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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
timchen7cf6
16 posts
 
SD, thank you for your good work! I owned around 30 naxos CDs, and it sounds great to me, though some of them a bit bright. but I spend only $4 for a new piece. what a bargain. some of their historical cd are great gem musically. I also MHS lps including Ritcher's bach well-tempered. they sound fine to me too.
happy listening folks

music comes first, not equipments.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Pick your favorites I guess, but the current Decca reissues that are good are the ones under the "Decca Legends" label. Just before these were "The Classic Sound" Decca releases which are just as good IMHO.
kjg
171 posts
 
I should mention that one of the Naxos recordings - Granados' Twelve Spanish Dances (with Norbert Kraft on guitar) -- is on my short list of recordings I'll take with me to a desert island. A beautiful piece that is both well recorded and wonderfully performed.

I have about a dozen or so Naxos CD's and think that most of them them are first rate. There are a couple that are done poorly enough that I really can't listen to them (Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite for one), but for the most part I've found them to be a quality label. Generally, unless there's a particular performance of a piece that I'm dying have, I'll check out Naxos first and see what's available from them. For the price, its hardly a risk.

--Ken
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