Most of my collection is made up DG, I still consider myself new to classical and I consider DG an excellent novice-friendly label that's pretty trustworthy. I only have a handful of Naxos label recordings but they're pretty good. Therefore, I can only give you an answer similar to what Kramer told Elaine in that Seinfeld episode, "The Frogger" - "Sotheby's. Yeah. They make good cake." Just substitute Sotheby's with Naxos and Cake with CDs.

 

I find that Naxos does best with chamber music. Overall, it's a great and pioneering company that's always looking forward. Just the opposite with the traditional "best" labels that have their heads in the sand.

 

I have a lot of very serviceable Naxos recordings - a lot of chamber music and solo piano. I have come to trust that a modern Naxos recording will feature at least a very good performance and the recording and production will be excellent. I remember thinking when the label first started to appear in the UK - this can't be any good at £5 a disc. I was completely wrong.

They are particularly good for more out-of-the-way repertoire - obscure British chamber music, for example.

Naxos have signed up some excellent performers along the way - special mentions for the Maggini and Escher Quartets and the ubiquitous Prof. Jenő Jandó.

So yes, I agree with you, DrMuller - three cheers for Naxos.

 

I have a lot of NAXOs CDs. No complaints. Among my NAXOs collection is a nice Beethoven Fidelio, a fine Handel Nabal, and I just ordered a Bellini La Sonnambula with NAXOs being a great balance of great voices and great price.

 

I am very interested in your thoughts on the whole Naxos history.

There's a whole book on the subject.

 

I have some of Naxos albums. No complaints from me, they're a great price and have great performances. There are some that aren't really that high up there, i.e. Jeno Jando's Hammerklavier. Very clear, but I've heard interpretations that I prefer over it.

I'm very happy with their CD's of Medtner's chamber music. The concertos, not as much.

 

I have some of Naxos albums. No complaints from me, they're a great price and have great performances. There are some that aren't really that high up there, i.e. Jeno Jando's Hammerklavier. Very clear, but I've heard interpretations that I prefer over it.

Right. One needs to be a little picky when it comes to Naxos and solo piano works. Jando isn't much in Beethoven, but he's at or close to top-rate in Liszt's music.

 

No complaints. I picked up a Naxos cd the other day:

[video]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GyQFLyCZL._SY300_.jpg[/video]

A very good version, almost on par with my 'go to' version of the Quintet (which is Cohen and the Amadeus Quartet by the way).

The thing is, some of these Naxos cds retail second hand for £0.24 and prices like that on Amazon Marketplace. It is a great way to build a collection. You have to wonder though how these sellers make a profit?

 

I found this Gramophone interview with founder Klaus Heymann quite interesting.

 

I think it is a very good label. There are several areas where it excels. Their collection of Haydn's religious choral works is excellent - the masses are excellent. The Naxos release of Haydn's Creation, conducted by Spering, is my favorite. The Kodaly Quartet's Haydn quartets are also very good - not the best available, but I have no complaints.

As some have already said, they are excellent for less well known works. I have Marin Alsop's complete collection of Barber's orchestral works on Naxos, and love them. And while I don't have them, mainly because they are not my favorite symphonies, Alsop's Brahms symphony cycle on Naxos received high praise.

Another standout recording of Mozart's Divertimento.

I have also really enjoyed the Higginbotham recording of Handel's Messiah, and lately it is the one I preferentially reach for.

I might look a little bit harder at the reviews than I would for other labels, like BIS, and Harmonia Mundi, and Alia Vox, and Supraphon, but I have had very good experiences with Naxos recordings.

 

I feel another thread merge coming on.

 

Naxos is wonderful, allowing folks of modest means to build a nice collection. I have many Naxos recordings.

 

I have a ton of Naxos recordings. Their Bruckner white box is what hooked me into the composer, and I still think it's a very good set. And their American composers series is a gift to America.

I just wish they'd make up their mind on Sibelius. I already have two of their complete box sets by two different conductors, and I think there's yet another one out now.

 

I rather like Jando's Beethoven. I feel I am hearing the music rather than an interpretation by a great artist. Sometimes it's more important to me that the performer remains as transparent as possible, and Jando is very good at this.

As for Naxos (or Marco Polo) overall, I love the label. Some of their large orchestral performances are a little lack luster, but the exact same can be said of some DG or any of the other bigger labels.

I'm starting to appreciate the other bargain label, CPO, a bit more if only because their album cover designs are nicer. That may not seem important but it does effect how I respond to the music within.

 

I rather like Jando's Beethoven. I feel I am hearing the music rather than an interpretation by a great artist. Sometimes it's more important to me that the performer remains as transparent as possible, and Jando is very good at this.

Jando's Naxos cycle was the first one I could afford, disc by $5.99 disc. I'm not big on his performances because they're a bit too "objective" for me. But he certainly plays them beautifully on his own terms.

The entire Jando cycle is available from Naxos as a download for six bucks. Things was different when I were a kid, I tell ye!

http://www.amazon.com/Virtual-Box-S...C3B2/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1409106144&sr=1-1&keywords=beethoven+jando

 

Most of my collection is DG and EMI (now called Warner?), with a rapidly increasing component of Decca (absorbed Philips some time ago) and Sony. These labels offer a vast selection of affordable "novice-friendly" recordings of the highest calibre.

I used to be prejudiced against Naxos--out of ignorance. The majority of the performers were unknown to me. As my collection has grown and I have needed to dig deeper to acquire coveted pieces of music, I have increasingly had to consider Naxos. While I mostly resort to them only when another recording is not available or not available at a reasonable price, I have gotten quite a number of fine recordings on the label and I would not hesitate to consider getting more.

 

Naxos is a respectible label. The recordings of uncommon works are their greatest achievement in my opinion. Of course, the best is complete Haydn string quartet recordings performed by Kodaly Quartet

 

Naxos has built itself into a fine label that specializes in respectable performances of uncommon repertoire. I don't consider them at all inferior to the more expensive labels, especially in the last 15 years or so.

 

This is what my CD store owner / supplier always says.
The people were fed up by paying high prices and the shop ignore that.
The few who didn't survive , not alone true Naxos but it helps.

 

Naxos is certainly well represented on my shelves. Years ago, I thought some of their recordings were not as good as the major labels at the time. But they've improved tremendously, and I'm grateful to them for providing me with many recordings of works that I otherwise would not have been able to hear. Today, I find many of their recordings on a par with some of the best labels.

 

They're also selling Naxos Music Library service to educational and local institutions in the form of streaming music, which includes great many well known and lesser known labels of classical music. Perhaps Naxos has become the biggest distributor of classical music.

 

My comment above was specific to CD purchases.

...Naxos Music Library... Perhaps Naxos has become the biggest distributor of classical music.

Since you brought it up (I had completely forgotten, being as CD-fixated as I am), I am a committed user and fan of Naxos Music Library. The local public library offers access to NML and I regularly rely on the service to a significant degree to explore works I can't afford to buy, am unable to obtain, or am considering for purchase. If only one could set up playlists on NML and mark favourites, and perhaps even rate music, so as to have a record of what one has done on the site.

 

NML is currently:

Figures At A Glance
Disc Count: 100,594
Track Count: 1,459,210
as of August 27, 2014

Other (than Naxos' own catalogue) labels that appear on Naxos Music Library

Other Labels



100 Anthems
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15th Field Artillery Band
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ZAN
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Zig-Zag Territoires

 

my attitude has changed over the years-like many others I questioned the idea that any CD that was relatively cheap could really be any good but with experience I have learned that it is rather self defeating to dismiss the label, particularly when it comes to exploring music-without Naxos I may never have heard Kalinnikov for example-there are other instances of good or even significant recordings being found on cheaper labels-Alto/Regis spring to mind-I have wondered whether DG (for example) may have encouraged the growth of a kind of snobbery or elitism in the marketing of their releases?

by the way-opus55,probably a reflection of my ignorance but what is your previous post all about?

 

...
by the way-opus55,probably a reflection of my ignorance but what is your previous post all about?

My comment above was specific to CD purchases.

Since you brought it up (I had completely forgotten, being as CD-fixated as I am), I am a committed user and fan of Naxos Music Library. The local public library offers access to NML and I regularly rely on the service to a significant degree to explore works I can't afford to buy, am unable to obtain, or am considering for purchase. If only one could set up playlists on NML and mark favourites, and perhaps even rate music, so as to have a record of what one has done on the site.

Yeah I got too excited Naxos and went off topic. I just wanted to point out that Naxos also runs music stream service, often free through libraries and schools, and their selection is mind boggling (as you see in my long list of labels).

 

Naxos has come a long way - in its early days it gained a bit of a rep for producing adequate or indifferent performances of warhorse chestnuts by unglamorous ensembles/artists but even then there were some goodies to be had such as the Haydn quartets (Kodaly Quartet) and Smetana's Ma Vlast (Polish NRSO/Wit). However, they were dirt-cheap and I'm sure more than a few seasoned listeners ended up with more stellar performances of what are now their favourite works after initially cutting their teeth on the less-renowned Naxos discs.

Another criticism was the formulaic livery and plain sleevenotes, but this side of things has improved as the graphics got crisper and the notes more detailed - for what it's worth, I have become quite fond of their trademark picture panel on a white background look. Things really started to bear fruit once the label became more adventurous and started tackling some of the lesser-known 20th c. repertoire and it's thanks to them that I now have a fair amount of material by the likes of Alan Rawsthorne and Ned Rorem. The only thing that has eluded me was why recordings from the offshoot Marco Polo label was more expensive, but I notice quite a few Marco Polo recordings have subsequently been re-released under the parent company's name anyway.

In all, I'd say a robust oak has grown from what was initially in some ways a rather unpromising acorn, and all credit is due to the label's founder for having both the long-sightedness and confidence in knowing what he wanted to achieve.

EDIT: another thing going for them is assuming the rights to recordings that originated on other labels - I notice a lot of Maxwell Davies ex-Collins material has been re-released (Eight Songs for a Mad King next, please...)

 

EDIT: another thing going for them is assuming the rights to recordings that originated on other labels - I notice a lot of Maxwell Davies ex-Collins material has been re-released (Eight Songs for a Mad King next, please...)

I think Eight songs was on Concord, not Collins, so I don't think they'll release it. But they'll release all the Collins material, at a fast pace (5-6 discs a year). They just released the masterpiece Ressurection, which was quite hard to find for years.

 

I almost forgot Tintner's Bruckner symphony cycle. Also very good.

And I just bought the entire Beethoven sonata cycle by Jando - couldn't pass up that deal. Not my favorite pianist, but still very good, and for only $6.

I think Naxos has been very smart. They have carved out numerous niches. For one, offering classical music at lower prices - making it more accessible. Are some recordings sub-par? Sure - but what label doesn't have that. I have had numerous recordings from the big labels - EMI, DG, Sony, Decca - that were sub-par. They didn't use the world-renowned artists and orchestras - that doesn't meant they were bad. And it was probably cheaper to get such artists, so they could pass the savings down. And then they carved out a niche of recording the lesser known works.

I actually like the clean appearance of their albums. The tasteful picture on the white background. I listen to the music - the cover doesn't interest me quite as much. And besides - I have seen some pretty tacky "candid" photos of major artists on the big labels that make me smirk quite a bit.

One final recommendation - Slatkin's recording of Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony on Naxos is excellent. It is with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (probably the more surprising thing).

 

For me Naxos is a great source of American music from the last century. Love their Ives and Schuman recordings. Paul Creston, too!

 

I also dig their William Schuman series, along with their Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Bax, and Takemitsu recordings.

 

I love Naxos. Mostly quality discs cheap. I find a lot of new composers by going to Naxos first. They are a great label for new and/or little known composers. Even if you don't like it, it's still only $8-10. When Arkivmusic has a sale on Naxos, I usually order 15-20 discs because they are usually only $6 each. Their American Classics series is fantastic. Found several composers there I really like, including Roberto Sierra and Michael Hersch. Found some I didn't care for, but for $9 who cares.

And they are now starting to get some really good quality conductors/orchestras. Vasily Petrenko's Shostakovich cycle has mostly been excellent. His #5,7,10, and 11 are fantastic recordings that I'll put up against almost any other conductor. Naxos is also really committed to Wind Band music (which I am a band geek).

Really, you can't do much better for your money.

 

My experience matches BRH's. Many of mine are the excellent "American Classics" series, especially of more recent composers such as Charles Wuorinen, Elliott Carter (esp. the Pacifica Quartet's superb version of his quartets), Joseph Schwantner (his superb Percussion Concerto), Philip Glass, John Adams, Richard Danielpour, Michael Daugherty (esp. Fire and Blood), Paul Moravec (Cool Fire and especially Tempest Fantasy), Thomas Leshnoff, Jennifer Higdon, Bruce Wolosoff; also much of the Samuel Barber series. Many of these are not cutting-edge, but they are well-crafted, thoughtful, even exurberant works by contemporary composers.

I also have a batch of Petrenko's Shostakovich symphony cycle, which includes a number of very fine performances (esp. #4, #7, #8, and #10). The Naxos series of Martinu's string quartets and the piano quintets is excellent (by, aptly enough, the Martinu Quartet). And I recently picked up a pair of performances of Takemitsu's works, a superb version of the Chamber Music (And then I knew 'twas wind, Toward the Sea, Rain Tree) and the Piano Music.

What I most admire in Naxos is their "record everything" philosophy. The sound quality has improved immensely in the last decade or so. I still go elsewhere most of the time, but I always keep an eye out for their releases of new composers and new compositions. I admire their risk-taking and will continue to purchase some of their risky ventures. Because of the price, I am more willing to take risks.