# Share us your favorite Naxos recordings



## Albert7

One of my all time favorite Naxos recordings is the Vivaldi Wind Concerti as done by City of London Sinfonia with Nicholas Kraemer.

What are your favorite Naxos recordings?


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## starthrower

Penderecki-Symphony No. 8
Penderecki-Te Deum/Polymorphia

Lutoslawski-Symphony No. 2

Szymanowski - Stabat Mater

William Schuman Symphonies


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## Manxfeeder

Off the top of my head, I like their reissue of David Diamond's symphonies. 
I also like Tintner's Bruckner set.
I think they did a nice job with Samuel Barber's Knoxville 1915.
Arthur Foote's chamber works are well done also.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Robert Craft's Schoenberg and Stravinsky.


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## tdc

The Penderecki discs conducted by Antoni Wit are all excellent, I particularly like the _St. Luke Passion_.

Others that immediately come to mind for me:

Brouwer - _Estudios Sencillos_ performed by Ricardo Cobo

Rodrigo - Solo Guitar music discs performed by Jeremy Jouve

Bartok - Various Piano Works discs performed by Jeno Jando


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## Manxfeeder

Peter Hill's recording of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern piano pieces is very well done. 

Allison Brewster Franzetti's recording "20th Century Piano Sonatas" is also well done, featuring Berg, Hindemith, Schoenberg, and Hartmann. 

Having two recordings of Berg's Piano Sonata isn't a bad thing.


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## SixFootScowl

This one is wonderful and I think this oratorio is available nowhere but on NAXOs:









Several of the female vocalists have wonderful voices. Here are the clips.


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## D Smith

I've enjoyed recordings by the Kodaly Quartet and the Maggini Quartet on Naxos.


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## tdc

Speaking of Berg the Naxos recording of his _Violin Concerto_ is also very good and includes the _Lyric Suite_ and _Three Orchestral Pieces_.


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## Cosmos

Schmidt Symphony no. 2 and Fuga Solemnis, Sinaisky w/ the Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Johnsson on the organ


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## joen_cph

- the Lutoslawski orchestral music series
- the Maggini quartet series, playing British string quartets
- the Szymanowski series, all of it
- Respighi´s early piano concerto etc with Scherbakov
- Frank Bridge´s piano music
- Bax chamber music
- Bartok string quartets
- the Rawsthorne series
- Schoenberg Violin Concerto, with Craft
- Rautavaara Symphony 3 etc.
- the Rochberg series
- Maxwell-Davies Bassoon Concerto etc.

originally on Marco Polo:
- Braga Santos orchestral works
- Tournemire symphonies
- Malipiero symphonies


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## SixFootScowl

This one is very nice for having all Mendelssohn's symphonies in one set:


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## StlukesguildOhio

I have more than a few Naxos recordings... and more than a few that I quite treasure:



Among these, I would include a number of historic operatic recordings including _Tristan und Isolde_ with Melchior and Flagstad, Beecham's marvelous _Faust_ and _Magic Flute_, and Knappertsbusch' _Meistersinger_.

There are a good number of Naxos recordings of "early music" that I quite admire. The above disc of music _From Byzantium to Andalusia_ may be my favorite.

From the Baroque and Classical Eras there are the marvelous recordings of Buxtehude featuring John Holloway, Jap ter Linden, and Lars Mortensen; Robert Bartos' recordings of Sylvius Weiss delicious lute music, Edward Higginbottom's marvelous Messiah... 1751 version... which recreates the manner in which the work was performed in London with all male choir boys; and of course the Kodaly Quartet recordings of Haydn's string quartets.



A good number of my favorite Naxos recordings are treasured due to the conductors of performers. Antoni Wit's performances as are good or better than any alternatives among the major labels in many instances. This is especially true of the Polish oeuvre: Karlowicz, Weinberg, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, and Gorecki.

Robert Craft's Stravinsky recordings are essential.

Gerard Schwarz offers a range of marvelous recordings. His Rimsky-Korsakov is quite nice... but he may be most important for his recordings of Modern/Contemporary American Composers.



Petrenko's Shostakovitch cycle!!! 'Nuf said.

Chloe Hanslip... some delicious violin work.


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## StlukesguildOhio

Naxos has done a stupendous job of offering quality performances of Modern and Contemporary American composers... including a good number that one might never hear elsewhere. I love William Bolcolm's _Songs of Innocence and Experience_... but then I am a Blake fanatic.

Surprisingly, I quite liked the Crumb disc.

Daugherty's _Metropolis_ is something of a musical take on Pop Art.

Schwantner is another composer that I discivered as a result of Naxos... and love.



Naxos has also introduced and given access to many talented Modern/Contemporary composers from around the world. Among my favorites:

Love Paloma, Rautavaara, and Granados' _Song of the Stars_!

Daniel Catan! His early death was such a loss. His operas are only just now being given proper performances and recordings.

Paul Groves' Duparc deserved every bit of its critical acclaim.

The English Song Series has more than a few delicious offerings.

Love the _Greek Guitar Music_!

The _Christmas at Trinity_!!!

Trinity Church at Wall Street was directly in the path of the World Trade Center's monumental rubble showers when the buildings collapsed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Church cemetery boasted of some of the oldest tombstones in the US:



















During my stay in New York, I used to frequently walk through the cemetery and church grounds which sat immediately adjacent to the World Trade Center PATH station... the subway from New Jersey to Manhattan.

Trinity's magnificinet organ was a victim of dust and debris along with everything else in its path. As a sort of memorial to the late renowned organ, "Christmas at Trinity" is a touching tribute to not only the superb choir and its director, Dr. Owen Burdick, but a fond farewell (for the time being) to one of this country's finest musical instruments. This glorious instrument is still being refurbished (at enormous, but worthy expense) to return to its place of honor at Trinity.

This recording features excellent, well-crafted arrangements of traditional songs of the Christmas holiday.


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## Chordalrock

William Schuman symphonies
Dufay Missa L'homme arme
Bach harpsichord concertos vol 1 (Hill)
Rachmaninov piano concertos 2 & 3 (Glemser)
Bach Clavier-Ubung III (Rubsam)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I'll second StLuke's recommendation of Petrenko's Shostakovich! That's probably one of the best things Naxos has in its catalogue. 

Also, I'll mention their releases of music by Gloria Coates, a contemporary American composer whose music is more easily available on Naxos than other albums I think.

Inkinen's Sibelius cycle with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is one of my favourites.


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## Albert7

Wow, thanks for all of the Naxos recommendations. Keep them coming... I am adding a ton of those to my iTunes wishlist.


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## elgar's ghost

Numerous discs of Alan Rawsthorne's music - Naxos have served him well.

Ditto Ned Rorem and Penderecki.

Tintner's Bruckner series, especially symphonies 1, 0, 2 & 3.

The Malcolm Arnold symphonies box set.

Complete Shostakovich film scores for Odna, The Fall of Berlin and Hamlet.

Some of the Haydn SQs by the Kodaly Quartet.


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## Antiquarian

Recently my favourite Naxos recording has been Dmitry Kabalevsky's Cello Concertos performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by Igor Golovschin (Naxos 8.553788).


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## Guest

I have quite a few excellent Naxos recordings.

First, there is the entire collection of Samuel Barber's Orchestral works, conducted by Marin Alsop - wonderful!

As mentioned above, the 1751 Handel's Messiah, conducted by Higginbotham.

Haydn's Die Schoepfung (Creation) conducted by Andreas Spering. Along with this, the entire Haydn Mass Collection. And while we are on Haydn, let's also include the Kodaly Quartet's recordings of his string quartets.

Mozart's Divertimento in E flat major, performed by Kraggerud, Tomter, and Richter.

Rachmaninov's 2nd Symphony, performed by Slatkin with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

There is also an excellent Christmas album, called The Wonder of Christmas, with the Elora Festival Singers.


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## Albert7

Anyone know how good the Antoni Wit Mahler symphony cycle is on Naxos?


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## Guest

I read good things about his recording of the 8th - that is about all I can say of them.


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## Albert7

Found a few more awesome Naxos recordings in my stepdad's collection including a "rare" selection of Mozart Serenades K. 185 and K. 203.


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## brotagonist

I know I have a few:

Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues
Vaughan Williams Symphony 7 & 8
Rautavaara Symphony 7
Prokofiev Symphony 6
Carter String Quartets 1-5

I'm sure there are some more


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## opus55

The ones I can recall now are Vieuxtemps violin concertos and Müller-Brühl's Bach recordings.


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## starthrower

Schnittke - Cello Concerto No. 1

I've read some glowing reviews about the Grieg piano series by Steen-Noekleberg.
Also, the Britten violin concerto by Lorraine McAslan.


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## Bulldog

I'll mention a couple of great Naxos discs that haven't been cited:

Bach's Art of Fugue - Sergio Vartolo (harpsichord).
Myaskovsky/Weinberg Violin Concertos - Ilya Grubert/Russian Philharmonic/Dmitry Yablonsky.


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## Albert7

Just found out that Ward Marston did a complete Caruso 12 discer box set for Naxos. OMG. I gotta dig this sucker up.


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## MagneticGhost

Both the Haydn Quartets by Kodaly and the boxset of complete Haydn Masses are exceptional and as good as anything else on the market.
I have very few criticisms of the Complete Schubert Lieder also.

Looking forward to receiving the Wit / Penderecki boxset in the next few days so I'll be able to remark on that.


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## Figleaf

albertfallickwang said:


> Just found out that Ward Marston did a complete Caruso 12 discer box set for Naxos. OMG. I gotta dig this sucker up.


I haven't got it because when it came out I already had the Pearl Caruso box sets- annoyingly, since those were vastly more expensive. I haven't noticed a Caruso box set as such on Naxos- I thought they were available as individual discs like the McCormack ones? Either way, Naxos Historical CDs are excellent value. I do wish they would transfer some less overexposed singers than Caruso, though perhaps that wouldn't be compatible with Naxos' 'pile it high and sell it cheap' business model.


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## Albert7

Figleaf said:


> I haven't got it because when it came out I already had the Pearl Caruso box sets- annoyingly, since those were vastly more expensive. I haven't noticed a Caruso box set as such on Naxos- I thought they were available as individual discs like the McCormack ones? Either way, Naxos Historical CDs are excellent value. I do wish they would transfer some less overexposed singers than Caruso, though perhaps that wouldn't be compatible with Naxos' 'pile it high and sell it cheap' business model.


Here is the box set I would like to have:









But I heard that it's hard to get into the US unless as an import?!?


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## Figleaf

albertfallickwang said:


> Here is the box set I would like to have:
> 
> View attachment 59311
> 
> 
> But I heard that it's hard to get into the US unless as an import?!?


Ooh, I haven't seen that. Only the individual CDs with the red covers. I hope you manage to find a copy!


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## hpowders

The American Classics division of Naxos issue of William Schuman's Symphonies Nos. 3-10 by the Seattle Symphony conducted by Gerard Schwarz.


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## Blancrocher

Some may find this article about Naxos of interest:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...231344-1877-11e2-9855-71f2b202721b_story.html

It discusses the ingenious ways in which the company has found ways to make money in a challenging market. I was particularly interested in the amount of revenue it makes from Youtube, which is far beyond what I had imagined.


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## Mahlerian

I've been collecting Naxos's Japanese Classics series, and there are a lot of mediocre discs on there, but some are really good.


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## Albert7

Mahlerian said:


> I've been collecting Naxos's Japanese Classics series, and there are a lot of mediocre discs on there, but some are really good.


Ooooo rare gems from the East.


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## techniquest

These are probably my favourite Naxos issues (in no particular order):

1. Malcolm Arnold complete symphonies 'white box'
View attachment 59620


2. Petrenko's outstanding recording of Shostakovich 5 & 9








3. Antoni Wit's recording of Kilar orchestral pieces - unusual music well recorded.
View attachment 59623


4. Antoni Wit's Mahler 8 is rather superb too:
View attachment 59624


5. And I really like this 2-disc Introduction to The Ring by Stephen Johnson.


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## Albert7

Hilfe Hilfe... I'm becoming a huge naxos freak... checked out a few Petrenko conducted Shostakovich symphonies  from the library.


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## starthrower

albertfallickwang said:


> Ooooo rare gems from the East.


This is a fine one too!


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## elgar's ghost

The last Naxos recording I bought was this:


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## Tero

Vivaldi cello concertos Raphael Wallfisch, several CDs


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## Mahlerian

starthrower said:


> This is a fine one too!


Agreed. I chose to exclude Takemitsu primarily because his work is available elsewhere, but I do like this disc and the piano one Naxos released.


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## quack

Veronique Gens recording of Canteloube's _Chants D'Auvergne_
Silke-Thora Matthies & Christian Köhn performing 4 hand piano transcriptions of Brahms orchestral works are very interesting
Many of Jeremy Summerly & the Oxford Camerata renaissance and medieval vocal works.
Peter Maxwell Davies' _Naxos Quartets_ (just because they are named after a record label doesn't make them dubious) plust most of other works like the Strathclyde Concertos
Idil Biret playing Boulez sonatas
Seconding Malipiero's Symphonies on Marco Polo precursor label
These too from Marco Polo for some earwax shifting chinese opera


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## Vinski

Seconded. Good period-instrument version of Die Schöpfung.


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## Vinski

Not for regular listening but interesting.


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## SimonNZ

All of Jeremy Summerly's discs for Naxos are essential listening. A selection:


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## SimonNZ

You might also be interested in browsing the list of Naxos' Penguin guide rosette winners:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/ro...&work=&performer=&medium=all&label=naxos&cat=


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## Albert7

SimonNZ said:


> You might also be interested in browsing the list of Naxos' Penguin guide rosette winners:
> 
> http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/ro...&work=&performer=&medium=all&label=naxos&cat=


Ooooo great find!


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## PeterPowerPop

I like Naxos very much for its recordings of Early Music (not so much their recordings of the Romantic repertoire).

I think these three are fabulous:


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## PeterPowerPop

I'd like to recommend this non-Early Music disc from Naxos:



If you're looking for charming and melodic music written in the latter-half of the 20th century, then look no further.


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## arpeggio

PeterPowerPop said:


> I'd like to recommend this non-Early Music disc from Naxos:
> 
> 
> 
> If you're looking for charming and melodic music written in the latter-half of the 20th century, then look no further.


Checked out this CD and put I my wish list. Thanks


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## PeterPowerPop

PeterPowerPop said:


> I'd like to recommend this non-Early Music disc from Naxos:
> 
> 
> 
> If you're looking for charming and melodic music written in the latter-half of the 20th century, then look no further.





arpeggio said:


> Checked out this CD and put I my wish list. Thanks


You're entirely welcome, arpeggio.


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## Albert7

I really love the efforts of Naxos to champion the obscure or unknown composers for sure. Keep your recommendations coming guys. I am finding this to be a useful guide.


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## techniquest

albertfallickwang said:


> Anyone know how good the Antoni Wit Mahler symphony cycle is on Naxos?


The Naxos Mahler cycle isn't all conducted by Antoni Wit. He leads no.s 2,3,4,5,6, & 8 and I can advise that no.2 is really rather good and I wonder why this recording gets completely ignored in appraisals of recordings of this symphony. His no.3 on the other hand is nowhere near as good and suffers from flat production and a really bad edit in the first movement. I haven't heard his 4,5 or 6, but his 8th is remarkable and sits very near the top of the tree of really great performances/recordings.
It is worth getting the Wheeler (1966) version of the 10th conducted by Robert Olsen for a different take on that work.


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## maestro267

The vast majority of my collection is comprised of Naxos discs. I currently have eleven discs of Antoni Wit's wonderful Penderecki cycle, including symphonies, concerti and choral works.


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## Albert7

Does Naxos tend to be higher quality performances with traditional or contemporary composers?


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## Guest

I don't know if I would say that. They tend to put out more recordings of contemporary composers, or even less well known composers, so they have a leg up on many of the other labels, and thus you tend to get more high quality performances of those composers than with other labels. However, I don't go in for many of the contemporary composers, and can say that the "traditional" composer recordings I have listed are excellent. That includes Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, and Bruckner. Whether Barber falls into traditional or contemporary, I couldn't say, but their recordings of his works, primarily conducted by Marin Alsop, is exceptional. And incidentally, her conducting of the Brahms symphonies on Naxos also received high praise.


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## Albert7

DrMike said:


> I don't know if I would say that. They tend to put out more recordings of contemporary composers, or even less well known composers, so they have a leg up on many of the other labels, and thus you tend to get more high quality performances of those composers than with other labels. However, I don't go in for many of the contemporary composers, and can say that the "traditional" composer recordings I have listed are excellent. That includes Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, and Bruckner. Whether Barber falls into traditional or contemporary, I couldn't say, but their recordings of his works, primarily conducted by Marin Alsop, is exceptional. And incidentally, her conducting of the Brahms symphonies on Naxos also received high praise.


Thanks for your advice here. I know that "budget" labels have gotten a bad rap for their traditional composer performances but so far I have gotten pretty good recordings for my Haydn, Bartok, Beethoven, etc. that I have in my collection. Maybe not always legendary like what is on Decca or DG but worthy efforts on their own.


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## Guest

My guess is that people aren't going to label Naxos recordings as "legendary" because they do not hark from the times of legend - i.e. they are predominantly fairly recent, with the exception of historical recordings re-released by Naxos. Naxos is a relatively new label. For the same reason you won't hear people trumpet "legendary" recordings from labels like BIS, or Harmonia Mundi.

Still, there are excellent recordings to be had - perhaps not necessarily from the giants of yesteryear, but I'm not one who thinks that the best of classical music recordings are all in the past, regardless of how highly I regard some of those now-dead greats.


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## Manxfeeder

DrMike said:


> Still, there are excellent recordings to be had - perhaps not necessarily from the giants of yesteryear, but I'm not one who thinks that the best of classical music recordings are all in the past, regardless of how highly I regard some of those now-dead greats.


Particularly with the American composers. With a lot of them, they can't be compared with other recordings because there ARE no other recordings.


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## aajj

I've long found that superior or inferior performances can be found on the major labels as well as the "budget" labels. Naxos has had some fine releases over the years that make for great values in the real world of financial budgets. 

These immediately come to mind:
- Bartok's Violin Sonatas & Contrasts - Jeno Jando, Gyorgy Pauk & others
- Mozart's 'Haydn' Quartets 16 & 18 - Eder Quartet (admittedly, the sound quality could be better but does not detract from a top-notch performance)
- Ives collection - President's Own U.S. Marine Band (quirky collection of arrangements, including some rare pieces, and the Marines really nail it)


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## Rangstrom

While many of my favorites have already been mentioned (W. Schuman symphonies, Wit doing Penderecki, et al., the well remastered historical series, Summerly early music series, the Maggini Quartet doing British quartets), I would also call attention to the many fine opera recordings and the interesting series on modern Italian orchestral works (Casella, Petrassi, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, etc.)

The Rossini operas have been particularly successful: the Semiramide and L'Equivoco Stravagante sets are the best you can find. I'm also partial to the Opera Lafayette recordings of rare operas. I just wish Naxos would include full librettos (or make the downloads more user-friendly)

And please Naxos, finish up the Brian and Harris symphony cycles.


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## maestro267

Hear hear to the Brian cycle completion!


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## Albert7

This one is pretty awesome:


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## Nereffid

Marin Alsop's recording Bernstein's Mass is unquestionably my favourite of all the Naxos discs I've heard.

Other favourites:
Adams: Piano music
Arnold: Dances
Bingham: The Secret Garden etc
Coates: Symphony no.15 etc
Crumb: Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death
Glass: Violin concerto etc
Petitgirard: The Little Prince
Rameau: Arias for haute-contre
Schnittke: Piano quintet & String trio
Shostakovich: Symphonies 5 & 9 (Petrenko)
Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel (Williams)


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## Albert7

Complete Piano Music of John Adams has been an awesome disc too.


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