc. I sang some of that in High School and would like to hear it again. I'm more familiar of course with "West Side Story" which I love but I agree he was a greater conductor. I did manage to see him perform "Rhapsody In Blue", as conductor _and _ soloist, which was a real treat.


I know you were not making a judgement against the Bose, but I just wanted to get my side out there in case we have any lurkers who may want to come down on my with fire and brimstone because of the speakers I have. You never know...

Other great sounding Naxos recordings are their Arnold Bax series, also with Lloyd-Jones and Scotland. I love their recording of Bax's 1st Symphony. Also check out their Mussorgsly disc with Kuchar/Ukraine.


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## qualityaudio

It's true, audio snobs can be quite cruel. I used to be one of them. Really alienated a lot of people that way. I'm listening to Mass right now and will check out this Bax guy later, though it may have to wait until after I hear the "Nine" soundtrack just released on Rhapsody. Thanks!


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## qualityaudio

Just read an interesting piece in Stereophile on Naxos first releases on Blu-Ray "pure audio" (a new standard for audio only Blu-Ray disks). Sounds interesting. Apparently you can listen to Hayden's music in any of nine different acoustic environments on seven different instruments for 63 possible experiences. They are also planning on adding lossless hi-def surround-sound downloads to their offerings. Check it out:

http://www.stereophile.com/news/naxos_blu-ray_breakthrough/


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## pradoswank

Absolutely! Naxos brought the opportunities to afford music recordings.
Thank you Naxos!!!
===========================================================


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## Guest

qualityaudio said:


> Just read an interesting piece in Stereophile on Naxos first releases on Blu-Ray "pure audio" (a new standard for audio only Blu-Ray disks). Sounds interesting.
> http://www.stereophile.com/news/naxos_blu-ray_breakthrough/


Thanks for the link very interesting.
The 5 channel surround would not interest me but the high resolution 2 channel would be something to experience, I suppose that means upgrading the CD player  interesting to see SACD were discontinued due to poor sales I also see they are moving to lossless d/l, and about time if the others follow we will finally get decent d/l


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## Romantic Geek

qualityaudio said:


> Just read an interesting piece in Stereophile on Naxos first releases on Blu-Ray "pure audio" (a new standard for audio only Blu-Ray disks). Sounds interesting. Apparently you can listen to Hayden's music in any of nine different acoustic environments on seven different instruments for 63 possible experiences. They are also planning on adding lossless hi-def surround-sound downloads to their offerings. Check it out:
> 
> http://www.stereophile.com/news/naxos_blu-ray_breakthrough/


I'm going to imagine it's going to die as hard and as fast as the DVD-audio

As far as Naxos...I love it. I can't imagine life without Naxos.


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## Naxos

Hi all,

I've just discovered this thread!

For all the latest information on Naxos releases in the UK, great quotes and events and concerts why don't you join our new Naxos UK Facebook page: 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naxos-UK/105602482808448?ref=ts

We look forward to hearing your comments!


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## misterjones

Naxos curtly refused to provide me with a replacement disc or otherwise make good on their defective Casals / Bach Cello Suites set. I cannot support labels or sellers (discount or otherwise) that do not stand behind their products. For that reason, I will never buy another Naxos CD again. (Not a big sacrifice, since I was never particularly impressed with their CDs anyway.)


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## Guest

misterjones said:


> Naxos curtly refused to provide me with a replacement disc or otherwise make good on their defective Casals / Bach Cello Suites set.


What exactly was the problem with your set?


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## Tapkaara

misterjones said:


> Naxos curtly refused to provide me with a replacement disc or otherwise make good on their defective Casals / Bach Cello Suites set. I cannot support labels or sellers (discount or otherwise) that do not stand behind their products. For that reason, I will never buy another Naxos CD again. (Not a big sacrifice, since I was never particularly impressed with their CDs anyway.)


Where did you buy your disc? You should have contacted the retailer, I'd think, instead of the label directly. I have bought defective CDs in the past (not Naxos that I can recall) and have never had trouble returning something. In the days of Tower Records, even, if I bought a disc that worked perfectly fine BUT DID NOT LIKE IT, I could return it with no problem. Who knows, maybe time has changed.

Too bad you got your hands on a bad disc. It's certainly your right to boycott the label as a result, but you are missing out on some top-of-the-line recordings.


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## Guest

You are quite correct Tap the retailer is the responsible party, the retailer then takes it up with Naxos


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## Tapkaara

Andante said:


> You are quite correct Tap the retailer is the responsible party, the retailer then takes it up with Naxos


Indeed, indeed. I think to blacklist Naxos (or any label) due to a flash-in-the-pan defect is perhaps a little too severe. Of course, if Naxos consistently produced "bum disc," well this type of thing would be justified.

But to each his own.


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## HarpsichordConcerto

Naxos is a very decent recording company/label. It's trump factor is obviously price. But price aside, the many Naxos HIP recordings that I have are perfectly enjoyable, as much as full price/big label groups.

Of course, there are some dud performers, like any other record label. At times there may be slight compromises, such as lack of English translation of libretti from large scale vocal works, which Naxos readily admits to keep prices down. I can live with that.

Given the huge range of recordings Naxos offers, I admire it both artistically and of course, economically as a business.


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## Sid James

I agree with Harpsichord Concerto, Naxos doesn't always provide libretti or the text of works, but often these are available on thier website. In one case they have been somewhat sloppy in providing neither (Piazzolla's _Maria de Buenos Aires suite_, & other songs & tangos). But I still love that disc, and that is what counts, I suppose.

A number of Naxos recordings are like hidden gems, eg. they have received high commendations from critics & even coveted prizes, like the French Diapason d'or. I recently picked up a Naxos disc of Idil Biret performing the three Boulez piano sonatas which won that prize.

Their historical recordings are also very good, bringing many rare recordings back into print, with good remastering to boot.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that (usually) Naxos discs have generous total timings, often about 70 minutes - which is real value for money, as some other labels are a bit more stingy with their couplings. They just pull people in with the big performers, and in some ways are still thinking of time limits in relation to LP's rather than CD's.


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## jurianbai

My problem with Naxos is their lack of cover design. But yes I don't need a booklet of multiple languages (french,germany,espanol and sometimes other languages). That's a good idea to keep it cheap.


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## Guest

The same applies to most thing now, My watch has an owners Manuel in 25000 languages yet the English version is incomprehensible  and the font size must be about minus 2,


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## Huilunsoittaja

Naxos has ventured on a noble quest to record many obscure composers, but I think they don't perform with enough heart (the groups they choose, I mean). The interpretations are cheap, and the cut corners a lot when it comes to technique (I have many recordings where the players play wrong notes besides issues with balance, expression, etc.). I'm disenchanted with them now. They might as well not record those small composers if they don't actually care.


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## HarpsichordConcerto

jurianbai said:


> My problem with Naxos is their lack of cover design. But yes I don't need a booklet of multiple languages (french,germany,espanol and sometimes other languages). That's a good idea to keep it cheap.


I think Naxos does have a cover design/consistency for their standard white background (majority of their CD covers), which I think look recognisable, simple and effective. (There are many other labels with their own horrible distasteful "designs"). Naxos simply labels the composer(s), the work(s) and the performer(s) in a straight forward legible font, usually with a suitable art work of the music's period, often tastefully chosen. Simple, effective and looks pleasant.


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## maestro267

I, for one, don't care about the cover design. You buy CDs to listen to the music contained therein, not to look at the artwork. Naxos cover designs are nice and simple; they tell you what's on the disc and who's playing on it. Surely, that's all a cover needs to be there for.


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## Sebastien Melmoth

I've been very satisfied with many Naxos issues.
One of the best is their 17 volume set of Brahms' complete works for piano four-hands.
(Brahms himself reduced virtually all his own works for piano four-hands.)


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## Art Rock

I own a few hundred, and mostly quite satisfactory.


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## Tapkaara

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Naxos has ventured on a noble quest to record many obscure composers, but I think they don't perform with enough heart (the groups they choose, I mean). The interpretations are cheap, and the cut corners a lot when it comes to technique (I have many recordings where the players play wrong notes besides issues with balance, expression, etc.). I'm disenchanted with them now. They might as well not record those small composers if they don't actually care.


I think it is a false assumtion to say that Naxos "doesn't care" about smaller, lesser-known composers. Obviously they DO care, that's why they go out on a limb and record music that may not sell well due to a lack of general popularity.

But if there lack of care comes down to performance where, apparently, the performers play wrong notes within the context of a bland and careless performance, do you have any examples of this? And if it is true, is Naxos the only label ever to turn out a less-than-steller performance? And if a label occasionally produces a dud recording, should that be held against them?


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## Guest

I don't have many Naxos recordings, but have been very pleased with a few recent Naxos purchases.

I obtained a recording of Haydn's Creation which is absolutely incredible. HIP recording that has wonderful clarity, and, to me, is superior to Gardiner's Archiv recording.

My most recent purchase was Slatkin/Detroit performing Rachmaninov's 2nd Symphony, which is also very nice.

I keep meaning to collect their Bruckner symphony cycle with Tintner. I have read good things of these recordings, along with their recording of Mahler's 8th with Wit.


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## misterjones

I only recently discovered the error - thanks to a reviewer at Amazon - so I no longer have the receipt. I originally thought the problem was Casals just playing the wrong movement. I recall reading at the time that there had some historical dispute about the proper running order - for lack of a better term - of the Bach cello suites. I wouldn't have assumed that a "reputable" classical music label would make such a ridiculous error. (They must have assigned an intern to that issue.) Receipt aside, I can't in good faith ask the retailer to take the CD back just so they can get similarly shafted by Naxos. As for the boycott, I just can't abide a company that doesn't stand behind its product. But perhaps it works out for the best. I've now heard there is a version on a Japanese label called Opus Kura that blows the Naxos away. I'll get that and trash the Naxos.


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## Sid James

Well the people who run music labels are only human, so why can't they make some errors? Does it really matter if you know it's an error? I've got a Naxos recording of Leyendecker's _Symphony No. 3 & Violin Concerto_, and the works are listed in the wrong order on the back of the cd. I began listening to the disc, which says it has the concerto first, it turned out to be the symphony (I thought, is this a violin concerto without a violin?). Anyway, it's obvious that it was just a simple mistake, & I'm not going to let that get to me, or prevent me from getting more stuff on Naxos. It's probably my favourite record label, there are so many treasures in it's catalogue.


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## PoliteNewYorker

I own a couple Naxos historical recordings (Heifetz with the LPO performing various Violin concertos), and they're all pretty good. I have to say, the sound is quite nice for the 1930s. I want to get some of their old Boston Symphony recordings with Munch, as well. As for the current issues, I don't bother. Perhaps there are some obscure works I have yet to get into, and when that time comes, I'm sure I'll buy Naxos recordings and enjoy them; but when it comes to things like Beethoven or Mahler, I can get the best performers and recordings for almost the same prices on labels like EMI's Great Recordings of the Century, so why bother?

My friend bought some excerpts of the Ring Cycle on Naxos...and opened his CD to find a collection of Mozart symphonies! I'd say they need some work on quality control.


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## misterjones

Andre said:


> Well the people who run music labels are only human, so why can't they make some errors? Does it really matter if you know it's an error?


The issue is the obligation of Naxos to correct a material error, not whether such mistakes can be made by humans. This was not a misprint in the booklet or an incorrect track order. I can fix that with a note to myself in the CD or scanning and Photoshopping the offending artwork (which I've done before). This was the failure to include a piece of music that was supposed to be included.

Also, I suppose it does matter more now that I know of the error. If I bought a book and a chapter was missing, it wouldn't bother me until I discovered the chapter was missing.


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## Huilunsoittaja

Tapkaara said:


> But if there lack of care comes down to performance where, apparently, the performers play wrong notes within the context of a bland and careless performance, do you have any examples of this?


Yes, maybe 4 or 5, separate CDs, same group. But I won't tell you. You'll only smile and say "Oh... that's because of lack of enthusiasm. No one cares about that composer anyway." But it was mostly the first clarinet.

It could be because the players aren't given enough time to learn the music (strict schedule), it's business after all.

Well, I guess I got what I paid for. The Naxos CDs were about 9$ each, not like $20.

And what's even more ironic, occasionally I hear an interpretation so excellent, it beats a $20 recording.  My compliment to Naxos there.


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## Marc

I was too lazy to check the entire thread .... apologies. 

Here are my personal experiences (FWIW ):

*Naxos is great. Period.* 

Like many other 'small' labels, btw. (Of course, Naxos has grown kinda big.)

In many cases, the smaller labels deliver more interesting stuff than the ever rereleasing large companies. Another Mahler cycle, another rerelease of Bernstein .... in most cases, Naxos stays loyal to almost every recording they made. Not taking them out of the catalogue, entering them two years later again, with some funny add-ons & bonus tracks which makes the true collector feel obliged to buy it again .... all thoze fuzzy trics of EMI, Decca, DG and the lot of them great & famous players on this market.

Last weeks I've been listening a lot to Naxos' issues of Bach's chamber music, like the Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord, for Viola da Gamba & Harpsichord, the Sonatas & Partita for Solo violin (Van Dael) and 2 recordings of _Die Kunst der Fuge_ on harpsichord. All very good performances and very well recorded.

Or interesting recordings like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/W-F-Bach-Polonaises-Sonata-Fantasia/dp/B000WPJ6GW/

Or what about series like this:

http://www.naxos.com/series/organ_encyclopedia.htm

One of the best orchestral recordings I ever heard:

http://www.amazon.com/Respighi-Symphonic-Poems-Ottorino/dp/B0000013TI

And I consider this one also a gem:

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Canteloube-Chants-dAuvergne/dp/B00068VQAY/

Et cetera ....

To me, it's always a pleasure sniffing around any Naxos store.


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## superhorn

I have quite a few Naxos discs. It seems that you can never go wrong with one of their CDs. 
Great price, fantastic diversity of repertoire .


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## Vaneyes

"It seems that you can never go wrong with one of their CDs."

I've gone wrong with a lot of their CDs, but it was fun trying, and I *am* grateful that in the end they were able to contribute 25 discs to my collection. The most recent acquisitions (and keepers) were Ginastera 8.570569 and Carter 8.559362/8.559363.


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## Tapkaara

Vaneyes said:


> "It seems that you can never go wrong with one of their CDs."
> 
> I've gone wrong with a lot of their CDs, but it was fun trying, and I *am* grateful that in the end they were able to contribute 25 discs to my collection. The most recent acquisitions (and keepers) were Ginastera 8.570569 and Carter 8.559362/8.559363.


That's the beauty of Naxos: it makes exploration easy and less painful if you end up hating the music. Case in point for me: Turangalila. Have a (highly acclaimed) Naxos recording. Good sound engineering and I suppose a solid performance. It's just that the music sucks and I never listen to it.


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## Vaneyes

Tapkaara said:


> That's the beauty of Naxos: it makes exploration easy and less painful if you end up hating the music. Case in point for me: Turangalila. Have a (highly acclaimed) Naxos recording. Good sound engineering and I suppose a solid performance. It's just that the music sucks and I never listen to it.


You and me both for Turangalila. But I went further. Messiaen is a composer I've thrown in the towel with. I have one recorded piece left (L'ascension), and that's only because it shares a disc with my favorite Saint-Saens Symphony 3 (Bastille/Chung DG).


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## misterjones

Too high a price to pay to ultimately determine whether you like the music. Certainly the Naxos Casals collection showed me that I like Casals versions of the cello suites, but the sound quality of the EMI version is MUCH better (and they even seem to have a new release that's quite inexpensive). Paying twice because of Naxos' inferior quality? No. Much cheaper to read up first. Lots of good comments on the internet by knowledgeable people . . . and plently of sites with extensive (and free) sound clips.


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## Vaneyes

misterjones said:


> Too high a price to pay to ultimately determine whether you like the music. Certainly the Naxos Casals collection showed me that I like Casals versions of the cello suites, but the sound quality of the EMI version is MUCH better (and they even seem to have a new release that's quite inexpensive). Paying twice because of Naxos' inferior quality? No. Much cheaper to read up first. Lots of good comments on the internet by knowledgeable people . . . and plently of sites with extensive (and free) sound clips.


I believe you. From the Naxos site about these recordings..."Ultimately his (Ward Marston) goal is to make the music he remasters sound as natural as possible and true to life by 'lifting the voices' off his old 78 rpm recordings."


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## TSHare

I disagree with the claim (made earlier in this thread) that Naxos is not to be considered for the core repertoire. I think their chamber music competes with the best, and sometimes is a first choice for me.

Some of the best: 

* Jeno Jando & Kodaly Quartet, Trout Quintet (great performance in full robust sound) and the same forces in Brahms/Schumann quintets;

* everything I have heard by the Fine Arts Quartet (Mendelssohn quintets, Schumann quartets, Beethoven Quintets, etc.);

* Auer & Kodaly Quartets, Mendelssohn Octet (the best I've heard by a wide margin; beautifully recorded too);

* Vlach Quartet, Dvorak Quartets 12 & 13;

* just about anything featuring Ilya Kaler, including the recent Brahms and Schumann violin concertos;

* Vienna Piano Trio, Brahms Trios 1 & 2;

* Gould Piano Trio, Mendelssohn Trios.

Eder Quartet in Shostakovich is also very good, though can't really be said to be first-choice since competition is intense; same goes for Kodaly's Beethoven; but I have several from each cycle in my collection and am happy to have them.

Just off the top of my head...

Also, beyond chamber, the James DePreist/LSO Mahler 5 is tragically underrated and the brass is thrillingly captured.


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## qualityaudio

I've been listening to a fascinating series of Naxos recordings in the "Classics Explained" and "An Introduction To" series. In these, writer, musician, and teacher Jeremy Siepmann _dissects_ classical works to a micro level and explains them in great detail from beginning to end with wit and style. So far I've listened to him analyze Dvorak's 9th Symphony, Ravel's Bolero, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (amazing!), Shubert's Trout Quintet, Brahm's 2nd Piano Concerto, and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. These are wonderful and entertaining, and should appeal to musicians and music lovers alike.


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## Chopin_Fan777

Naxos did well with Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and Mendelssohn's Octet in E flat. The Emperor was played well enough to experience a king walking down the red carpet.


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## Guest

I think I had already mentioned on here that the Naxos recording of Haydn's Creation with Spering conducting is a wonderful recording. In addition, I also have Mendelssohn's Octet, paired with Bruch's, with the Kodaly and Auer quartets, and it is also a great recording. Ditto with Haydn's Cacilienmesse (Burdick). I have been trying the Kodaly Quartet's recordings of the Haydn quartets, and have enjoyed them.


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## trillian

im a huge fan of naxos.. music library!


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## StlukesguildOhio

I disagree with the claim (made earlier in this thread) that Naxos is not to be considered for the core repertoire.

I don't think I could give much credence to any classical music aficionado who could think to make such a claim. I have somewhere in the range of 1500 CDs. I carefully research most of the recordings I purchase with the quality of the performance and sound quality upper-most in my concerns... well before questions of price. I have more than my fair share of discs by DG, EMI, Hyperion, Harmonia Mundi, Zig-Zag, Telarc, and many other high-end import labels. In spite of this I also have somewhere around 75 Naxos discs including:

*Brahms*- _Hungarian Dances_ with Istvan Bogar

*Haydn*- _String Quartets_ (multiple volumes) with the Kodaly Quartet

various recordings of medieval music with Ensemble Unicorn, Oxford Camerata, Oni Wytars Ensemble, etc...

Antoni Wit's recordings of *Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Karlowicz, Szymanowski*, and even *Olivier Messiaen's* _Turangalîla Symphony_

*Martinu*- _Epic of Gilgamesh_

*Duparch*- _Songs_ (Paul Groves)

*Canteloube*- _Chants d'Auvergne_ with Veronique Gens

Where Naxos is especially strong is in the area of recording music that is largely ignored by the bigger labels. Among some of the strongest of these I'd include:

*Takemitsu*- _Piano Music; Toward the Sea, Rain Tree, etc..._

*Rautavaara*- _Symphony 7, Cantus Articus, etc..._

*James MacMillian*- _Seven Last Words from the Cross_

*John Tavener*- _Lament for Jerusalem_

*Charles Griffes*- _The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan_

*Roy Harris*- _Symphonies_

*Alan Hovhaness*- various works

*Walter Piston*- _Symphonies_

*George Crumb*- _Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death_

*William Bolcolm*- _Songs of Innocence and of Experience_, numerous other works

*John Corigliano*- _Circus Maximus,_ etc...

*David Diamond*- Symphonies and Concertos

*Ned Rorem*- various orchestral music

*Joseph Schwantner*- _Sparrows, Music of Amber, etc..._

*Eric Whitacre*- _Choral Music_

*Daniel Catan*- _Rappaccini's Daughter_

*Granados, Casals, Blancafort,* etc...- _Song of the Stars_

*Lorenzo Palomo*- _Cantos del alma, Andalusian Nocturnes, Spanish Songs, etc..._

*Carl Rutti*- _Requiem_

*Markopoulos*- _The Liturgy of Orpheus_

Naxos fills a huge need in classical music.


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## realmassy

Another Naxos fan here!
I'm new to the classical world, and Naxos provides a huge catalogue at a pair price.
Also, I like its 'composer-focused view', mostly because my ears aren't trained enough to fully understand artistic performance


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## BrianPK

Thank goodness for Naxos (and Amazon).I think most people would refuse to take a chance with relatively unknown(at least to me) composers at the inflated prices of other labels.I've hundreds of wonderful Naxos recordings of "forgotten" composers and my enjoyment and knowledge has increased enormously. But for Naxos I wouldn't have ventured too far from Mozart,Beethoven,Haydn, Tchaikovsky etc,etc and would probably be totally unaware of VanHal,Dittersdorf,Benza Beck,Cannabich etc, etc and,od course, my latest discovery,the wonderful Kraus...the "Swedish Mozart". Long live Naxos.


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## elgar's ghost

Someone mentioned at the beginning of the thread that during the label's formative years there were more substandard recording than there are now. I agree - Naxos originally started off recording a lot of largely familiar repertoire with not-so-good musicians and with occasionally substandard sound. The general rule of thumb was that the lower the serial number the more chance of the recording being mediocre (although there were numerous exceptions, just like any Naxos recording issued now may still have its flaws). Since then, of course, Naxos has come on leaps and bounds not just in terms of often competing with the majors in terms of performance and production but they are ahead of many others with regards to the diversity of the repertoire - for example, many of their film score and American Series recordings are excellent. 
I would still encourage newcomers to CM to more often than not bite the bullet and stump up for more expensive and famous recordings where necessary when building a basic orchestral collection but the real joy of Naxos for me is spending very little money on exploring obscure or new repertoire that is quite often hard to find elsewhere, assuming it's available at all.


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## Vaneyes

Some good points by elgars ghost, especially with regard to newbies recordings expenditures. Now, with onliners like Amazon Marketplace and Berkshire Record Outlet, one can obtain top of the heap performances on numerous labels for budget prices.

With subsequent turn of events and new competition, Naxos has had to be more innovative. Examples are their various distributorships, acquisitions of defunct labels recordings, and more carefully thought out releases in their own house, such as Carter String Quartets with Pacifica. Their more recent Piston String Quartet releases should be heard also.


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## Andrew B.

Most of my purchases in the past year are Naxos.


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## Sarabande

I have a number of Naxos records and most I'm happy with, good bang for the buck and catalog of lesser known composers/pieces


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## myaskovsky2002

*which one is better?*

Naxos,
Chandos,
Capriccio or
Deutsche Grammophon?

A bit desoriented...

Martin Pitchon


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## chung

I'm not a huge fan of Naxos but I do see the value of their inventory and I think that it's surprisingly beneficial that it's cornered the market for virtually unknown composers (in general I'm wary of any company holding a monopoly, thus my surprise at the benefits of Naxos giving exposure to a decidedly risky line of the recording business). In general, Naxos' catalogue is not my first choice for composers who are at least decently-known, and many of its recordings that I picked up in my early days of collecting have been relegated to deep storage as I got hold of versions by the big brands (sometimes at less money per disc than what I paid for Naxos which is consistently between $7 and $9 per single where I live). In this age where Amazon Marketplace is your friend and mega-boxes (re-)issues are all the rage, I've been increasingly able to score a well-regarded or classic recording from a label other than Naxos for next-to-nothing (e.g. Leibowitz's cycle of Beethoven on Reader's Digest; Konwitschny's cycle of Schumann's symphonies on Berlin Classics, Sandor's cycle of Bartok's solo piano music on Vox, Mackerras' cycle of Mozart's symphonies on Telarc).

Nevertheless, these are the Naxos' recordings that occupy pride of place in my collection:

Grieg: Complete music for solo piano
Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches and other orchestral music
Kalinnikov: Symphonies Nos. 1-2
Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphonies Nos. 1-3
Sibelius: Kullervo
Smetana: Má Vlast
Szeligowski: Orchestral music

However, my Naxos' recordings with Bartók (except the disc of his piano concertos), Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin (except Biret's recording of the Polonaises), Janacek, Khachaturian, Kodaly, Liszt, Mozart, Schumann among many others have been superseded by various recordings made by the (usually) big brands either in their original form (obtained second-hand for peanuts on Amazon Marketplace) or through the wave of reissuing in mega-boxes (take a bow, Brilliant Classics).


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## StlukesguildOhio

*which one is better?*

Naxos,
Chandos,
Capriccio or
Deutsche Grammophon?

A bit desoriented...

Which ever one offers the best (in my opinion) recording of whatever given piece of music I am looking for. If I want Karajan for a given performance of Strauss, Wagner, or Beethoven, I obviously must turn to DG. For a great majority of my opera recordings I look to EMI. I love Murray Perahia so obviously for him I need to turn to Sony. Rene Jacob's new recordings of Mozart's operas are brilliant, and so for them nothing but Harmonia Mundi will so. But I wanted Haydn's quartets by the Kodaly Quartet and I wanted music by David Diamond, and Daniel Catan, and Roy Harris, and any number of others and thus I needed to turn to Naxos.

The question of the best must be clarified by adding the "the best for_________". DG is a wonderful label with a great many recordings I own and love... but that won't help me if I'm looking for a great recording of something they don't carry.


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## World Violist

Naxos is pretty amazing. I really like what I've heard of their Sibelius CDs so far. Must hear some of their Diamond, etc.

I'm also trying to figure out how to get free access to their online library. I've got no idea how. Some weird institution stuff.


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## myaskovsky2002

*examples*

Ankara orchestra, conductor: Akmadian Lichxeroview


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## Ralfy

Naxos has a fantastic collection and is highly recommended because of the price. As I mentioned in another thread, you will find a PDF version (also Excel) of their catalog with various awards and ratings indicated for each work.


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## opus55

jurianbai said:


> My problem with Naxos is their lack of cover design. But yes I don't need a booklet of multiple languages (french,germany,espanol and sometimes other languages). That's a good idea to keep it cheap.


I actually like their cover design that has a painting or a photo. I like staring at it while listening to music. I wish the picture was bigger. I used to not like their cover design because it looked cheap.

Isn't their cover design improving as well?


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## World Violist

opus55 said:


> I actually like their cover design that has a painting or a photo. I like staring at it while listening to music. I wish the picture was bigger. I used to not like their cover design because it looked cheap.
> 
> Isn't their cover design improving as well?


The cover design is very much improving actually; they started a few years ago putting the cases in a cardboard envelope which was very nice if slightly impractical, but now they've been making some very nice booklet art (i.e. not those rather prosaic frames, but full pictures). You can see this in Pietari Inkinen's Sibelius cycle; it's simply amazing.


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## opus55

The notes about performers are very informative as well, especially when they're not so famous.


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## CageFan

Here is another Naxos family member here. I own a complete set of all classical composers' collection and many other individual boxsets from Naxos. The only bad thing I regret deeply was that I lost Beethoven's 5th Violin/Piano sanata due to a car accident 3 years ago. That's my favorite piece, and I am anxious to get it back one day.

Please drop a few words if you could recommend a good interpretation of his Spring Sonata, I am planning to order it from amazon in the coming few days.


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## elgar's ghost

Hi Cagefan - the violin sonatas by Kempff and Menuhin on DG are good value if you don't mind buying more than one. The Spring is on vol 1 (there are 2 x 2-disc sets in all and are in opus no. order).


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## CageFan

Oho, Thank you so much! yes. I actually already think of getting Perlman's version. He is so good that the entire piece sounds continuous and touching. But no, I won't mind to order more than one at all. I actually have a few various versions of most of other composer's works too! Thanks again, much love.


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## Oldhoosierdude

Let's attempt to revive an old thread and change the subject a bit.

Give some favorite Naxos recordings.

Here's one of many for me.


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## Rogerx

I am a fan of Naxos, besides they have a great ( unknown) opera recordings they made some great things, above just a few from the last weeks.


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## apricissimus

Jando's complete Beethoven sonatas is still my favorite, go-to set. Someone mentioned very early in this thread that Jando is an unobtrusive interpreter, and that's what I like about it. I also like how it was recorded. It sounds "dry" very closely miked, which is what I like about it the sound of the recording. Maybe it's the quality of the instrument itself that I like. Not sure exactly how much of it is the instrument and how much is the recording, but the piano itself sounds a little rougher and a little harsher than some of the more melifluous Beethoven piano recordings I've heard, and I think that suits Beethoven well.


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## Oldhoosierdude

apricissimus said:


> Jando's complete Beethoven sonatas is still my favorite, go-to set. Someone mentioned very early in this thread that Jando is an unobtrusive interpreter, and that's what I like about it. I also like how it was recorded. It sounds "dry" very closely miked, which is what I like about it the sound of the recording. Maybe it's the quality of the instrument itself that I like. Not sure exactly how much of it is the instrument and how much is the recording, but the piano itself sounds a little rougher and a little harsher than some of the more melifluous Beethoven piano recordings I've heard, and I think that suits Beethoven well.


Totally agree. It is my favorite Beethoven Sonatas as well. And I have heard many.


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## Oldhoosierdude

A recent purchase, recommendation from another TC member on a different thread. The only version of the Bartok I can ever see myself purchasing.


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## Rogerx

If you in to "new music", must have.


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## apricissimus

Oldhoosierdude said:


> Totally agree. It is my favorite Beethoven Sonatas as well. And I have heard many.


I think Andras Shiff's latest recordings might be a contender for me, if not for that ECM sound that plagues all of ECMs recordings! I'm not a fan of ECM, generally. Too glossy and slick for my tastes.


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## Joe B

I have a few Naxos discs, but this one stands out:










This recording hits every mark. Engineers, conductor, orchestra, all in top form. What struck me on the first listen was how much emotion was captured in the orchestra's playing. And the program is perfect.

edit: And let's not forget John Jeter and the Fort Smith Symphony's releases of the symphonies of William Grant Still!


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## Allegro Con Brio

Naxos recordings hit the mark for exploring obscure repertoire, but I certainly don't look to them for revelatory recordings of the standard stuff. A couple exceptions of course - Tintner's Bruckner symphonies, which have a palpable sense of discovery in every note and are hugely compelling; along with V. Petrenko's Shostakovich cycle, which is white-hot. I can sometimes find the sound quality in their recordings somewhat dull.


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## Joachim Raff

I have quite a few recommendations but if was to plump for one I would go for:









Super performances and congrats on bringing a unsung composer to the fore


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## Bulldog

apricissimus said:


> Jando's complete Beethoven sonatas is still my favorite, go-to set. Someone mentioned very early in this thread that Jando is an unobtrusive interpreter, and that's what I like about it. I also like how it was recorded. It sounds "dry" very closely miked, which is what I like about it the sound of the recording. Maybe it's the quality of the instrument itself that I like. Not sure exactly how much of it is the instrument and how much is the recording, but the piano itself sounds a little rougher and a little harsher than some of the more melifluous Beethoven piano recordings I've heard, and I think that suits Beethoven well.


I'm not familiar with Jando's Beethoven series, but I love his Liszt recordings. On the other hand, his Bach ranges from fairly good to sub-par; I like his WTC but the Goldberg Variations has many problems.

Here's a short review of Jando's Goldbergs I did for the Bach Cantatas website:

"The Performer - Believe it or not, Jeno Jando has more recordings in the catalogs than any other pianist. More than a 'house pianist' for Naxos, he is a production machine and all machines break down now and then.

Jando has recorded Bach before. Specifically, he recorded Bach's complete Well Tempered Clavier a few years ago. It wasn't one of the best piano accounts on record, but I did find it highly enjoyable and a good super-budget choice.

The Performance - Jando's Goldbergs isn't as fine as his Well Tempered Clavier, not even close. The more I listen to it, the more I find questionable and unrewarding features. Here are my top problem areas:

1. Jando likes to flatten and round notes, resulting in insufficient lift and exuberance. There is also a metronome-like aspect to his playing that contributes to minimal elasticity.

2. The bleakest variations, Nos. 15, 21, and 25 (Black Pearl) only get a dusting of negativity from Jando.

3. Inflections and accenting are often weak, depleting both the strength and poignancy of Bach's music.

4. Dialogue among the musical lines is undernourished. Much of this is caused by a lack of balance among the voices, making effective communication difficult. There are also too many moments when Jando simply sounds clumsy.

5. To top things off, Jando has a little formula he uniformly employs when playing Bach's repeats. He softens the tone and adds short trills to the upper melody lines. When heard in one or two variations, the effect can be positive. But Jando's steady diet soon becomes predictable and tiresome. Further, those little trills are annoying and sound entirely contrived.

Don's Conclusions - The best I can say is that Jando's Goldberg Variations is serviceable and in fine sound. However, the competition is immense and leaves Jando at the starting gate. I recommend taking a pass on Jando and investigating the piano versions of Glenn Gould, Rosalyn Tureck, Charles Rosen, Tatiana Nikolayeva, and András Schiff (his ECM, not Decca version). And then there are dozens of harpsichord versions to explore. Sad to say, Jando is well below the curve."


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## Art Rock

The Haydn string quartets series by the Kodaly is excellent imo.


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## Merl

Art Rock said:


> The Haydn string quartets series by the Kodaly is excellent imo.


Agreed. Here are mine, sat lined up in the cd rack.


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## flamencosketches

Naxos is probably my favorite record label, I have hundreds of their CDs. Let me look through my collection and see which ones I like, and write back.


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## Flamme

Pardon me 4 asking but what is NXOS???


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## Art Rock

Naxos, not NXOS. A prominent classical music label, famous for relatively low prices, and a very broad and adventurous catalog.


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## Manxfeeder

Allegro Con Brio said:


> A couple exceptions of course - Tintner's Bruckner symphonies, which have a palpable sense of discovery in every note and are hugely compelling.


Agreed. That's the set that got me into Bruckner.

Naxos has done a great service to American composers by putting out a ton of their music which would otherwise lie in obscurity. On Fridays I used to go to Tower Records or Barnes and Noble and look through their Naxos section and randomly pull out something I'd never heard of. They were so inexpensive, they were worth the risk. And their white boxes, while not necessarily definitive, were a cheap way of collecting symphonies/concertos/whatever in one place.

Thinking off the top of my head, I really like their recording of Barber's Knoxville 1917, their Gloria Coates recordings, and Goreki's 3rd symphony.


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## Merl

The Kodaly Quartets' Beethoven SQ cycle is excellent. Apologies if Ive already mentioned it.


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## Bulldog

A couple of my favorite Naxos discs:

Bach - Art of Fugue (Sergio Vartolo, harpsichord)
Myaskovsky/Weinberg - Violin Concertos (Yablonsky, Russian Philharmonic)


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## Merl

I couldn't be without this sensational New World.


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## Mathias Broucek

I’ve enjoyed their recordings of Casella, Karlowicz and Barber. The American stuff (Hanson, Diamond, Piaton, W Schuman) is outstanding

And I’m a big fan of Falletta (Schmitt, Moeren, Holst)


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## Mathias Broucek

And how could I forget Petrenko and his outstanding Shostakovich....


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## Kiki

Vasily Petrenko's Shostakovich came into mind immediately. A real gem!









I'd wanted to get Kajanus' Sibelius for many years, and finally got them a few years ago when Naxos re-issued them, with decent re-mastered sound as well! Although strictly speaking these are not Naxos recordings.























Another guilty pleasure of mine is Mingxin Du. Simple, romantic music with beautiful tunes. Had some of his music on LPs and cassettes which I have lost through the years. So, thanks to Naxos who re-issued them on their Macro Polo label a few years ago. Again, these are strictly speaking not Naxos recordings. They were first released by the now defunct HK Records which I believe Sony nowadays owns the rights to these recordings.


----------



## Ekim the Insubordinate

eClassical has all Naxos for 50% off for May.


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## Joachim Raff

Another gem is from Bo Linde. Modern but relatively accessible . Wrote in a neo-classical form, similar to Walton, Britten.
These are super performances and sound quality is great.


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## Oldhoosierdude

Here are a few I have enjoyed quite a lot.


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## elgar's ghost

Despite many excellent and enterprising releases of their own Naxos also deserve credit for re-issuing many of Peter Maxwell-Davies' works which were originally on the now-defunct Collins label. There are a couple of Collins recordings of PMD I would still like but whether Naxos go the whole hog and reissue these remains to be seen.


----------



## Knorf

I've been making my way through the Penderecki symphonies on Naxos (complete except No. 6), along with other of his orchestral or vocal/orchestral works, and it is top shelf playing and recording. It's an impressive project!


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## flamencosketches

Knorf said:


> I've been making my way through the Penderecki symphonies on Naxos (complete except No. 6), along with other of his orchestral or vocal/orchestral works, and it is top shelf playing and recording. It's an impressive project!


Antoni Wit is one of the best conductors in the Naxos stable. Don't miss his Lutoslawski recordings, they're also great IMO.


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## Merl

flamencosketches said:


> Antoni Wit is one of the best conductors in the Naxos stable. Don't miss his Lutoslawski recordings, they're also great IMO.


His Schumann cycle is very good too.


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## Oldhoosierdude

This was a give away a while back. I'm glad I chose this one. I have listened many times.


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## Rogerx

Some other gems


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## Oldhoosierdude

Another give away from not long ago. My only recording of this work. I understand the critics had things to say, but it does the job for me.


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## flamencosketches

Oldhoosierdude said:


> Another give away from not long ago. My only recording of this work. I understand the critics had things to say, but it does the job for me.
> View attachment 137542


I kind of regret not springing for that one, but if I'm not mistaken I chose a recording that month that proved to be a favorite: Gerard Schwarz & the Seattle Symphony doing Wagner orchestral music. Besides I have a Carmina Burana that I'm satisfied with (Blomstedt/SFS/Decca) but Alsop's style I suspect would be perfect for Orff.


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## Merl

flamencosketches said:


> I kind of regret not springing for that one, but if I'm not mistaken I chose a recording that month that proved to be a favorite: Gerard Schwarz & the Seattle Symphony doing Wagner orchestral music. Besides I have a Carmina Burana that I'm satisfied with (Blomstedt/SFS/Decca) but Alsop's style I suspect would be perfect for Orff.


It's a marmite disc for many, as OHD alluded to. It's very big, brash and in your face (which I like) but the singing is not always great (it's not a great In Trutina, for example).The choir are very loud. You should hear it though. Alsop rarely does dull.


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## dennisdeems

I had much more fondness for Naxos when they were still a budget label. But I am currently trying to decide on a Haydn string Quartet complete set, and I find that the set from Naxos costs more than most of the sets on larger labels with ensembles whose work I am anxious to add to my library.
Still, I appreciate that they make available much work by American composers that cannot be found elsewhere.


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## Oldhoosierdude

A few Opera highlights.


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## Joachim Raff

One of the best Manfred recordings. Love it!


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## Flamme

I heard about ''Ariadne Aus Naxos'' but not this...I dont have anything from them, if I come across they go into cart!


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## VitellioScarpia

Naxos boasts what in my book is probably one of the best recordings of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The performance sparkles, it is very well conducted by Humburg and the soloists are all very good. The performers are all committed to their roles and Vargas' Almaviva is quite good even though he is not thought of as a Rossini tenor. I highly recommend it!


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## Bigbang

Merl said:


> His Schumann cycle is very good too.


Good to know, will save it from the trash heap or recycle.


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## Bigbang

dennisdeems said:


> I had much more fondness for Naxos when they were still a budget label. But I am currently trying to decide on a Haydn string Quartet complete set, and I find that the set from Naxos costs more than most of the sets on larger labels with ensembles whose work I am anxious to add to my library.
> Still, I appreciate that they make available much work by American composers that cannot be found elsewhere.


I have some of them...very good but as you say (brought this up before) times have changed and with the proliferation of budget labels, Naxos budget releases seem not so outstanding as it once was. I mean, I used to buy Denon releases on cut out and still hold up well but I need to listen to the more rare recordings I have on Naxos, here is the hard to get stuff.


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## Merl

I forgot about this lovely disc.


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## Joachim Raff

This is a new release and for those who have not heard of Fibich, i recommend. Symphony No.3 is my favourite of the trio


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## Oldhoosierdude

I have enjoyed this one.


----------



## Rogerx




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## Oakey

Joachim Raff said:


> View attachment 137968
> 
> 
> This is a new release and for those who have not heard of Fibich, i recommend. Symphony No.3 is my favourite of the trio


Got that one too and can highly recommend it.


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## dennisdeems

I am contemplating the British String Quartets box set. Does anyone have it? https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.502021 It's an incredible value if one likes the performances.


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## D Smith

dennisdeems said:


> I am contemplating the British String Quartets box set. Does anyone have it? https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.502021 It's an incredible value if one likes the performances.


I have individual recordings of Alwyn, Bridge, Vaughan Williams etc that are featured in the set and all are first rate.


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## Joachim Raff

" Absolute sumptuous second movement to the 2nd Symphony that deserves better exposure. Naxos recording is superb and one of the best in the catalogue"


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## Merl

Stunning disc.


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## Rmathuln

I decided to stop waiting for Naxos to create a box and ordered all 19 CDs in their Complete Orchestral Works of Glazunov series from ArkivMusic Wednesday when their latest Naxos 3 CDs for $25 sale started. Don't like the idea of adding that many jewel cases, about 8 inches of shelf space, equivalent to a typical 50-60 CD box. But want the music bad enough to bite the bullet and get it.

What are some other Naxos series some of us have been holding out hoping for space saving (and money saving) box?


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## starthrower

Merl said:


> I forgot about this lovely disc.
> 
> View attachment 137788


I'll be picking up a copy. I think the last title I bought was the Sibelius/Segerstram Incidental Music box which I like very much.


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## Rmathuln

starthrower said:


> I'll picking up a copy. I think the last title I bought was the Sibelius/Segerstram Incidental Music box which I like very much.


Got that Sibelius box when originally released - a real winner.


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## CarlHaydn284

It is because I find Jeno Jando to be one of the greatest pianists alive. His touch and tone is so beautiful and he plays the clearest Viennese sonatas I have ever heard.


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## Oldhoosierdude

CarlHaydn284 said:


> It is because I find Jeno Jando to be one of the greatest pianists alive. His touch and tone is so beautiful and he plays the clearest Viennese sonatas I have ever heard.


I agree about Jando. I like everything I have heard from him except his Goldberg Variations.

Jando's Beethoven Sonatas are my favorite version.


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## Oldhoosierdude

My #1 Ma Vlast


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## flamencosketches

Oldhoosierdude said:


> My #1 Ma Vlast
> 
> View attachment 139659


Everyone talks about how good this is and I'm sure they're right. I'll look out for this one


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## CarlHaydn284

Yes. It’s a shame he doesn’t do much live concerts.
He just plays everything so clearly. One only needs to compare his rendering of the ultra famous 3rd movement of Beethoven’s op 27 no 2 to any other recording to hear the amazing difference.


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## Merl

A couple of excellent SQ recordings


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## Oldhoosierdude

Merl said:


> A couple of excellent SQ recordings
> 
> View attachment 140800
> View attachment 140801


I have been looking at those Grieg quartets.


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## Oldhoosierdude

Here are two that I have owned in the past but since divested myself of. I would like to see Naxos try again with this work. You may like them well enough and they are certainly not BAD by any means.


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## Merl

Oldhoosierdude said:


> Here are two that I have owned in the past but since divested myself of. I would like to see Naxos try again with this work. You may like them well enough and they are certainly not BAD by any means.
> 
> View attachment 140857
> 
> 
> View attachment 140858


Agreed, none are bad but I'd have liked them to let Alsop loose on this one. It's right up her street.


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## Oldhoosierdude

Here's two I picked up recently and like. 
The WTC is now at the top of my list.


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## elgar's ghost

In more recent years I have enjoyed the Naxos recordings of the works of Michael Daugherty - I don't know whether Naxos has an exclusive deal with MD when it comes to showcasing new material but I hope this series continues.


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## Oldhoosierdude

elgars ghost said:


> In more recent years I have enjoyed the Naxos recordings of the works of Michael Daugherty - I don't know whether Naxos has an exclusive deal with MD when it comes to showcasing new material but I hope this series continues.


I have heard him on the radio. Didn't know he was on Naxos.


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## elgar's ghost

^
^

He may not be exclusively with them but there are more of his recordings on Naxos than on any other label - I think there are eight discs on Naxos so far.


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## Oldhoosierdude

Time to resurrect this one. 
My recent acquisitions thanks to the sale at Chandos.


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## HenryPenfold

Chandos have got Naxos downloads on a special until 5th Feb *60% *https://www.chandos.net/label/Naxos/0


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## HenryPenfold

dennisdeems said:


> I am contemplating the British String Quartets box set. Does anyone have it? https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.502021 It's an incredible value if one likes the performances.


I bought each of them as they came out. They are very fine performances and I don't think you should hesitate.

*EDIT: *I have no idea why I've just replied to a post from June last year. I think I should go to bed.


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## Oldhoosierdude

A good one


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## Tero

I have a good selection of their output. Baroque and other. The Vivaldi cello concertos are there in complete discs. Other labels release one or two CDs of the best of them, not the whole set.

Last one bought was piano. I don't quite care for the orchestral versions of these. Poulenc.
https://www.amazon.com/Poulenc-Anim...7945f&pd_rd_wg=hwnkR&pd_rd_i=B00M3ECMH0&psc=1


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## Tero

I looked at the Naxos Poulenc chamber music. They have maybe 4 discs. I may go on to collect all those, settled for a one disc sampler of Poulenc piano plus a few other instruments chamber works.

There are at least 5 discs, but it may include solo piano.
https://www.amazon.com/Poulenc-Comp...45195445&sprefix=poulenc+naxos,aps,134&sr=8-5


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## ansfelden

i love Naxos, one of my favourites is the complete orchestral works Debussy box.


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## Animal the Drummer

One day the Naxos Scarlatti Edition will be complete. When that day comes I'll be after it like a greyhound after a hare.


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## Anooj

Some favorites:


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## littlejohnuk1

One of my fave discs:


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## NoCoPilot

Lysdexics Untie!


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