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SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Jenö Jandó (piano) / Budapest Symphony Orchestra, György Lehel [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Feb/1985 ] "Jandó shows his versality in refreshing, clean-fingered account of the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto, coupled with a dazzling, totally unsentimental reading of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." Gramophone |
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CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saens: Carnival Of Animals (with Ravel-Mother Goose Suite) Johnny Morris (narrator) / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Ondrej Lenard (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 30/Jul/2008 ] The French composer Camille Saint-Saëns was prolific and lived a long time, although by the time of his death in 1921 music had changed beyond anything he could have conceived. He was a gifted pianist and, in common with many other well known French... |
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MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: L'Enfant et les sortileges (complete opera) / Sheherazade Julie Boulianne / Genevieve Despres / Kirsten Gunlogson / Chattanooga Boys Choir / Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Alastair Willis [ Naxos Opera Classics / CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] "raucous humour with heartfelt tenderness... Julie Boulianne's child has wide-eyed wonder... She can be heard in grown-up, and decidedly seductive mode in the accompanying Shéhérazade." BBC Music |
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GABRIEL URBAIN FAURE
Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisand - Suite / Prométhée (excepts) / etc Julien Dran (tenor) Tara Erraught (soprano) Ruth Rosique (soprano) / Ireland National Symphony, Jean-Luc Tingaud [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Nov/2024 ] "With its famous 'Sicilienne', the Pelléas et Mélisande Suite will be familiar to many, but it is the sumptuous beauty of songs such as 'La Chanson du pêcheur' and 'Les Roses d'Ispahan' that really grab the ear" BBC Music |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Jussi Bjorling: Opera Arias Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) / Stockholm Royal Opera Orchestra, Stockholm Symphony Orchestra, Nils Grevillius [ NAXOS HISTORICAL GREAT SINGERS / CD ] Recorded in the small auditorium of the Stockholm Concert Hall |
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WILHELM STENHAMMAR
Stenhammar: Serenade in F Major / Florez and Banzeflor / Ithaca Karl-Magnus Fredriksson (baritone) / Gävle Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Koivula [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2010 ] "The performances, with Hannu Koivula conducting the Gävle Symphony, make up in atmosphere for what they occasionally lack in refinement, and the ballads are sensationally sung by Karl-Magnus Frederiksson." (The Guardian) |
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HENRYK GORECKI
Gorecki: Symphony No.2 'Copernican' / Beatus Vir Zofia Kilanowicz, soprano / Andrzej Dobber, baritone / Polish Radio Choir / Silesian Phil Choi [ Naxos / CD - released 15/May/2001 ] " Antoni Wit has an admirable track record with Naxos, and this recording is another win for him. The sound is excellent: very focused and rich." (10/9 ClassicsToday 2001) |
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GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors / My Christmas Kirsten Gunlogson (soprano) Ike Hawkersmith (treble) Todd Thomas (baritone) / Chicago Symphony Chorus / Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Alastair Willis [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2008 ] "Naxos have done well to bring such a strong performance to the catalogue at budget price. It all adds up to a fine seasonal treat to be enjoyed with a cup of mulled wine and a mince pie." (MusicWeb Jan 2009) |
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ALBERT DIETRICH
Dietrich: Violin Concerto, Op. 30 / Symphony in D minor, Op. 20 Klaidi Sahatçi (violin) / Solistes Européens, Luxembourg, Christoph König [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jul/2024 ] Albert Hermann Dietrich is best known through his association with the Schumanns and his friendship with Brahms, but as this recording shows, his contribution to this circle's artistic activities went further than promoting their works as music... |
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SIR EDWARD ELGAR
The Best of Elgar (Incls 'Nimrod' variation & 'Pomp and Circumstance' March Nos 1 & 4) Maria Kliegel (cello) Dong-Suk Kang (violin) / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / etc [ Naxos / CD - released 10/May/2008 ] Edward Elgar was arguably the leading English composer of his generation and a significant figure among late Romantic European musicians. Born in the West of England in 1857, the son of a piano-tuner and owner of a music shop, he earned his earlier... |
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FRANZ JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: String Quartets.Op 9, Nos 2,5,6 CSR Symphony Orchestra, Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kodaly Quartet [ Naxos / CD ] "Overshadowed by four dozen later masterpieces, Haydn's Op 9 has usually received short shrift from players and commentators. The most familiar is the D minor, No 4, described by Hans Keller as 'the first great string quartet.' Gramophone |
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TELEMANN / BARTOK / MOZART / HINDEMITH / BRAHMS / etc
Vivid Viola: Best loved classical viola music Ladislav Kyselák, Hong-Mei Xiao, Roger Chase, Roberto Díaz, Tabea Zimmermann, Heinrich Koll (Violas) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] The viola is only slightly larger than the violin but possesses a middle range that is richly expressive and full of pathos. It has been played by some of the greatest composers, including JS Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Dvorak. |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphony No.3 / Haydn Variations London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos / CD - released 6/Feb/2007 ] "For a modern recording in state-of-the-art sound, you will not hear better playing than this from an orchestra or a more satisfying performance of these two works. ery highly recommended." (Fanfare Magazine July 2007) |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Egmont (complete incidental music) / Ah! perfido, / Marches Madeleine Pierard (soprano) / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / James Judd [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Feb/2010 ] "Those curious for some not too often heard music by Beethoven can safely invest in this well played disc" MusicWeb May 2010 |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
String Quartets Vol.2 (Incls 'Simple Symphony, Op. 4') Maggini String Quartet [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Oct/2008 ] "[The Maggini Quartet's] account of the trickily allusive Third Quartet is, and will surely remain, hard to beat." --Review by Arnold Whittall, Gramophone Critics' choice, 1999 |
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HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS
Villa-Lobos: Guitar Concerto & Harmonica Concerto Manuel Barrueco (guitar), José Staneck (harmonica) São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, OSESP Ensemble, Giancarlo Guerrera [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] "The uniformly first rate performances by members of the São Paulo Symphony are excellently engineered, making the whole disc a joy from start to finish-a true voyage of discovery and delight." 10/10 ClassicsToday |
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ILDEBRANDO PIZZETTI
Pizzetti: Symphony in A / Harp Concerto Margherita Bassani (harp) / Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Damian Iorio [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2017 ] Composed in 1940, Pizzetti's Symphony in A was one of the works, which included Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, commissioned to celebrate the 2600th anniversary of the accession of the legendary first Emperor of Japan. This powerful and... |
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CLAUDIO SANTORO
Santoro: Cello Concerto / Symphony No. 8 / Três Abstrações Marina Martins (cello) Denise de Freitas (mezzo-soprano) / Goias Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson [ Naxos The Music of Brazil / CD - released 7/Jul/2023 ] The 1960s proved to be a significant decade in Claudio Santoro's ever-eventful life. The charged atmosphere of the Cello Concerto can be attributed to his experiences in East Berlin at the moment construction started on the Berlin Wall. Despite its... |
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ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2 / Die gluckliche Hand / Wind Quintet Mark Beesley (bass) / Simon Joly Chorale / New York Woodwind Quintet / Philharmonia Orchestra / Robert Craft [ Naxos Schoenberg Edition Vol 8 / CD - released 1/May/2008 ] The little-known Second Chamber Symphony ought to be the most popular of Schoenberg's later masterpieces. Neither "atonal" nor "twelve-tone", it contrasts a lush, melodious, dramatic first movement with a rapid and richly polyphonic second movement.... |
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PAUL MORAVEC
Chamber Symphony / Cool Fire / Autumn Song Marya Martin (flute) Stephen Williamson (clarinet) Erik Ralske (horn) and others [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 10/Oct/2008 ] "This contains some of the most interesting contemporary music around played with panache." (MusicWeb Recording of the Year 2008) |