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 music is most effective in Marin Alsop’s outstanding interpretations, and the Vienna RSO once again does its best to play this music brilliantly and excitingly.’
– International Classical Music Awards (ICMA)
‘The music is most effective in Marin Alsop’s outstanding interpretations, and the Vienna RSO once again does its best to play this music brilliantly and excitingly.’
– Classical Lost and Found
‘…recording that is matchless both for its sound and content.’
– International Classical Music Awards (ICMA)
‘Vision of eternity – under the direction of Peter Dijkstra, Bruckner’s sacred music reaches new heights, purified by the Baroque revolution.’
– Classica
‘The performance under Dijkstra…is splendid. This is a terrific chorus… The motets, four of Bruckner’s most popular, are also beautifully done… This is wonderful choral work.’
– American Record Guide
‘This is the chamber music discovery of the year. …serious but eminently approachable, quasi-programmatic, charming, melodic, colourful…’
– Keep on Listening Award, ClassicsToday.com
‘The Musica Viva NY Choir bask in the technical challenges, sustaining long lines with finesse and brimming with colour and crisp ensemble in the livelier material.’
– Gramophone
‘…a winning album with a bang.’
– American Record Guide
‘…This is simply beautiful playing.’
– American Record Guide
‘…not a single complete set on modern instruments offers the same transparency, clarity, fruitiness, and especially, in the minuets, the sparkling humour and delightful rusticity that Fischer distills in Copenhagen.’
– Classica
‘Having reached musical maturity, both artists are in full command of their faculties…achieving a balance that truly conveys the romantic spirit of the works.’
– Ritmo ★★★★★
‘An intense sonic energy emanates from this generous album…’
– Diapason
‘A true discovery!’
– Rondo ★★★★★
‘Matteo Generani’s fresh and colourful interpretations allow the 17 pieces to develop their charm.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★
‘A vibrant new account of Massenet’s Biblical epic.’
– Limelight
‘…it is a true delight.’
– Ritmo ★★★★★
‘Much of [the work] sounds familiar, elegant, smooth and refined, played idiomatically by the trio Massa, Münch and Parfenov.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★
‘…this solid recording…is essential for this repertoire.’
– Ritmo ★★★★★
‘…If, like me you can never get enough of post-romantic glories, look no further.’
– American Record Guide
‘…this is one of the great musical finds in the history of German symphonic music. It’s just a wonderful work and a joy to discover and something that…in under normal circumstances, you’d have to wait for your local orchestra to do it.’
– Disc of the Year – Keep on Listening Awards, ClassicsToday.com
‘…the Quatuor Danel achieves a feat worthy of the highest comparisons, for the instrumental brilliance of the performances and the sense of total commitment, and offers admirers of this music a reference point that everyone will have to take note of from now on.’
– International Classical Music Awards (ICMA)
‘…the Danel Quartet reveals a thrilling intimacy with the composer’s language.’
– Classica
‘The Wigmore Soloists not only submit another first-rate volume of chamber music; they demonstrate that, even in the shadows cast by the German and Austrian stalwarts of their genres, these lesser-known British entries are just as worthy and compelling.’
– American Record Guide
‘An Atlas of Deep Time might just be John Luther Adams’s best work since his Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Become Ocean of 2013.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
‘This orchestra sounds very beautiful, playing and sound. I ended up…thinking this is one of the very best recordings of the symphony…’
– American Record Guide
‘…it’s fair to say that this one is a revelation… superbly alert playing from the ORF orchestra, Poschner sweeps away even more cobwebs from this neglected gem…’
– Europadisc
‘This is another triumphant recital by Will Liverman, an exceptional artist.’
– Fanfare
‘John Wilson and pianist Xiayin Wang are the finest of advocates for this rarely heard music by the American composer Edward MacDowell.’
– Gramophone
‘The recorded sound is good… Boscutti…plays with great sensitivity.’
– American Record Guide
‘The Divinerinnen know how to let this simple music be exactly what it is – simple, lilting, sophisticated and absolutely delicious.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★★
‘Mr Wallisch performs all the dances with panache. The sound is excellent.’
– American Record Guide
‘…[Idil Biret] is an exceptional artist who can record anything she wishes to play.’
– Ritmo ★★★★★
‘This necessary recording of one of Rihm’s most significant works is committed and intense, very well recorded…’
– Ritmo ★★★★★
‘…this album presents a powerfully compelling, stunningly sung, hour of immersive listening to a distinctive and important musical voice.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
‘The Latvian Radio Choir sings with an astonishing array of sound colours…’
– The New York Times
‘Remarkable works, to which the Latvian Radio Choir and Sigvards Kļava bring all their unmatched qualities; in the moment, you can’t imagine it being sung or conducted by anyone else.’
– Gramophone
‘The voices belong to the glorious era of the Staatsoper, with Ghiaurov shining particularly as Philip II.’
– Ritmo ★★★★★
‘…the Esbjerg Ensemble, joined by regular collaborators…make impeccable guides through these fantastical musical landscapes.’
– Gramophone
‘That this is a first-rate album is no surprise, considering the people who constitute the Reinhold Friedrich Brass Quintet.’
– American Record Guide
‘It’s wonderful playing from all concerned.’
– The WholeNote
‘It is an enjoyable adventure to hear what [Chiara Cattani] makes up.’
– American Record Guide
‘All of the singers are fine comic actors, and all sing very well. Angela Vallone’s darker soprano contrasts well with Bianca Tognocchi’s brighter instrument. Theo Lebow has a beautiful tenor; and Iurii Samoilov offers a steady, smooth baritone…’
– American Record Guide
‘…stage and orchestra, acting and singing merge into pure operetta bliss at the highest level.’
– International Classical Music Awards (ICMA)
‘…Brownlee’s thrilling performance here is little short of a revelation.’
– American Record Guide
‘Chief among the highlights here is Nikola Hillebrand’s beautifully glowing lyric soprano as Agathe. …Her acting is natural and unforced…’
– MusicWeb International
‘…the cast has real strength in depth. The chorus work and orchestral playing under Enrique Mazzola are lively and engaged.’
– Gramophone
‘…Natalia Osipova is, along with Marianela Núñez, one of [the Royal Ballet’s] very finest dancers. Her fine technique is, moreover, augmented by a spirit of physical adventurousness and risk-taking that particularly suits her to the highly dramatic roles…’
– MusicWeb International