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The Best of Naxos' classical catalog

Category: Music

Most of the classical music fans among our A-gon membership are familiar by now with the Naxos label, which offers a huge catalog (179 pages) of classical, jazz, and international recordings at budget prices (single CD’s are $6.99). Many of their releases have won multiple awards from various magazines, such as the Penguin Guide, Gramophone, BBC Music, Classics Today, Diapason, Repertoire, Cannes Classical Awards, and Stereoplay. The awards recognize not only quality of performance, but also recording/audio quality.

I was in Borders Music a few days ago, and picked up a copy of Naxos’ 2001 catalog. After perusing it, I was surprised by the large number of recordings that have received multiple awards. The following list reflects some of the best Naxos releases that have received at least 2 awards (most have won 3 or more). At their modest budget price, these recordings present a fine opportunity for classical music neophytes to start building a library of recordings at minimal cost.

(Catalog number follows name of composition)
1. Johann Albrechtsberger (1736-1809): Concerto in B-flat Major (8.553831)
2. Malcolm Arnold (b. 1921): Symphonies #3 & #4 (8.553739)
3. Kurt Atterberg (1887-1974): Suite #3 for violin, viola, and string orchestra (8.553715)
4. Samuel Barber (1910-1981): First Essay for Orchestra (8.559024)
5. Bela Bartok (1881-1945): Hungarian Pictures (8.5543210)
6. Arnold Bax (1883-1953): Symphony #3 (8.553608)
7. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano (8.554288)
8. Arthur Bliss (1891-1975): Adam Zero (8.553383)
9. Anton Bruckner (1824-1896): Symphony #2 (8.554006); #3 (8.553454); #4 (8.554128); #7 (8.554269)
10. Ernest Chausson (1855-1899): String Quartet, Op. 35 (8.553645)
11. Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Piano Quintet in A Minor (8.553737); Symphony #3 (8.554719)
12. George Enescu (1881-1955): String Quartets #1 and #2 (8.554721)
13. Gerald Finzi (1901-1956): Clarinet Concerto; 5 Bagatelles (8.553566)
14. Cesar Franck (1822-1890): Piano Quintet in F Minor (8.553645)
15. Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809): Symphony #30 (8.550757); Symphonies #74-76 (8.554109); String Quartets, Op. 64, #1-3 (8.550673)
16. Gustav Holst (1874-1934): Somerset Rhapsody (8.553696)
17. Leos Janacek (1854-1928): Piano Music, Vol. #3 (8.553588)
18. Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792): Olympic Overture (8.553734)
19. Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1 (8.553852)
20. Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): Piano Music (8.553443)
21. E.J Moeran (1894-1950): String Quartets; String Trio (8.554079)
22. Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880): Gaite Parisienne (8.554005)
23. Walter Piston (1894-1976): Violin Concertos #1 and #2 (8.559003)
24. Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953): Piano Concertos #1, 3, and 4 (8.550566)
25. Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928): Cantus Arcticus & others (8.554147)
26. Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971): Symphonic Studies; Cello Concerto (8.554763)
27. Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975): Cello Concertos #1 and #2 (8.550813)
28. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): Finlandia (8.554265)
29. Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884): Ma Vlast (complete) (8.550931)
30. Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Suites #1 and #2 (8.550644)
31. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony #5 (8.550738)
32. Guiseppe Verdi (1813-1901): Requiem (2 CD’s) (8.550944-45)
33. William Walton (1902-1983): Cello Concerto (8.554325); and March for “A History of the English Speaking Peoples” (8.553869)

Good listening to everyone!
sdcampbell

Showing 2 responses by dekay

dekay's avatar
dekay
5,363 posts
 
I do not care for the sound of "most" Naxos classical CD's and no longer purchase them (even for $1 each on the used market). I am not really into "audiophile recordings" and these just rub me the wrong way to the point that I do not enjoy them (they sound a bit like bad surround sound to me). My preferred budget label is PMG/PILZ, most of which are digital recordings (also said to be a "no no"), but regardless of this I like the sound as well as the performances and have over 100 of them (each to his/her own). For budget classical LP's I find much of the older MHS (Musical Heritage Society) library to be quite nice. Not in that the the pressing are great, but many of the perfomances are quite "out there". They have CD's as well, but I only own a few.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,363 posts
 
Hi SD: I doubt that any that I purchased were recent releases (and perhaps they have set the bar higher since then). I have purchased large collections of classical CD's (over the past couple of years) and have probably had well over 100 of the Naxos units. I rarely had the illusion that I was sitting in the audience with them. The sound is hard to describe, but it seemed that they were either over mixed and/or more lekely tried to blend too many microphones (with different tonal characteristics into the blend). I have done some recording in the past (nothing as adventurous as classical music:-) and this is just a guess as to what I was hearing. Like I mentioned earlier - most will pan DDD recordings - and I enjoy the PMG/PILZ discs (almost 100 of these as well), so a lot of this goes to personal taste. Yes, I really enjoy the early MHS LP's (I picked up 100+ of them which were mint/never played in one fell swoop). This started us out with a nice/interesting classical LP library, without breaking the bank. My wife collects books, so I never get any flack when I bring home cases of CD's and or LP's (she understands that they need to be purchased when the price is right and without any hesitation - otherwise you snooze).
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