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Underground > Radio & Music >

Naxos

  
 
Seth
09:53 / 19.01.02
Tons of cheap music!

Do any of you own any releases from this label? In which case, please recommend some (stating in depth what it's like and why you like it). The prospect of spending many week's lunch money on a lot of artists that I'm semi or totally unfamiliar with is very appealing.

Don't restict this to just releases on the Naxos label - if you happen to know of cheap, good classical music obtain from one of the big three (Tower, Virgin, HMV) please let me know.
 
 
Captain Zoom
13:31 / 19.01.02
I have their Intro to Classical Music v.1. Excellent value. 2 discs, a small booklet on the histroy of the various movements in classical music and a catalogue of suggestions for starting out a classical music library. Some amazing music.

I've never seen cheaper cd's of classical stuff anywhere, unless it's used.

Zoom.
 
 
Not Here Still
16:46 / 19.01.02
Bloody hell...

Get the Eric Satie. Right Now. Give me a second....

Right, found it. Piano Works (Selection), Klaus Kormendi on piano.

You need Satie, he is absolutely brilliant and a major influence on a number of modern arists (eg: Aphex is always giving him props)

I've also got Smetana(? - Ma Vlast??) , Gershwin and Bizet on the label; but the whole thing about Naxos is they're so cheap, it's two pints or a CD of new music...

[edited because I'm drunktyping]

[ 19-01-2002: Message edited by: Not Me Again ]
 
 
Cavatina
10:17 / 20.01.02
Expressionless, I've got a few Naxos CDs. Of these the outstanding ones are Arvo Part's Fratres (which I think you've already bought?), The Spanish Guitar Collection (a box of 3 discs - Naxos Collection 15) and Music of the Spanish Renaissance (for voice, vihuelas, lute & Renaissance guitar). The voice is that of Shirley Rumsey, recorded in St. Andrew's Church in Toddington, Gloucestershire. She's really first rate - it's a superb recording.

But some others I've bought have turned out to be disappointing. The Berlioz Symphonie Fantastiqueconducted by Pinchas Steinberg, for example, is a really lacklustre interpretation & performance, and it simply hasn't got the presence and dynamic range of the other performance I have, by Herbert Von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmoniker on DGG Panorama (a 2 CD set for $24.90 in Oz). Generally speaking, I've found that DGG Panorama (often only $19.95 for 2CD set), EMI classics Red Line - which are again often the same price here as Naxos, $9.95) - offer better performances. Many of them are reissues from black vinyl and you get the top conductors, orchestras and instrumentalists/soloists.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
16:54 / 20.01.02
While Naxos are indeed a great, cheap brand, it's worth remembering that sometimes their recordings (moreso the earlier ones than the later ones) can be quite shithouse. They make their discs by paying one-off performance fees to the artists and then reproducing forever more - so sometimes you'd get a less-than-optimal recording or performance. It's for this reason that I would say never, ever discount the cheap versions of the main-labels. There's a lot of Deutchse Grammophon stuff that's come down to about a fiver (or less, in the sales) under the "Legendary Performances" or some-such title. Things like Karajan-conducted examples of Mahler are found here, and the recording quality will make Naxos sound like someone using a hand-held tape-recorder in a field.

That said, Naxos have a more wide-ranging selection of artists to get: you can get George Antheil's "Ballet Mechanique" on Naxos, while it's only available on two or three other obscure releases elsewhere. As Cavatina suggests, it's worth checking out the major labels as they've been pushed to release stuff at low-prices because of the sheer volume of cash the coming of Naxos soaked out of their coffers.

The Sony cheapo disc of Satie is quite good - I've found it knocks some other versions into a cocked-hat. Also worth checking, if you like his style, is the piano music of Debussy; it's further back along the time-scale, I think, but is no less textured. Ditto, the piano music of Ravel.

HMV's own-label is pretty good for classical stuff - they have a reasonable range, and their Part disc is a necessity - while two CDs I'd suggest you REALLY get are available on Virgin's "Ultraviolet" range: they've got a minimalism sampler, and a CD that's just titled "English String Music" which just plain rocks.

I'll probably be down for the jam after all, so we can discuss this over much beer.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
16:57 / 20.01.02
Another quickie: avoid Tower like the fucking plague. They are expensive, soulless bastards.

Ditto Virgin. Their range is uniformly shit.

It's seemed to me that HMV - well, the larger stores, anyway - is the way to go for classical music, largely because they have a lot of sales happening, and reduce good quality stuff. Classical releases, if they're new or rare, are expensive. Case in point: I still can't find a decent recording of Mahler's third for under about £14 - and that's one that's been out for years - but if you trawl around enough, you'll find something. If you've got access to a turntable, you can probably find a lot of records cheap; that'll be a decent way to see what classical you like or don't, purely because there was a big push, when CDs came out, for classical lovers to move to the shiny discs - which many did - offloading their vinyl in the process. Go forth and seek thy box-sets of the Ring Cycle for about a fiver, son!
 
 
Seth
18:11 / 20.01.02
Vinyl sounds like a good way to go. I do have a turntable, but it only works well if I route it via my cassette deck as a pre-amp.

The discs I've picked up are the two Arvo Part ones (Fratres and Tabula Rasa), two discs of John Cage prepared piano stuff, Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (which I really love already) and Phillip Glass' Violin Concerto/Company/Akhnaten. Please, no-one laugh at me if these are bad renditions: I'm just a beginner! I'm kinda going with what I know at the moment, after being introduced to a lot of these composers on the Kronos Quartet boxed set (fab, fab, fab).

I'm kinda floundering, to be honest, as there's an intimidating, bewildering amount of performers, composers, styles and periods. But I've decided to put my lunch money to good use and buy shedloads. So far I'm liking Arvo Part the most. Any and all recommendations at any price range would be appreciated, as long as you describe what it sounds like...

Good to hear that you're headed Barbejamwards!
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
18:27 / 20.01.02
The Glass violin concerto is possibly the best buy on Naxos, I think - after the Part disc, anyway. Get the HMV Part collection rather than the second Naxos volume - it's got better sound on it. As far as I recall, the rendition of "The Protecting Veil" by Tavener that's on Naxos is reasonable, and the disc of Michael Nyman's "Piano" concerto is rather good, as well. The Gorecki was the first version of that piece I ever got, and it's pretty good as an introduction; but the marvellous thing about classical is that the more you listen to it, and get used to listening to it, the more you can pick differences in recordings/performances. Fact: the Elektra/Nonesuch version with Dawn Upshaw (?I think?) is the best version of this you can get, because there's a shitload of stuff happening at the start that only comes out on the Naxos if you crank it a lot. Doesn't make it a bad rendition, though; merely different.

Stay away from their Carmina Burana though - it's shitbox, and you can get better versions cheap on almost any other label of repute.

Looking on my shelves, I can recommend the following: "Music Of The Troubadours" and "On The Road To Bethlehem" are two CDs of medieval-onwards music that're just fantastic - the latter more then the former. A mixture of stuff using strange instruments: shawms and the like, with a strong almost Spanish influence throughout. Naxos' Schnittke: Chamber Music CD is a good 'un, and probably along the alley you're examining. Schnittke you probably already know (Kronos recorded his complete string quartets, though I think that might've been after the box set?) but he can be a bit chin-scratchy. But is good. Otherwise - Naxos' collecting of Lutoslawski's stuff is pretty good. There's a number of volumes, and they're all reasonable, as I understand it. Their recording of Antheil's "Ballet Mechanique" would be interesting to you, and is recorded reasonably - though the machine parts sound less-machiney than I'd like, but that's probably coming from a Neubauten perspective than anything else. I've also got (that I can see) a Cherubini disc, a Korngold dics (violin concertos: good!), a Debussy disc or two, and a SAllinen disc - which you fucking must get, as there's a fantastic piece on it, a sort of funereal rocker. S'good.

There's a lot more here - let me get over and have a look soon. I've got a fair amount of naxos, but find that stuff on Erato (they do those 2-CD things with usually one-colour covers) can be fine, too: I've a Xenakis set that'd be up your street, and their Schoenberg set is worth listening to, too.

Christ. Sorry for rambling. Bah.

Are you wanting to stay trictly modern, exp, or are you willing to look earlier? I figure that if you raid the Sony Classics bin at sale-time, you'll find SOMETHING worthwhile. And at a measly amount, taking a gamble on something unknown can pay off big-time. What do you want to look for, really? There's so much that's worth hearing, and I'm sure I'm only scratching the surface...
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
18:32 / 20.01.02
Another thing to consider: if your local CD store has a copy of the Penguin Guide To Classical CDs, then use it, especially with unknown composers: it can make a vast difference. Also, the Gramofile review search-engine is your friend: use it often enough and you'll get more of a feeling for what ensembles are going to do god things for you, and what aren't. It's also useful for comparing and contrasting recordings: handy when you've got two or more options at the same price. Sometimes an extra two quid's investment can make all the difference.

Next time you're near London, I think a trawl of vinyl-hoarding classical haunts will be necessary. Let me know...

[ 20-01-2002: Message edited by: The Return Of Rothkoid ]
 
 
Warrington Minge
20:07 / 20.01.02
i'd like to recommend Carl Orff's Carmina Burana CAT: 8550196. You'll instantly recognise the 1st track O fortuna as its been used on about a hundered film soundtracks. Its about 80% choral and features some of the most stunning, breath taking music I have heard. Recommended.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
09:04 / 21.01.02
Warrington: The piece itself is great: I just have a problem with the Naxos take on it. As I mentioned earlier, it's a relatively early recording of theirs, and sounds a bit weak for my liking - bearing in mind that this was the very first CD of theirs that I bought. (Actually - that reminds me: their version of Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition is pretty dodgy, too, so go for another label with that one, also.) As I understand it, it's quite a difficult work to record, and compared to other renditions, Naxos' version doesn't make the work shine: the recitative bits always sound a bit too quiet.

EMI's take on it (the Andre Previn-conducted, rereleased version that's part of their Great Recordings Of The Century series) is probably the best/cheapest one to get, as HMV often offload it at the fiver mark - but for nine quid full-price, pretty much, it's quality you can't go wrong with. It's also in the HMV own-label selection - not sure if it's that version, though I think a lot of that catalogue comes from the EMI stables anyway, sooo...

[holds up "will review for food" sign]

Not that I'm a snob, or anything...

[/sign]
EMI's range has a lot of stuff coming in around that price, y'know; they're worth checking out.

Also good for building up a library - or at least getting familiar with works in case you'd like to get other copies - is that classical magazine whose name has escaped me at the moment. There's two: one of which excerpts new releases, and one of which presents one/two full works per month, on CD. Get the latter - there's usually some good renditions of stuff on them. If I remember the name, I'll add it in. It's not Gramophone, I think - it's the BBC one? Hmm. Brain not working, but I'm pretty sure it's the one that's not Gramophone, if that's any help.

[ 21-01-2002: Message edited by: The Return Of Rothkoid ]
 
 
DaveBCooper
09:24 / 21.01.02
RoR, is that 'Classic CD' you're thinking of?

Just got the Part CD the other week myself, and it's great stuff. And you say they do Glass and Satie and Nyman stuff as well ? Oh dear, there goes the money...

On the Debussy theme, I gather that some of his piano stuff was recently used as the basis for the most recent Art of Noise album - anyone happen to know which ? If there's a Naxos version I'd probably get that an' all... any help appreciated.

DBC

PS - Hurrah, a music thread I can contribute to, albeit in a half-assed and ignorant way.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
09:57 / 21.01.02
DBC: Classic CD I think it is, yes.

Debussy's piano music: there's a relatively cheap set of this, complete (5 CDs) that I picked up from a stall for £12. It's played by Martin Jones and is on Nimbus - quite good, really. I've one CD of Naxos' range of Debussy's piano music (volume four? it's got green type, at any rate) and it's pretty good, quality-wise.
 
 
DaveBCooper
09:57 / 21.01.02
Many thanks - I'll keep an eye out for those.

DBC
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
21:49 / 25.06.02
Another couple worth looking at:

Music For Glass Harmonica is a great introduction to the instrument. Strange sounds, over a variety of styles of composition - the heavy-hitters are there, as well as some current compositions. I keep playing it because it seems to have a big hook - I especially like the presentation of Lucia Di Lammermoor's "mad scene" with glass harmonica scoring: that's what it was originally meant to be, though it was finally performed by flute. Evocative.

The Japanese Orchestral Classics disc is another one worth picking up. It's a selection of compositions that have become concert staples in Japan, and is worthwhile because it seems to bridge kabuki and Schoenbergian techniques: while there's some syrupy stuff on there, there's enough boom and clank to make the journey worthwhile.

The new(ish) recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 10 is also pretty good. It's a reconstruction - the work was left uncompleted at Mahler's death - and is a different format than the Rattle-conducted version that's floating around. This is meant to be closer to the intentions of the composer, and I think it sounds great.

Um. Another, randomly, from the collection: the disc of Webern's Orchestral Music is ace, also. Angular, verging on wall-of-sound, it's very similar to what you might've heard in The Shining: kinda like Ligeti or Penderecki, but not really... it's earlier than that. Very, very good, though.

How's that?
 
  
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