Naxos - Classics Today 10/10 ratings

[MichaelRabin]

Some CDs which were rated 10/10 by Classics Today are:

1) Mahler 8 (Wit)
2) Leroy Anderson Piano Concerto (Slatkin)
3) Mendelssohn Octet, Bruch etc (Kodaly/Auer Quartets)
4) Mozart Flute Concertos (Gallois)
5) Offenbach Gaite Parisienne, etc (Rosenthal)
6) Swedish Orch Fav Vol 2 (Swedish CO)
7) Harp Showpieces (Judy Loman)
The Romantic Harp (Judy Loman)
9) Arthur Sullivan Pineapple Poll, Irish Sym (Lloyd Jones)
10) Tchaikovsky PC 2, etc (Scherbakov)
11) Waxman Objective Burma (Stromberg)
12) Dvorak Serenade Op 44, etc (Oslo PO winds)
13) Beethoven-Liszt Sym 2 & 5 (Scherbakov)

Perhaps you'd like to comment of these if you have them (sound-wise & performance-wise). Also, do give me some ideas as to which other great Naxos CDs that are worth collecting as well.

Thanks - MR

[stingo]

I think there are other Naxos-related threads, but I'll chime in with Holst's Planets Suite with Leaper conducting.

[71 dB]

3) Mendelssohn Octet, Bruch etc (Kodaly/Auer Quartets)

This is one amazing CD! 

[BorisG]

Thanks for giving me something to do, Michael.
Of almost two-hundred Naxos 10/10s, my collection only needed five of them.

Britten Piano Concerto
Britten String Quartets Vol. 2
Penderecki Violin Sonatas
Scarlatti Sonatas Vol. 7
Shostakovich 24 Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87

[Hector]

Some CDs which were rated 10/10 by Classics Today are:

1) Mahler 8 (Wit)
2) Leroy Anderson Piano Concerto (Slatkin)
3) Mendelssohn Octet, Bruch etc (Kodaly/Auer Quartets)
4) Mozart Flute Concertos (Gallois)
5) Offenbach Gaite Parisienne, etc (Rosenthal)
6) Swedish Orch Fav Vol 2 (Swedish CO)
7) Harp Showpieces (Judy Loman)
The Romantic Harp (Judy Loman)
9) Arthur Sullivan Pineapple Poll, Irish Sym (Lloyd Jones)
10) Tchaikovsky PC 2, etc (Scherbakov)
11) Waxman Objective Burma (Stromberg)
12) Dvorak Serenade Op 44, etc (Oslo PO winds)
13) Beethoven-Liszt Sym 2 & 5 (Scherbakov)

Perhaps you'd like to comment of these if you have them (sound-wise & performance-wise). Also, do give me some ideas as to which other great Naxos CDs that are worth collecting as well.

Thanks - MR

I have 5 and 9 and would recommend them. 5 is the last 'word' that Manuel Rosenthal, 90 when he recorded it, had to say on his own arrangements. Arguably better is the accompanying 'Offenbachiana.'

The reason for buying 9 is for the 'Irish' Symphony, an absolutely knockout work which you will be humming/whistling for days afterwards! Lloyd-Jones brings his usual clarity and, obvious, love for these works.

I have heard the Leroy Anderson piano Concerto and it is brilliant in the vein of the time. A blink of the eye and it is over. Not my cup of tea, though.

As for recommending other Naxos issues the list, especially in recent years, is endless. Klaus Heymann has gone, slightly, mainstream in choice of artistes if not music.

Recent issues worth a try are Chloe Hanslip's Godard concertos, the Sibelius Scenes historique from NZ and anything from Hinterhuber!

[hautbois]

3) Mendelssohn Octet, Bruch etc (Kodaly/Auer Quartets)
4) Mozart Flute Concertos (Gallois)
12) Dvorak Serenade Op 44, etc (Oslo PO winds)

I can tell you that the first 2 selections are some of the finest available on the market.

You won't believe how many bad recordings of the Octet have been made. It is known to be notoriously difficult, especially for the 1st violinist, but then again, you don't release a bad recording on the market do you? And unfortunately, of the 4 or 5 or so that i know, only the Vienna soloists on Decca and this particular Naxos recording pays tribute to the artistry of Mendelssohn. By all means, avoid the MELOS ENSEMBLE RECORDING.

As for the Gallois, it is simply unbelievable why his name has gone down under after the appearance of figures such as Pahud. Same for as Jacques Zoon. All fantastic flautists, but marketing has brought Pahud to star studded fame, which is of course deservable, but, over rated at times. Gallois recorded a few albums for Deustche Grammaphone, in fact, he was the first flautist after Galway (Galway didnt have that young model look) to have had cheesy covers, and on the yellow label! His mastery of the instrument, fluency in tone and technique, perfect intonation, and absolutely eccentric and rather positively ridiculous ornamentations and interpretations are to die for. It is fortunate that he continues to record for Naxos, because he would have been forgotten by people who did not know him in the first place.

Lastly, the Dvorak, Simon whom now plays with MPO which you must know very well of course, plays in the recording. Enough said.  It is fantastic, especially the Janacek Mladi. Pretty much standard interpretation for the Dvorak, with beautiful warm sound, and recorded with good clarity as well. Buy it.

Howard

[Brian]

3) Mendelssohn Octet, Bruch etc (Kodaly/Auer Quartets)
10) Tchaikovsky PC 2, etc (Scherbakov)
13) Beethoven-Liszt Sym 2 & 5 (Scherbakov)

I have heard these and can recommend the performances with great vigor, except that the Scherbakov Beethoven disc is definitely not a '10' for sound quality - at least, I find a bit more to be desired from it.

Glancing at my iTunes browser to check on my "Most Played Albums", I can also recommend a few more Naxos discs without hesitation:
Glazunov - String Quintet (Fine Arts + Nathaniel Rosen)
Kalomiris - Triptychon (Athens State Orchestra)
Liszt - Recital by Arnaldo Cohen
Liszt - Annees de Pelerinage (Jando)
Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsodies (Jando)
Primrose - Viola Transcriptions (Diaz)
Suk - Serenade for Strings (Capella Istropolitana)
Tatum - Jazz Improvisations (Mayer)
Vivaldi - Bassoon Concerti (all four CDs so far!)

In addition, from the newest releases, allow me to recommend

Here, reposted from the old forum, is my very old and sadly un-updated list of -



Handy Reference Guide:
Outstanding or First-Choice Naxos Recordings of Well-Known Music

("first choice") ALBENIZ: Iberia, arranged for guitar trio Trio Campanella. My personal all-time favorite guitar recording of any sort. "a landmark recording" - American Record Guide; "if Albeniz had known of such a trio as this, he would have written the piece for them" - Guitar Magazine; "best guitar trio playing I have ever heard!!" - Norbert Kraft

("first choice") BRAHMS: Hungarian Dances Istvan Bogar, Budapest SO. "One would rather have this set of dances than any of the other alternative versions." - Penguin Guide Rosette winner; "best set" - at least six people on Amazon.com

BRUCKNER: Symphonies Georg Tintner, various orchestras. "Every so often a recording comes out that is so powerful, so comprehensive in its interpretive vision, that it not only makes the music sound completely new, it forces a complete reappraisal of the music's overall significance. Georg Tintner's Bruckner Third is one such recording." - classicstoday.com; "The performances are beautifully sculpted, spaciously paced, and never dragging." - Jed Distler, Amazon.com

("first choice") ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance James Judd, New Zealand SO. "Frankly, you can have your Boults and Barbirollis: compared to Judd they sound far less involved." - classicstoday.com

ENESCU: Romanian Rhapsodies Iosif Conta, Romanian Radio and TV Orchestra (Marco Polo). Don't have a review, but I can assure you that it's absolutely fantastic, and the orchestra is brilliantly, thrillingly alive!

GRIEG: Symphonic and Norwegian Dances Bjarte Engeset, Royal Scottish NO. "an enthusiastic romp...one of the very best performances available" - classicstoday.com

("first-choice") HANDEL: Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks Kevin Mallon, Aradia Ensemble. "it's a terrific, ear-opening show....right to the top of the list." - classicstoday.com Reference Recording

HAYDN: String Quartets Kodaly Quartet. "outstanding in every way and would be highly recommended even without their considerable price advantage."- Penguin Guide

LISZT: Annees de Pelerinage Jeno Jando, piano. "Jando offers Lisztian playing of the highest order...his performance has tremendous dynamism and power. One has the sense of Liszt himself hovering over the keyboard....[the third year] shows Jando at his most imaginatively expansive and commanding...he is deeply involved in every note." - Penguin Guide Rosette and Key Recording

MAHLER: Symphony No. 8 Antoni Wit, Warsaw Philharmonic. "Just when you thought you didn't need yet another Mahler 8, along comes this version, and it just about sweeps the board....if you want to hear a performance that combines the best of just about all of the competing versions and offers the most accurate sense of what the piece really does (or should) sound like live, then this is way to go." - classicstoday.com

MOZART: Piano Concertos Jeno Jando, piano. "Jando, with Concentus Hungaricus under Andras Ligeti, has begun a complete Mozart Piano Concerto cycle, and the first two issues could not be more encouraging." - Gramophone; "...they are wonderful. I've heard numerous performances of some of these concertos, and the Jando performances can stand up to any others I have heard....Jando lets the music talk for itself - and how wonderfully it does just that." - Mervyn Kopinsky, Amazon.com

MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bare Mountain (original and Rimsky versions) Theodore Kuchar, NSO Ukraine. As far as I am concerned, the original version of Night as played by Kuchar and the Ukrainians is the most thrilling account of the piece imaginable. Superb ensemble playing, right down to the brilliant bassoonists and violas. "This is a quite remarkable CD on all counts - outstandingly fine orchestral playing, vividly exciting and very Russian music-making, and a very tangible sound picture, consistently in the demonstration bracket." - Gramophone

("first choice") OFFENBACH: Gaite Parisienne Manuel Rosenthal, Monte Carlo Orchestra. Gramophone Editor's Choice; Classicstoday 10/10

("first choice") PROKOFIEV: Piano Concertos Kun Woo Paik, piano. "first choice" - UK Telegraph

SMETANA: Ma Vlast Antoni Wit, Polish National Radio Symphony. "highly-regarded...how stylish and accomplished these performances are, with their persuasively authentic East European sonority. And how warmly resonant and atmospheric the engineering is! At less than a fiver, this really is an unbeatable bargain!" - Peter Lawson, musicweb-international.com; Penguin Guide ranks it second-best reading available (trumped by the third Kubelik)

TCHAIKOVSKY: String Quartets 1 & 3 New Haydn Quartet. "self-recommending" - classicstoday.com 10/10

("first choice") TCHAIKOVSKY: Sleeping Beauty - Complete Andrew Mogrelia, Czechoslovak State Philharmonic. "quite irrespective of price, this is now a clear first choice among current recordings of the score" - Gramophone

("first choice in digital") WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman Pinchas Steinberg, Austrian Radio Symphony. Soloists Muff, Haubold, etc. "This super-bargain version enters the lists and - to mix a metaphor - virtually jumps to the top of the pile...[except for Klemperer] it surpasses all other available recordings..." - Gramophone

[Gustav]

Some CDs which were rated 10/10 by Classics Today are:

1) Mahler 8 (Wit)
2) Leroy Anderson Piano Concerto (Slatkin)
3) Mendelssohn Octet, Bruch etc (Kodaly/Auer Quartets)
4) Mozart Flute Concertos (Gallois)
5) Offenbach Gaite Parisienne, etc (Rosenthal)
6) Swedish Orch Fav Vol 2 (Swedish CO)
7) Harp Showpieces (Judy Loman)
The Romantic Harp (Judy Loman)
9) Arthur Sullivan Pineapple Poll, Irish Sym (Lloyd Jones)
10) Tchaikovsky PC 2, etc (Scherbakov)
11) Waxman Objective Burma (Stromberg)
12) Dvorak Serenade Op 44, etc (Oslo PO winds)
13) Beethoven-Liszt Sym 2 & 5 (Scherbakov)

Perhaps you'd like to comment of these if you have them (sound-wise & performance-wise). Also, do give me some ideas as to which other great Naxos CDs that are worth collecting as well.

Thanks - MR

that is one fine recording!

[Brian]

Were Mark here, I'm sure he would point quickly to this disc:

[Morigan]

Thank you for this! I immediately rushed to the Naxos database to have a listen to their Mendelssohn Octet. What a well balanced and graceful performance. For once, I could hear the different layers of music.

Ah.. the last minute of the first movement is always such a blissful moment for me. A phrase of such perfect delight, I can't describe it.

[ChamberNut]

Thank you for this! I immediately rushed to the Naxos database to have a listen to their Mendelssohn Octet. What a well balanced and graceful performance. For once, I could hear the different layers of music.

Ah.. the last minute of the first movement is always such a blissful moment for me. A phrase of such perfect delight, I can't describe it.

That first movement is mind blowing indeed!  The fact that it was composed by a 17 year old makes it even more incredible.

[Gustav]

Thank you for this! I immediately rushed to the Naxos database to have a listen to their Mendelssohn Octet. What a well balanced and graceful performance. For once, I could hear the different layers of music.

Ah.. the last minute of the first movement is always such a blissful moment for me. A phrase of such perfect delight, I can't describe it.

a fine performance that is indeed, but the real gem is the Octet by Bruch, which is a really nice surprise for me.

[techniquest]

Yes yes yes to the Naxos M8 with Wit and the Warsaw forces. It is superb.
I would also recommend his interpretation of Messiaens' Turangalila Symphony, especially the opening which is as powerful as it can get.
Other Naxos recordings which I find are particularly fine include:
Mussorgsky / Stokowski "Pictures at an Exhibition" with the Bournemouth SO under Serebrier
Orff "Carmina Burana" again with the Bournemouth crew but thistime under Marin Alsop
William Bolcom "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" University of Michgan crew under Leonard Slatkin
Respighi "symphonic Poems" (The Rome Trilogy), RPO under Batiz - the first Naxos disc I bought and a recording still unsurpassed as far as I'm concerned.

[MichaelRabin]

This is one amazing CD! 

Looks like I will get this one. Thanks!

[MichaelRabin]

I have 5 and 9 and would recommend them. 5 is the last 'word' that Manuel Rosenthal, 90 when he recorded it, had to say on his own arrangements. Arguably better is the accompanying 'Offenbachiana.'

{MR: I have this & it is brilliant indeed}

The reason for buying 9 is for the 'Irish' Symphony, an absolutely knockout work which you will be humming/whistling for days afterwards! Lloyd-Jones brings his usual clarity and, obvious, love for these works.

{MR: Looks like I will get this one}

I have heard the Leroy Anderson piano Concerto and it is brilliant in the vein of the time. A blink of the eye and it is over. Not my cup of tea, though.

{MR: Buying this one as well}

Recent issues worth a try are Chloe Hanslip's Godard concertos, the Sibelius Scenes historique from NZ and anything from Hinterhuber!

{MR: Chloe on Godard in my to buy list too}

My answers in {} above!

[MichaelRabin]

I can tell you that the first 2 selections are some of the finest available on the market.

You won't believe how many bad recordings of the Octet have been made. It is known to be notoriously difficult, especially for the 1st violinist, but then again, you don't release a bad recording on the market do you? And unfortunately, of the 4 or 5 or so that i know, only the Vienna soloists on Decca and this particular Naxos recording pays tribute to the artistry of Mendelssohn. By all means, avoid the MELOS ENSEMBLE RECORDING.

As for the Gallois, it is simply unbelievable why his name has gone down under after the appearance of figures such as Pahud. Same for as Jacques Zoon. All fantastic flautists, but marketing has brought Pahud to star studded fame, which is of course deservable, but, over rated at times. Gallois recorded a few albums for Deustche Grammaphone, in fact, he was the first flautist after Galway (Galway didnt have that young model look) to have had cheesy covers, and on the yellow label! His mastery of the instrument, fluency in tone and technique, perfect intonation, and absolutely eccentric and rather positively ridiculous ornamentations and interpretations are to die for. It is fortunate that he continues to record for Naxos, because he would have been forgotten by people who did not know him in the first place.

Lastly, the Dvorak, Simon whom now plays with MPO which you must know very well of course, plays in the recording. Enough said.  It is fantastic, especially the Janacek Mladi. Pretty much standard interpretation for the Dvorak, with beautiful warm sound, and recorded with good clarity as well. Buy it.

Howard

I have complete Mozart Flute Conc by Galway/ASMF, Pahud/BPO and Nicolet/RCOA and like the Nicolet best. Wondering it is worth getting another version? Is Gallois comparable to Nicolet?

OK - noted on the Dvorak/Janacek/Enescu CD. Thanks, Howard.

[MichaelRabin]

Yes yes yes to the Naxos M8 with Wit and the Warsaw forces. It is superb.

Other Naxos recordings which I find are particularly fine include:
Mussorgsky / Stokowski "Pictures at an Exhibition" with the Bournemouth SO under Serebrier

Looks like I'm getting Mahler 8 Wit as well.
Mussorgsky - I already have but like the Ravel orch better. Thanks.

Any more fine Naxos CD's everyone?

[gomro]

Looks like I'm getting Mahler 8 Wit as well.
Mussorgsky - I already have but like the Ravel orch better. Thanks.

Any more fine Naxos CD's everyone?

Don't know any of your 10/10 list, but I can sure give you a list of favorite Naxos discs:


Akira Ifukube was the composer for many Godzilla movies, and his Symphonic Fantasia #1 is based on that music. However, you don't have to know Godzilla to be carried along by that magnificent work. Better still are the two companion pieces. Ifukube was influenced by Shostakovich, and sometimes that shows a bit, but his powerful rhythms and immediately catchy melodies are completely his own.



Yasushi Akutagawa's music was probably my biggest discovery last year. Again, there's some Shostakovich/Prokofiev influence, especially in the Trinita Sinfonica, but the awesome fury of the Ellora Symphony and the uncanny aura of the Rapsodia per Orchestra are unique. I've found one other disc of his work, a Japanese import on King, and it had another Ellora as well as some other works that were as fine as anything on this disc.



Jones' music reflects the American school of Copland, Hanson, Harris, but it's much more than pastiche. Roundings is inspired by New Deal public murals and carries a stately theme through each movement; one of its movements is the best "musical locomotive" I've ever encountered, another suddenly brings the sound of an old John Deere tractor into the concert hall to act as a rhythmic loop. And yet the music is human, it is memorable and moving, an experience. The cello sonata is scaled back, of course, but just as moving.

[Don]

The two that immediately come to mind are the Miaskovsky/Weinberg Violin Concertos and any of Rubsam's Bach recordings (piano and organ).

[hautbois]

I have complete Mozart Flute Conc by Galway/ASMF, Pahud/BPO and Nicolet/RCOA and like the Nicolet best. Wondering it is worth getting another version? Is Gallois comparable to Nicolet?

OK - noted on the Dvorak/Janacek/Enescu CD. Thanks, Howard.

Nicolet is actually very old school, precise, slightly bland for me, but good. Galway is beautiful, but a bit self indulfgent. Pahud is, well, not particularly known for his interpretation of classical works. But, you already have more than enough for an avid listener, unless you are a die hard fan of the concertos, i would say don't, but for Gallois because you might not have heard his playing before, go for it. Enjoy the Oslo, i relistened the Enescu Dixtuor today, marvellous and terribly under rated piece!

Howard