FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Symphonies nos. 3 and 6 Failoni Orchestra, Michael Halasz [ Naxos / CD - released 27/Jan/2008 ] nice solid readings, well played and admirably recorded. Halasz captures the many classical elements of these works, the lightness, the formal balance, and the transparent orchestral fabric..emphasizing Schubert's extraordinary lyrical gift (Fanfare) |
CARL von DITTERSDORF
Dittersdorf: Sinfonias On Ovid's Metamorphoses, Nos. 1 - 3 Failoni Orchestra, Budapest, Hanspeter Gmur [ Naxos The 18th Century Symphony / CD - released 1/Jan/1997 ] "No one who fancies venturing beyond Haydn and Mozart is likely to be disappointed here, especially at the alluring Naxos price." Gramophone |
HOWARD HANSON
Hanson: Merry Mount Op 31 (complete opera) Lauren Flanigan, Walter Macneil, Wrestling Bradford / Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz [ Naxos American Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 30/Apr/2007 ] "Good tunes and the Devil combine in an unabashed romantic American rarity. The leading roles are splendidly characterised by Lauren Flanigan and Richard Zeller, well supported in a rehabilitation that is a credit to all involved." Gramophone |
JOAQUIN RODRIGO
Rodrigo: Complete Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 Ricardo Gallen (guitar) / Asturias Symphony Orchestra, Maximiano Valdes [ Naxos Spanish Classics / CD - released 14/Oct/2002 ] "The focus of these three volumes is on concertos, the most popular and arguably the best segment of Rodrigo's orchestral music. The best known are those for guitar and orchestra, of the very numerous recordings of which these are 'good enough to... |
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 9: Finnish Fantasy / Karelian Legend / etc Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Igor Golovschin [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Feb/1997 ] It is becoming increasingly unnecessary to defend the reputation of Glazunov. He belonged to a generation of Russian composers that was able to benefit from more professional standards of compositional technique. |
JULIAN ORBON
Orbon: Symphonic Dances / Concerto Grosso / Three Symphonic Versions Hector Corpus Aguilar (violin) Vladimir Atapin (cello) Oleg Lev (viola) Alexandre Vassiliev (violin) / Asturias Symphony Orchestra / Maximiano Valdes [ Naxos Spanish Classics / CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] Julián Orbón was born in Avilés in the northern Spanish region of Asturias, on 7th August 1925, and he spent most of his childhood in that region, with the exception of a year's visit to Cuba. |
LONG ZHOU / YI CHEN
Symphony, "Humen 1839" / The Rhyme of Taigu / The Enlightened New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Darrell Ang [ Naxos / CD - released 5/May/2015 ] "This is thrilling, cinematic music that, although challenging at times, is always gripping." The Kansas City Star |
LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK
Gottschalk: Orchestral Works (Complete) Hot Springs Festival Symphony Orchestra, Richard Rosenberg [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 9/Oct/2007 ] "As good an introduction to Gottschalk's œuvre as any." (MusicWeb Oct 2007) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Schumann-Introduction and Concert-Allegro) Idil Biret, Jeno Jando (pianos) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Antoni Wit (conductor) [ Naxos Super Budget Series / CD - released 30/Jun/2008 ] "Jeno Jando and his Polish colleagues strike me as getting the balance just about right" - Classic CD |
ANTONIN DVOARK / ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
Dvorak/Glazunov: Violin Concertos Ilya Kaler (violin) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Camilla Kolchinsky [ Naxos / CD ] "Kaler's playing of these Romantic sweetly-tuned works is excellent" BBC Music Magazine "Ilya Kaler has great romantic warmth and natural Slavonic feeling....In short this is first class in every way" Penguin Guide |
WALTER PISTON
Piston: Violin Concertos / Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra James Buswell (violin) / National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine / Theodore Kuchar [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 15/Feb/2001 ] Rosette (Highest Rating) Penguin Stereo Guide / * * * * * 5 Stars - BBC Music Magazine (Sept 99) / Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (Oct 99) / Critic's Choice Gramophone Magazine 1999 |
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Bernstein: Symphonies Nos 1 'Jeremiah' & 2 'The Age of Anxiety' Jennifer Johnson Cano (mezzo-soprano) Jean-Yves Thibaudet, (piano) / Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 17/Dec/2016 ] "It's great to see this music being played with such conviction. I don't think that Bernstein could have done better...the engineering is also rock solid and brilliant by turns. A marvelous release by any standard." ClassicsToday 10/10 Jan 2017 |
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 |
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 |
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) |
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) |
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... |
NIKOLAY KARLOVICH MEDTNER
Medtner: Piano Concertos 1 and 3 Konstantin Scherbakov (piano) / Moscow Symphony Orchestra / Vladimir Ziva, conductor [ Naxos Romantic Piano Concertos / CD - released 15/Feb/2002 ] "He and his partners are entirely sympathetic to freely associating ideas that sprout wings of the spirit and evolve into endlessly changing hues and patterns contained within a disciplined if idiosyncratic sense of form." - Gramophone |