Your top 5 favorite record labels

Started by Symphonic Addict, May 18, 2022, 09:10:01 AM

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Gurn Blanston

Challenging thing to narrow down!  With all the consolidation among the biggies and the mysteries of the Indies for outsiders, it's hard to know who's who and what's what if you aren't an industry watcher.

Naïve/Op 106/Arcana/Astrée-Auvidis, which I think are all the same label really and rep on any of them is subject to resurface on Naïve.
Harmonia Mundi
Sony But specifically the old Vivarte, Seon and (spank me if I'm wrong) Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (DHM), really all they have that I care about.
Hyperion
L'Oiseau Lyre  I don't yet acknowledge that they are 'absorbed'.  :-X :)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

kyjo

No surprises here:

CPO
Chandos
Naxos
BIS
Hyperion (though I'm not familiar with as much of their catalogue as I'd like to be since I'm primarily a streamer ;))

Runner-ups: Ondine, Dutton, Lyrita, Capriccio, Toccata, Supraphon, Harmonia Mundi, Reference Recordings, Alpha, DG (more for audio quality than choice of repertoire)
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

vandermolen

EMI/Warner
Olympia/Regis/Alto
Dutton
Hyperion
Russian Disc
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Symphonic Addict

I had forgot about Dutton and other interesting mentions.

I wish Lyrita and Dutton had other purchase options apart from acquiring the physical CD (e.g. Daniel Jones' symphonies 4, 6, 7 and 9, John Veale's Symphony No.2).
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Que

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on May 19, 2022, 01:33:40 PM
Challenging thing to narrow down!  With all the consolidation among the biggies and the mysteries of the Indies for outsiders, it's hard to know who's who and what's what if you aren't an industry watcher.

Naïve/Op 106/Arcana/Astrée-Auvidis, which I think are all the same label really and rep on any of them is subject to resurface on Naïve.
Harmonia Mundi
Sony But specifically the old Vivarte, Seon and (spank me if I'm wrong) Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (DHM), really all they have that I care about.
Hyperion
L'Oiseau Lyre  I don't yet acknowledge that they are 'absorbed'.  :-X :)

8)

I don't think Arcana is part of the Naïve outfit, a great label though!  :) We are so fortunate that it has been resurrected.

The mentioning of Arcana gives me the opportunity to point out some of the other quality labels that are operating under the Outhere Music umbrella: Alpha, Ricercar, Ramée, Zig-Zag Territoires.



foxandpeng

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on May 21, 2022, 05:44:58 PM
I had forgot about Dutton and other interesting mentions.

I wish Lyrita and Dutton had other purchase options apart from acquiring the physical CD (e.g. Daniel Jones' symphonies 4, 6, 7 and 9, John Veale's Symphony No.2).

+1. Deeply annoying.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

kyjo

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on May 21, 2022, 05:44:58 PM
I wish Lyrita and Dutton had other purchase options apart from acquiring the physical CD (e.g. Daniel Jones' symphonies 4, 6, 7 and 9, John Veale's Symphony No.2).

I've been able to find most Lyrita recordings on Spotify, aside from those Daniel Jones CDs. Dutton's representation there is quite spotty, and of course no Hyperion releases are anywhere to be found.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

vandermolen

I should have included Lyrita on my list - I have so many of their discs!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

kyjo

Three great labels not mentioned yet:

Hänssler Classic, Orfeo, Timpani

Sadly, it doesn't seem that Timpani is active anymore. Their website is no longer existent and I haven't seen any new releases from them in a few years. A shame, since they've done such a great service to lesser-known French and Belgian music.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Daverz

I probably should have included the Every Mistake Imaginable label on my list going by shear numbers in my collection.

https://www.youtube.com/v/QlFcrtVnfXg&ab_channel=halleestarr

Mirror Image

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on May 21, 2022, 05:44:58 PM
I had forgot about Dutton and other interesting mentions.

I wish Lyrita and Dutton had other purchase options apart from acquiring the physical CD (e.g. Daniel Jones' symphonies 4, 6, 7 and 9, John Veale's Symphony No.2).

I'm glad that Dutton or Lyrita haven't gone to the streaming route. People who are interested in these labels still buy CDs and I'm one of them.

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 24, 2022, 01:18:59 PM
I'm glad that Dutton or Lyrita haven't gone to the streaming route. People who are interested in these labels still buy CDs and I'm one of them.

Good for you, but I think they should allow both options. As far as I'm concerned I'm not interested in acquiring physical CDs. I want to spend money in other things. Each has different priorities in life.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Que on May 22, 2022, 03:44:58 AM
I don't think Arcana is part of the Naïve outfit, a great label though!  :) We are so fortunate that it has been resurrected.

The mentioning of Arcana gives me the opportunity to point out some of the other quality labels that are operating under the Outhere Music umbrella: Alpha, Ricercar, Ramée, Zig-Zag Territoires.

Alpha, Ricercar, Ramée, Zig-Zag Territoires, if you will add Ambroise you have my Second Five list. Which would have been easier to just go with my Top 10, which those 10 labels accomplish very tidily. :)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Christo

No surprises here:
BIS
Chandos
CPO
Dutton
Lyrita
Naxos

Quote from: 71 dB on May 19, 2022, 08:20:12 AM
Naxos used to be my favorite classical music label by far in the past when I was able to buy them at local department stores for 8 euros each and even get 4 discs at the price of 3. Those happy days are long gone and the special status of Naxos has vanished while it has become a "full-price" label among others.
Ten years ago, I even acquired 5 NAXOS cds for 25 euros, or 5 euros each (with a minimum of five) in my local store in Utrecht. Those were the days!  :)

Quote from: San Antone on May 19, 2022, 05:58:52 AM
ECM New Series

How could I forget it?  ???
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

#34
Quote from: Christo on May 25, 2022, 05:23:25 AM
No surprises here:
BIS
Chandos
CPO
Dutton
Lyrita
Naxos
Ten years ago, I even acquired 5 NAXOS cds for 25 euros, or 5 euros each (with a minimum of five) in my local store in Utrecht. Those were the days!  :)

How could I forget it?  ???
Those are amongst my favourites as well. Without BIS for example, I may never have discovered the music of Tubin. Likewise Dutton and Stanley Bate, Lyrita and Bax, Naxos and Hayasaka, CPO and Saygun.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Que

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on May 24, 2022, 01:59:47 PM
Alpha, Ricercar, Ramée, Zig-Zag Territoires, if you will add Ambroise you have my Second Five list. Which would have been easier to just go with my Top 10, which those 10 labels accomplish very tidily. :)

8)

And Ambroisie is part of the Naïve family, so a perfect fit.

It seems there is a group of producers that cater for our musical tastes - a very reassuring thought!  :D

Florestan

Quote from: Florestan on May 18, 2022, 11:15:56 AM
Hyperion
Grand Piano
Toccata Classics
Brilliant Classics
MDG

Here's another take :

Somm
Audite
Paladino Music
Decca Eloquence
BIS
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Brian

Pretty much in order:

1. BIS
2. Alpha (I am amazed to be the first legal top five vote for them)
3. Supraphon
4. Naxos
5. Hyperion (would be above Naxos if I liked their piano engineering/acoustic style more)

Honorable mention for artist vanity label: Alia Vox
Honorable mentions for reissues: Decca Australian Eloquence, Warner Classics, Rhine Classics (another first mention here)

DavidW

Quote from: Brian on June 12, 2022, 07:34:54 AM
2. Alpha (I am amazed to be the first legal top five vote for them)

I forgot about them!  I listen to that label more than CPO, I guess I should do a switch.