naxos music recommendations

[71 dB]

Compare it to the non standard repertoire my friend, that is far greater, and that is what I meant.
Of course they have recorded some standard works, but their fixation was as the founder said, on non standard repertoire, and that still holds good!

Okay Harry. I'd say about 10 % of Naxos catalogue is standard repertoire. Your statement "never recorded" was just too extreme. 

[Harry]

Okay Harry. I'd say about 10 % of Naxos catalogue is standard repertoire. Your statement "never recorded" was just too extreme. 

That was  writing error, which I have corrected in the original post, could you do that in your quotings.

[71 dB]

That was  writing error, which I have corrected in the original post, could you do that in your quotings.

DONE!

[Grazioso]

True of late and in the past they tackled some core repertoire, but with little success.
And if you go on a careful way through the catalogue you will notice, that the core repertoire is not as much represented as in other catalogue's!

On the contrary, the core repertoire is very well represented on Naxos, and indeed many of those recordings come highly recommended by critics. The difference is that, with a few exceptions, they don't re-record the same piece like the old majors do, which is why EMI or DG will have dozens of versions of some old warhorse while Naxos only has one.

[Harry]

Well you must have a different catalogue from Naxos!

[Grazioso]

Well you must have a different catalogue from Naxos!

What core repertoire pieces have they not recorded? I'm sure there might be some, but from what I've seen, they have most of the bases covered.

[Guido]

I think you make a mistake here my friend!
Naxos recorded some of the standard repertoire, of course, but the non standard outruns them by thousands.
They always ventured in the unknown.
True of late and in the past they tackled some core repertoire, but with little success.
And if you go on a careful way through the catalogue you will notice, that the core repertoire is not as much represented as in other catalogue's!
So to say that they have to go into nonstandard repertoire made me laugh.
They do, and much more so as any other record company.

That's why we love 'em!

Just ut of interest what standard rep. have they not recorded then?

[Harry]

That's why we love 'em!

Just ut of interest what standard rep. have they not recorded then?

I said not as much!

[71 dB]

What core repertoire pieces have they not recorded? I'm sure there might be some, but from what I've seen, they have most of the bases covered.

This is true and Harry is downplaying a bit the importance of standard repertoire. Naxos is missing few works thou, for example

Mussorsgsky - Boris Godunov
Fauré - most of his chamber music

Mendelssohn's Octet and Wagner's operas took amazingly long to record.

[mahlertitan]

This is true and Harry is downplaying a bit the importance of standard repertoire. Naxos is missing few works thou, for example

Mussorsgsky - Boris Godunov
Fauré - most of his chamber music

Mendelssohn's Octet and Wagner's operas took amazingly long to record.

nope, all can be found on www.naxosmusiclibrary.com

[knight66]

I recommend this one, a very original arrangement with lots of percussion, great fun.



Mike

[Brian]

knight - hey, sounds neat, thanks! 

This is true and Harry is downplaying a bit the importance of standard repertoire. Naxos is missing few works thou, for example

Mussorsgsky - Boris Godunov
Fauré - most of his chamber music

Mendelssohn's Octet and Wagner's operas took amazingly long to record.

They still haven't done Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" either.

As for core repertoire, here's my list from the old board, which omits a lot of those mentioned in this thread because I haven't updated it:



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

("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

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

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 Theodore Kuchar, NSO Ukraine. "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 to 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

[knight66]

Brian, Thanks, that is a useful list and there are a couple there I will bare in mind.

Mike

[Grazioso]

Respighi's Roman Trilogy, Liszt's Anees de Pelerinage, various key Elgar works, and the Mozart, Haydn, Arnold, and Bax symphonies on Naxos have also excited critical praise--to name just a few. The idea, espoused by some, that somehow Naxos's core repertoire recordings are all sub-par and better avoided in favor of their recordings of obscure repertoire is a silly and misleading generalization.

[71 dB]

The idea, espoused by some, that somehow Naxos's core repertoire recordings are all sub-par and better avoided in favor of their recordings of obscure repertoire is a silly and misleading generalization.

True but the fact is Naxos faces much harder competition with core repertoire. It's a big difference if you have 0-3 other versions to compete or 100!

[Don]

True but the fact is Naxos faces much harder competition with core repertoire. It's a big difference if you have 0-3 other versions to compete or 100!

Of course there's more competition with the core repertoire.  However, there is never much competition in the core area for new recordings at super-budget price that one can generally rely on.

[Grazioso]

True but the fact is Naxos faces much harder competition with core repertoire. It's a big difference if you have 0-3 other versions to compete or 100!

The point is that it's wiser to judge recordings individually instead of leaping to assumptions based on the label. It's a blunder to reflexively look to the old majors for a recording of a core repertoire piece.

[71 dB]

The point is that it's wiser to judge recordings individually instead of leaping to assumptions based on the label. It's a blunder to reflexively look to the old majors for a recording of a core repertoire piece.

Of course!
Some ignorants think all Naxos discs are bad because it's a "budget label".
Can an opinion be dumber than that?
Every release is an individual case.

[gomro]

I've been listening to quite a lot on Naxos lately. Favorite discoveries have been:

Akutagawa - Allora Symphony, etc.
Jones - Roundings; Cello Sonata
Moravec - The Time Gallery, etc
Ifukube - Sinfonia Tapkaara, etc
Higdon - Piano Trio, etc
Ferraro - La Nueva Espana
Yun - Chamber Symphony, etc
Balada - Cello Concerto #2 "New Orleans", etc
Fuchs - An American Place, etc
Yashiro - Symphony; Piano Concerto

All these are very different in style, but every one of them has really impressed me.  Since you have access to all recordings, try each of them!

i recently got a membership to naxos's online site, which gives me access to every recording they have. so, the question is, what is good on there? recommendations of the highest quality recordings they have would be greatly appreciated. i will make an effort to listen to everything recommended, and report back. and everyone can enjoy sharing their favorite recordings.

i'm on robert levin doing wtc at the moment, i like.

http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/default.asp

[Scott]

A recent Naxos set I can't recommend is Bach's WTC Bk. 1 played by Luc Beausejour on harpsichord.  The interpretations are okay but nothing special - too mainstream and not interesting.  The harpsichord sound is the major negative as it is very thin with weak bass response.

I just listened to this set and I think you're a little harsh on both counts. I'm puzzled by your saying the harpsichord sound is weak. I found it pleasant, not bass-shy and reasonably transparent. And best of all it's not clangy like so many such recordings. As for Beauséjour's interpretation I would agree with you that it is mainstream, albeit tending to be a little fast (or sprightly, if one prefers) without being extreme, and I see nothing wrong with that. He does not indulge in the overdetermined agogics so favored by some. I suppose you might call that stodgy or plain vanilla. I call it sensitive musicianship that doesn't indulge in showboating.

If one takes into consideration the price -- for lots of folks that's a factor in a two CD set -- this one gets a moderate recommendation, not a thumbs down as you've given it.

Chacun à son goût, I guess.