Welcome to Naxos –
The World’s Leading Classical Music Group
Naxos Music Group – A World of Classical Music
Naxos was founded in 1987 and has developed from being known primarily as a budget label focusing on standard repertoire into a virtual encyclopaedia of classical music with a catalogue of unparalleled depth and breadth. Innovative strategies for recording exciting new repertoire with exceptional talent have enabled the Naxos label to develop one of the largest and fastest-growing catalogues of unduplicated repertoire. Over 10,000 titles are currently available at affordable prices, recorded in state-of-the-art sound, both in hard format and on digital platforms. Naxos works with artists of the highest calibre and its recordings have been recognised with numerous international honours, including GRAMMY, ICMA, Opus Klassik and Gramophone Editor’s Choice Awards.
The company has also transformed into a global music group that owns, administers and/or distributes a large number of other independent record labels. Some of these labels are listed in this catalogue.
The Naxos name is synonymous not only with music recordings, but also with other products and services, from audio-visual products to books, e-books, audio books, apps and musical scores, as well as a wide range of online resources and services, for both general and professional consumption.
With its suite of subscription streaming platforms, Naxos continues as a leader and innovator, particularly in the area of education. Launched in 2002, NaxosMusicLibrary.com is used by thousands of educational institutions and libraries around the world. With over 174,000 albums from hundreds of labels and more than 1,100 albums being added every month, it has become the listening source of choice for generations of students and professional musicians as they explore classical music. Together with the Naxos Video, Jazz, World Music and Spoken Word libraries, our online resources have had a great impact in developing future audiences for these genres.
Independent labels included in this catalogue:
The Naxos label’s 2022 musical milestones
The Naxos label is famous for its many projects to record either a composer’s complete oeuvre, or complete cycles of works from within that output. Cycles completed in 2022 include the Lieder of Robert Schumann and Hans Pfitzner; the songs of The Guerra Manuscript; Sousa’s music for wind band; and Kreisler’s historical recordings. Moreover, a number of previously completed editions were newly presented as box sets. These included Ferdinand Ries’ works for piano and orchestra and, separately, his piano sonatas and sonatinas; and Poulenc’s complete chamber music.
[5-Disc Boxed Set]
[5-Disc Boxed Set]
We began a number of new cycles in 2022, including Josef Bohuslav Foerster’s orchestral works; Marin Alsop’s performances of the Schumann symphonies as re-orchestrated by Mahler; Marschner’s opera overtures; and works for guitar by Konstantin Vassiliev.
Ongoing projects include recordings in the Music of Brazil series; Mozart’s complete masses conducted by Christoph Poppen; Jun Märkl’s survey of Saint-Saëns orchestral music; Hummel’s arrangements of the Beethoven symphonies for flute quartet; Suppé’s incidental stage music; Wolf-Ferrari’s orchestral works; Haydn’s piano trios; Anton Rubinstein’s works for piano; Soler’s keyboard sonatas, recorded by winners of Maria Canals Piano Competition; and the Great Composers in Words and Music series. The monumental edition of Liszt’s complete piano continues, while the completion of the edition of Rossini operas gets tantalisingly closer.
We continued to add some truly outstanding releases throughout the year, with several of them notably attracting international awards. Tianwa Yang was acknowledged as Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2022 Opus Klassik Awards for her recording of the Prokofiev violin concertos, while the recording of Marcel Poot’s Complete Symphonies was awarded the 2022 Prix Caecilia medal for Best Historical Recording by L’Union de la Presse Musicale Belge. Gramophone’s Best Classical Music Albums of 2022 cited both a programme of Dohnányi concertos, conducted by Modestas Pitrènas, and Peter Jablonski’s album of piano works by Grażyna Bacewicz.
Our leading Naxos artists again featured on a number of acclaimed new recordings. Highlights included Boris Giltburg’s recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 5 & 0 (‘Awesome music-making.’ Classical Music Daily); Gabriel Schwabe’s album of Russian cello sonatas (‘ … excellent interpretations … truly recommendable.’ Pizzicato); Marin Alsop’s programme of orchestral works by Henze (‘Under Alsop’s insightful direction the orchestra captures Henze’s brilliant characterisations, shapely phrases and delightfully clear textures.’ TheWholeNote); and JoAnn Falletta’s album of Walton’s complete Façades. (‘While there have been a number of fine recordings of Façade, this one takes the blue ribbon.’ WHRO)
Opera lovers were treated to a wide selection of both audio and audiovisual recordings. Notable among the latter were Weinberg’s powerful Holocaust drama Die Passagierin (‘ … top-notch; hi-def video and audio are excellent.’ The Flip Side); Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas conducted by William Christie (‘ … a ravishingly decorated musical account … The principal cast is flawless.’ Limelight); Zandonai’s rarely performed Francesca da Rimini (‘What a thrilling experience!’ Fanfare); and Benet Casablanca’s L’enigma di Lea (‘ … this Naxos presentation proves L’Enigma di Lea is a contemporary opera that deserves a future life.’ Opera News)
![WEINBERG, M.: Passenger (The) [Opera] (Graz Opera, 2021) (NTSC)](../../../sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110713.jpg "WEINBERG, M.: Passenger (The) [Opera] (Graz Opera, 2021) (NTSC)")
![PURCELL, H.: Dido and Aeneas [Opera] (Opéra Comique, 2008) (NTSC)](../../../sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110709.jpg "PURCELL, H.: Dido and Aeneas [Opera] (Opéra Comique, 2008) (NTSC)")
![ZANDONAI, R.: Francesca da Rimini [Opera] (Deutsche Oper Berlin, 2021) (NTSC)](../../../sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110711.jpg "ZANDONAI, R.: Francesca da Rimini [Opera] (Deutsche Oper Berlin, 2021) (NTSC)")
Our incomparable American Classics series grew to a total of 557 albums with the addition of 12 new entries. Notable among them were a compendium of recent orchestral works by Peter Boyer (‘ … enjoyable, approachable orchestral music by one of the most popular composers active in the US today.’ MusicWeb International) and a mixed set of works by William Grant Still (‘This is a thoroughly delightful and musically enriching disc.’ Classical CD Reviews). An album of music for clarinet and strings by Derek Bermel was judged ‘a joyous listen’ by BBC Music Magazine, while Lark Reviews predicted that a mixed programme of vocal, instrumental and choral works by William McClelland ‘will repay many playings.’
In total, the Naxos label added 169 new audio and audio-visual releases to the catalogue, 74 of which featured world premiere recordings of music across a range of genres. These first recordings included a recital of virtuoso solo violin music by Henri Vieuxtemps performed by Alexander Markov (‘This, in short, is Naxos at its best.’ Gramophone); chamber music by Edward Gregson (‘It would be difficult to imagine more committed or imaginative performances.’ Musical Opinion); a recital of keyboard works by Clementi performed by Rodolfo Leone (‘ … eloquent phrasing and richness of tone colour ... a pure listening pleasure.’ Piano News); and Suppé’s Around the World in 80 Days performed by the Janaček Philharmonic Orchestra under Dario Salvi. (‘Wonderfully performed and deliciously recorded.’ ClassicsToday.com)
![SUPPÉ, F. von: Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen (Die) (Around the World in 80 Days) [Incidental Music]](../../../sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.574396.jpg "SUPPÉ, F. von: Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen (Die) (Around the World in 80 Days) [Incidental Music]")
New recordings from our affiliated labels
Our affiliated labels released 219 new recordings, many of which were recognised with prestigious awards. In the 2022 ICMA Awards, pianist Lars Vogt’s Janáček recital on Ondine won the Solo Instrumental category, while pianist Frank Dupree’s album of concertos by Kapustin won the Assorted Programmes category for the Capriccio label. In the 2022 Opus Klassik Awards, Capriccio was again well represented, winning the Film Music category for Vol. 5 in their edition of Alfred Schnittke’s film music and Orfeo won the Chamber Music Award for clarinettist Sharon Kam’s programme of music by Hindemith; Oehms Classics took the Opus Klassik Choral Award with Among Whirlwinds, a mixed programme performed by Singer Pur. ARC Music won the Transglobal World Music Chart’s Best Label award for the 2021–2022 season.
The Naxos label and its growing roster of affiliated labels, offers something for everyone, newcomers and collectors alike. Whether you are an early music fan, guitar enthusiast, opera buff or connoisseur of historical performances, you will find a host of new discoveries that will both surprise and delight.
News from our digital services
Our educational platforms and streaming services – the Naxos Music Library, the Naxos Music Library Jazz, the Naxos Music Library World, the Naxos Video Library, the Naxos Spoken Word Library and the newly launched Naxos for Education portal – all continue to develop and provide access to an incredible wealth of music, spoken word content, educational content and other musical composition information.
In 2022, over 150 labels joined our various libraries, enhancing the already rich content of these valuable resources. The breadth of recordings available is simply incomparable.
The Naxos Spoken Word Library continues to grow, with new features, publishers and other enhancements, both online and offline.
The Naxos Works Database also experienced significant growth, following continued collaboration with leading music publishers and music information centres, and now offers more than 150,000 works from nearly 6,500 composers.
For those who prefer to listen to and explore classical music through streaming, Naxos and its affiliated labels are present on all major platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, both on a number of playlists, and under their own curated profiles, including Naxos, Naxos Moods, unClassified, Grand Piano Records, and several others. Our ATMOSphere playlist on Apple Music features Naxos recordings that have been remastered in Dolby Atmos, an immersive spatial format that brings the concept of ‘surround sound’ to a new level.
All this, together with the development of a range of books, apps and e-books, demonstrates the Naxos commitment to providing the best possible access to recorded classical music in the world. For more information on Naxos’ products and services, please visit www.naxosmusicgroup.com.
Founding Chairman, Naxos Music Group
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Deutsche Oper Berlin, 2021
Photo: © Bernd Uhlig
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