As part of a series of events celebrating a trailblazing 25
years in the business, this generously-packed bargain-price
CD from Naxos presents selections from the label's best-selling
titles. Naxos have come a long way in that time; so has the
music industry. This is thanks in no small part to Naxos's cut-price
business model. Despite the general pessimism regarding cultural
dumbing-down there has never been a better time for art music
recordings.
For all the changes, a number of the performers heard on this
entertaining compilation are happily still recording regularly
for Naxos, not least the excellent Hungarian pianist Jenő
Jandó, Polish conductor Antoni Wit, and two Slovak orchestras,
the Radio Symphony and the Philharmonic.
To keep costs low, East European performers quite possibly made
the bulk of Naxos recordings in the first decade or more, and
notwithstanding the fact that numerous were well received and
remain much-loved, early subscribers to Naxos will doubtless
have culled a few of those discs over the years, as better cheaper
recordings have usurped them. Many of those replacements have
been redone in improved versions by Naxos. The Katowice, Slovak
and Budapest orchestras featured here have grown in stature
and quality considerably since these recordings. The Capella
Istropolitana, still going strong, have one of the most impressive
discographies of any orchestra anywhere, having appeared on
getting on for 400 Naxos releases all told!
All the bestsellers tellingly date from Naxos's first decade,
an interesting but not surprising fact - those were the uncomplicated
days when downloading was at best an irrelevance for music fans.
The accompanying booklet gives a brief, generally frank description
of each piece by Naxos founder Klaus Heymann. For example, he
refers to Fauré's "very English Requiem with our Oxford
Camerata and Jeremy Summerly", and writes of Vivaldi's Four
Seasons: "The most popular Naxos recording of all time featuring
my hardworking wife (violinist Takako Nishizaki) and the Capella
Istropolitana. The Four Seasons were recorded in one very long
day, with the last session ending just before the orchestra
musicians had to leave to catch the last tram."
Really, the disc is likely to appeal primarily as a souvenir
for nostalgia buffs - a chance to revisit some of those early
Naxos recordings, to remember how good they seemed for the money,
and to see how well they have stood the test of time. For newcomers
to Naxos, this compilation will probably give a misleading impression,
with some of the engineering and performances a little on the
rougher side, and its focus on pretty mainstream repertoire
that reflects only a fraction of what Naxos are about. On the
other hand, as a cheap and cheerful alternative to the often
syrupy compilations churned out by the Classic FM conveyor belt,
these are all tuneful, easily recognisable items that would
go down well in most situations, from a dull car or bus ride
to an intimate soirée at home.
Both the Mozart Requiem and Orff Carmina Burana
recordings in particular lack definition and clarity, Dvořák's
Ninth is rather raw-sounding, and in truth the Four Seasons
recording is more winter than spring. On the other hand, the
Ravel and the Rodrigo are good by any standard. Only Klara Körmendi's
recording of Satie's famous Gymnopédie no.1 seems misjudged
- she rushes through it automaton-like without any regard for
Satie's 'Lent et douloureux' instruction.
The back inlay handily supplies all the catalogue numbers the
works are drawn from, for those wishing to find out more about
any of the recordings. Therein lies a difficulty with the slightly
tautological 'Great Classical Masterpieces - Best-selling Recordings'
concept: the pieces Heymann has chosen may not always be the
work for which the original CD was purchased! Thus the Copland
disc was most likely bought for Appalachian Spring or
Rodeo, the Gershwin for Rhapsody in Blue, the
Górecki almost certainly for the Symphony of Sorrowful
Songs.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
Full track-list
Aaron COPLAND (1900-1990)
a Fanfare for the Common Man [2:54]
HILDEGARD (von Bingen) (1098-1179)
b O Pastor Animarum [1:31]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
c Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 - I. Allegro [3:57]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
d Requiem in D minor, K. 626 - Sequence - Dies irae [1:52]
o Serenade in G, K. 525, 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' - IV.
Rondo allegro [2:58]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
e Piano Sonata no. 14 in C sharp minor, op. 27 no. 2
('Moonlight') - I. Adagio sostenuto [5:15]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
f Hungarian Dance no. 1 [3:04]
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
g Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, op. 18 - II. Adagio
sostenuto [11:23]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
h Valses Nobles et Sentimentales - I. Modéré;
très franc [1:25]
Carl ORFF (1895-1982)
i Carmina Burana - O Fortuna [2:39]
Henryk GÓRECKI (1933-2010)
j 3 Olden Style Pieces - I. [3:20]
Joaquín RODRIGO (1901-1999)
k Concierto de Aranjuez - I. Allegro con spirito [6:18]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
l Water Music: Suite no. 2 in D, HWV 349 - II. Alla hornpipe
[3:00]
Erik SATIE (1866-1925)
m Gymnopédie no. 1 - Lent et douloureux [2:43]
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
n The Four Seasons, RV 269 - 'Spring': I. Allegro [3:34]
Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924)
p Requiem, op. 48 - Sanctus [3:29]
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
q Piano Concerto in F - III. Allegro agitato [6:48]
Antonín DVO Ř ÁK (1841-1904)
r Symphony no. 9 in E minor, 'From the New World' - IV.
Allegro con fuoco [11:08]
a Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Stephen Gunzenhauser
b Oxford Camerata/Jeremy Summerly
c Takako Nishizaki (violin), Capella Istropolitana/Oliver
Dohnányi
d Slovak Philharmonic Chorus/Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra/Zdeněk
Košler
e Jenő Jandó (piano)
f Budapest Symphony Orchestra/István Bogár
g Jenő Jandó (piano), Budapest Symphony Orchestra/Győrgy
Lehel
h Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Jean
i Slovak Philharmonic Chorus/Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Stephen
Gunzenhauser
j Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice/Antoni
Wit
k Norbert Kraft (guitar), Northern Chamber Orchestra/Nicholas
Ward
l Capella Istropolitana/Bohdan Warchal
m Klara Körmendi (piano)
n Takako Nishizaki (violin), Capella Istropolitana/Stephen
Gunzenhauser
o Capella Istropolitana/Wolfgang Sobotka
p Oxford Schola Cantorum/Oxford Camerata/Jeremy Summerly
q Kathryn Selby (piano), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Richard
Hayman
r Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra/Stephen Gunzenhauser
NAXOS 8.578217 [77:18] 