This month brings you another bumper crop of great reviews from the leading music magazines, quality dailies and online review sites. There’s no doubt about it: Naxos releases and distributes some of the best music and audiovisual albums!
‘The superb pianist Han Chen draws on an equal affinity with Romantic and contemporary repertoire to bring us a survey of Ligeti’s Études which stands among the best.’
– Gramophone
‘A powerfully persuasive reading of music that makes a good introduction to Ligeti’
– AllMusic.com ★★★★★
‘…this album from the Munich Opera Horns is captivating.’
– Gramophone
‘The Munich Opera Horns play vividly and imaginatively in all the works, making the CD a real treat for the ears. And not only for horn fans!’
– Pizzicato ★★★★
‘This is a highly enjoyable album of music from an imaginative composer, virtuosically performed by the JACK Quartet and three superb soloists.’
– Fanfare
‘Eisenlohr’s singers give us all the beauty of sound one could hope for, as well as (one guesses) deep sincerity and unaffected delivery. Tenor Kieran Carrel also has a beautiful voice… the results are winning.’
– Fanfare
‘…there is a breathtaking level of articulation and dynamic detail, flattered by a high-quality recording.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
‘An album that does admirable justice to one of the most prolific, significant, and increasingly long-lived composers of a remarkable generation.’
– The Arts Fuse
‘Tuck rounds off her entertaining and illuminating Czerny series in style.’
– Limelight
‘The music in this release is superbly accomplished in the Viennese Classical style…’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
‘Robert Spano and the Houston Symphony Orchestra play with commitment and at a high level in a consistently communicative interpretation that delights the ear.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★★
‘Mallett performs each piece with technical and musical fluency, and with a strong sense of the style of the period.’
– American Record Guide
‘From Vienna to Hollywood, three quartets that should be heard more often.’
– Limelight
‘A most rewarding release, well-balanced, and showcasing a major talent.’
– Classical Explorer
‘Ji Su Sung has been championing this [Marimba] concerto, and her performance is inviting.’
– American Record Guide
‘…virile, emphatic readings of riveting energy and drive. …these are fantastic Schumann symphonies in their own right…’
– American Record Guide
‘Arman is an attentive Mozartian. Throughout, the support from the Berlin Akademie is invigorating – a perfect match for the fastidious precision of the Bavarian Radio Choir.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
‘…the album is yet another significant step in making room for Labor in the romantic catalogue and allowing audiences to hear his music once again.’
– American Record Guide
‘…the performances here are excellent. This set is definitely in the running for my 2023 Want List. Don’t miss it.’
– Fanfare
‘Well-recorded and expertly performed, this is a rewarding album which skilfully explores the intersection of Western and Arabic musical vocabularies.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
‘…the standard of performance and recording elevates this to a disc of the utmost importance.’
– Classical Explorer
‘Absolutely worth hearing!’
– kulturradio vom rbb ★★★★★
‘…more than an hour of lively, colourful, dramatically apposite music, delightfully rendered.’
– American Record Guide
‘Albrecht continues his superb performances in this gigantic undertaking, handling the technical complexities of these transcriptions with ease, employing a kaleidoscopic use of colour and a fluid musicality, bringing these symphonies to life in a way Bruckner never imagined.’
– American Record Guide
‘…orchestral colour aplenty and a splendidly uplifting end to the Symphony in D minor.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
‘The passionate commitment of Anna Skryleva and all those involved from the very beginning have masterfully snatched a late romantic, colourful opera with an astonishingly individual character from oblivion.’
– Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award)
‘…thrilling release…’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
‘Top class!’
– Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award)
‘…I enjoyed all of it immensely and am drenched in admiration for the shifting images and moods the SWR ensemble evokes with their remarkable singing.’
– American Record Guide
‘…performances combining fresh discovery with passion and commitment.’
– MusicWeb International
‘Furtwängler brings monumentality and profundity to Beethoven and reveals the importance of Beethoven’s message.’
– American Record Guide
‘The combination of sitar and cello really work well for me. Highly recommended.’
– Positive Feedback Online
‘A straightforward but memorable staging by Keith Warner…its inclusion in Naxos’s catalogue is a cause for celebration.’
– The New York Times
‘A strong cast is led by Stéphanie d’Oustrac. …her feisty Périchole is convincingly quick-witted.’
– Limelight
‘Urgently conducted by Lorenzo Viotti and well sung by a youthful cast, Puccini’s thriller here moves with a swiftness that anticipates the slasher flick.’
– The New York Times
‘A totally exciting performance outstandingly played by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★
‘…Timur Zangiev conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi with verve and understanding. Don’t hesitate.’
– Classical Explorer
‘Antonio Pappano’s conducting is masterly, offering one of the best accounts available.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
‘The cast is top-notch, yet there is one interpreter who stands out: Asmik Grigorian as the sensitive Lauretta, as the ardently amorous Giorgetta, and as the immensely characterful and touching Angelica.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★★
‘[Boulton] makes any production he performs a delight.’
– AudioFile