# Naxos rules Modern Music Recordings



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Just expressing my admiration for the Naxos label for modern music. Their American series is great, Diamond, Barber, Schuman with Schwarz and Alsop; M. Arnold with Penny, with Arnold himslef supervising; Rochberg with Gee; Penderecki and Lutoslawski with Wit; Bax with Lloyd-Jones. They beat out the bigger name rivals whenever I tried to get a more definitive, bigger name recording to a work I liked better. 

What are some other great Naxos recordings I may have missed?


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Naxos does a monthly give away. I haven't heard a bad one yet.


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## JEC (Mar 11, 2015)

Here's some of my favorites:
Converse: Mystic Trumpeter
Howard Hanson series
Charles Griffes with JoAnn Falletta/Buffalo Phil.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Many of the names you listed are just "re-issues" of works that Naxos grabbed up from other labels. I do agree though that they have a good selection.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Not only modern music recordings, but also new repertoire, works that haven't been recorded before. It's another reason Naxos is great. DGG, Warner, Decca et al always recording the same works OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I much prefer this kind of labels like Naxos.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Kevin Pearson said:


> Many of the names you listed are just "re-issues" of works that Naxos grabbed up from other labels. I do agree though that they have a good selection.


Yes, they took over the Delos Label, but it's great to get them at Naxos prices. I paid over double for the Hanson Delos original.



MusicSybarite said:


> Not only modern music recordings, but also new repertoire, works that haven't been recorded before. It's another reason Naxos is great. DGG, Warner, Decca et al always recording the same works OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I much prefer this kind of labels like Naxos.


True, I bought a few recording premieres. They focus more on music repertoire than performer star power like the other labels.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Not just "modern" (which apparently means 50-100 years old?) music, but they have a pretty decent selection of contemporary music too. Some recent favourites of mine include:

Fairouz: Native Informant (link)
Fairouz: No Orpheus (link)
Dove: Song cycles (link)
Petitgirard: The Little Prince (link)
Lang: Pierced (link)


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Phil loves classical said:


> What are some other great Naxos recordings I may have missed?


If it hadn't been for Naxos and their budget prices, I would never have discovered Gloria Coates.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

After a shaky start where the label primarily gained a reputation for cheap, cheerful but decidedly ho-hum recordings of established repertoire Naxos found its feet relatively quickly and has since been quite refreshing and imaginative in a number of ways.

The American Series has always been a jewel in their crown, and my collection of American music has without doubt been enriched as a result.

Elsewhere, there was a very good survey of Alan Rawsthorne's works - they didn't record everything, but there was more than enough to gain a reasonable insight. I think Naxos worked in conjunction with the Rawsthorne Trust for some of the releases.

I've also enjoyed numerous Naxos discs of Liszt's piano music in what seems to be a long-term work-in-progress. Previously Leslie Howard recorded an exhaustive 99 discs of Liszt's piano works with Hyperion. Naxos will not match that in terms of completism and, more obviously, luxury packaging but there is an agreeable structure to their series with regards to the many operatic paraphrases that Liszt made whereas the Hyperion edition was significantly more scattershot on occasion.

Kevin Pearson raises a valid point with regards to Naxos' acquiring recordings from older labels - this in itself is most welcome when original desirable releases are off-limits price-wise.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I still prefer the Naxos complete Satie piano works, recorded by Hungarian pianist Klára Körmendi. Her treatment of the 'humorous period' pieces is far better than most of the other known interpreters; some of whom - Ciccolini particularly - massacre them by layering a romantic interpretation or dragging them out and ruining them. Körmendi also plays the Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes very delicately and fluently. 

I bought those in 1989-90 and have had many more Naxos since, most of which I still have. I don't know if they still record specifically for Naxos like they used to, they license a lot of things now and have big-name conductors/orchestras, though I suspect they purchase the 'outtakes' with very minor faults for a lower price.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Naxos really revolutionized the Classical recording industry. The previous Major Labels will claim that Naxos destroyed it by blowing up their business model, but as listeners we benefit from exposure and access to all kinds of music that would have previously remained unknown


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

eugeneonagain said:


> I still prefer the Naxos complete Satie piano works, recorded by Hungarian pianist Klára Körmendi. .


I'm a Satie fan, but I haven't run across these. Thanks for the heads-up.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I have no specific recommendations that haven't already been mentioned (American Series, Rawsthorne...), but I'll add to the chorus of approval for Naxos. They are the first thing I browse when I get time in a CD store, and there is nearly always something enticing at a price that allows a bit of experimentation. The sound quality is generally good, too.

PS Naxos has brought Idil Biret's pianism to a new audience, which is another reason to be grateful to them.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Haydn Symphonies - tried a few disks, haven't found a bad one yet! Better than Fischer & Pinnock in some symphonies
Haydn String quartets - Kodaly quartet up there with the Lindsays and Mosaiques
Mendelssohn symphony 1 & 5, string quartets...
The list just goes on and on!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

There's a good story for someone to write someday: how Naxos came about. Way back when there was Records International based in Goleta, CA which released some really cool, obscure stuff with decent, and sometimes indecent, orchestras and unknown conductors. Then it became Marco Polo, and then Naxos was a spinoff or something since some of those Marco Polo recordings later reappeared on Naxos. Their model was terrific for classical music devotees: obscure, hard to find music and at good prices. Love the label! Their British Light Classics series was terrific. The American music series revelatory. A year ago, I participated in a recording project that has now appeared on the label. Here's one thing you may not know: they don't pay much, if anything, to the performers for the recordings. The orchestra I played with financed the recording, booklet notes, hired the soloist. Neither the conductor or orchestra was paid. But the reviews and sales have made it worthwhile. Naxos, CPO, Hyperion and Chandos are to be cherished.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Back in the day (the late 70s and early 80s in my case) I was a member of The Musical Heritage Society. Their price on LPs was fantastic and they always had sales going on. I could often buy ten albums for around $30 to $40, but the other thing I liked is that they recorded or reissued titles by many obscure and unknown composers. The quality of the vinyl was also very good and they tried to give a budget-priced product and yet not skimp on the latest technology. They were the Naxos of their time and had an amazingly huge selection. It's too bad that they were not able to make the transition to the CD age. Their CDs were not as competitively priced as their LPs were. I do miss them though.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

MHS is still around and has quite a few CD issues available on Amazon and I suppose elsewhere (I have a few). It has changed owners a few times, most recently in 2011. It is said to have about 100 thousand titles in its database.

An example: One of my favorite WTCs.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

MHS quality control was a real problem which caused me to cancel membership. I still have an LP I've kept as proof to people of an unbelievable error they made: it's a record of some organ music by Franz Schmidt. In the middle of one piece, the sound slows, the pitch drops just like in the old days when a record player might have been unplugged. Then suddenly it picks back up like someone realized they turned off the tape player or something. It's funny as heck! MHS did have some great, obscure literature, for sure. But at the beginning of the cd era (1983) it was clear that the LP and MHS and I were soon to part company.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some of the other impressive releases with contemporary music / composers are: Maxwell Davies, Narbutaite orchestral, Bacewicz string quartets, Gloria Coates (hopefully there will be more orchestral music), Schwantner "Distant Runes", Henze violin concertos, Ligeti string quartets, Tveitt piano concertos, Bliss, Tippett piano Sonatas, and Schoenberg Violin Concerto and String Quartets, etc.

I like the set of Bartok's string quartets too.


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## Oakey (Nov 19, 2017)

Also am a huge Naxos fan. Recently bought a lot of about 200+ new Naxos CDs that came from a CD store that ended and enjoy listening to them and discovering new music. About 50 or so Naxos CDs from this lot I already owned or were multiple copies of the same title , so if anyone is interested in the remainder of this lot, PM me, they can go for €0.50 each plus P&P. Lots of Haydn, Beethoven, Liszt 

I also discovered recent classical music through Naxos, such as Hamilton's Requiem which is a premiere recording.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Bit of a hassle, but I think you'll have to list them all, and sell them separately. There are lots of Naxos CDs I'm interested in getting, and lots not. Isn't there a space on this site for selling stuff? Alternatively, why not just give them to a charity shop?


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

JEC said:


> Here's some of my favorites:
> Converse: Mystic Trumpeter
> Howard Hanson series
> Charles Griffes with *JoAnn Falletta/Buffalo Phil.*


This conductor and orchestra certainly perform well for Naxos.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

joen_cph said:


> I like the set of Bartok's string quartets too.


Is that the Vermeer quartet? Penguin rate them highly, putting them just behind their "key" choices of Keller and Takacs quartets. I did't like the Keller, and sold my CDs, but liked the Takacs on Spotify and have asked my bank manager for a loan to buy the CDs . But, as Penguin say, "the Vermeer recording has a considerable price advantage." Must check it out...


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Mal said:


> Bit of a hassle, but I think you'll have to list them all, and sell them separately. There are lots of Naxos CDs I'm interested in getting, and lots not. Isn't there a space on this site for selling stuff? Alternatively, why not just give them to a charity shop?


I have seen people selling bundles on eBay. Even if you only want a third of the bundle there can be a considerable advantage in only paying for shipping once.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Enthusiast said:


> I have seen people selling bundles on eBay. Even if you only want a third of the bundle there can be a considerable advantage in only paying for shipping once.


Which buyer has the patience to search through bundles? For all potential buyers to have a good chance of finding the CDs you are selling they need to be listed individually with the full description in the title. So if you go the ebay route, I'd list 20 CDs at a time (your free listing limit...) and then offer discounted P&P for multiple purchases. Then again, dealers might buy the bundle, so if you set a really low price you might sell them that way!


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I like the Vermeer Bartok set as well.

There are too many great CDs that Naxos has produced. Too many to mention. But I'd like to add the excellent series they have done of Schoenberg, under Robert Craft and incomplete, alas; the 20+ CDs of Glazunov's orchestral works; Tintner's Bruckner; the Hindemith quartets; tons of American stuff; the illuminating series of orchestral music by both Witold Lutoslawski and Krzysztof Penderecki.

Oh and making Antoni Wit among the most recorded conductors


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

OP: Definitely! Simply for the William Schuman Symphony set with Seattle/Schwarz, I am eternally grateful.

Also found some fine Creston and Ives performances on Naxos.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Mal said:


> *Is that the Vermeer quartet*? Penguin rate them highly, putting them just behind their "key" choices of Keller and Takacs quartets. I did't like the Keller, and sold my CDs, but liked the Takacs on Spotify and have asked my bank manager for a loan to buy the CDs . But, as Penguin say, "the Vermeer recording has a considerable price advantage." Must check it out...


Yes, the Vermeer4. I like their warm, big tone, and their relatively romantic, engaged approach.

Am no specialist in this music, but I prefer them to Takacs4, Juillard4 or the Novak4, which are the others I´ve got.


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