8.557197 Britten: Piano Concerto

“This lively account of Britten’s piano concerto is also a do-it-yourself composition kit.” Paul Driver, The Sunday Times, 17/04/05

8.557380-81 Haydn: The Creation

“A new set of Haydn’s The Creation by the VokalEnsemble Köln and Capella Augustina under Andreas Spering, hits all the right buttons, with raw, period-instrument sonorities for the primordial opening and, at 2:39 into track two, a striking fortissimo for the excited arrival of Light. Fine singing, too.” Rob Cowan, The Independent, 11/04/05

“The choruses are grandly handled by the VokalEnsemble Köln, the speeds are brisk and the pointing of the details is picturesque. And you couldn’t wish for soloists with more melting voices.” Warwick Thompson, Metro, 25/04/05

8.557397 Maxwell Davies: Naxos Quartets Nos. 3 & 4

“The label is certainly fulfilling its side of the bargain; a disc of Nos 1 and 2 appeared last autumn, and now come the Third and Fourth Quartets, composed in 2003 and 2004.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 15/04/05

“The Maggini Quartet play both works with finesse.” Stephen Pettitt, The Sunday Times, 17/04/05

“The Magginis remain impressive advocates of Max’s late-flowering muse.” Andrew Clark, The Financial Times, 16/04/05

“The playing here is certainly more convinced and secure than the live performances seemed to be.” Ivan Hewett, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005

8.557428 Brahms: Symphony No. 1

“Alsop has a sure sense of tempo and structure and she draws fine playing from the London Philharmonic – and a solo of exceptional sweetness from the orchestra’s unidentified leader. At super-budget price, this generously filled disc is a clear first choice.” Jim Love, Inverness Courier, 8/04/05

8.660185-86 Gluck: Orphée et Euridice

“Under the benign baton of Ryan Brown, this is as hypnotic a 90 minutes as you can hope for – at a bargain price.” Anthony Holden, The Observer, 3/04/05

“Conductor Ryan Brown opts for urgent speeds rather than funereal solemnity, his approach matched by the austere playing of his Washington-based period band Opera Layfayette.” Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 8/04/05

8.557205 Britten: Simple Symphony

“Steuart Bedford elicits great detail and character from the Simple Symphony, but most valuable is his account of the English Folk Tunes Suite, a late and strangely haunting composition. Unmissable value.” Terry Blain, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005

8.557220-21 Britten: Folk Song Arrangements

“Two of our finest singers, Felicity Lott and Philip Langridge, have that gift of bringing a gently rustic quality to the music, with Graham Johnson thoroughly enjoying the piano’s colourful comment on the words. The sound is exceptionally good.” David Denton, Yorkshire Post, 8/04/05

8.557273 Elgar: Marches

“Though the Pomp and Circumstance Marches inevitably dominate this collection, it’s the rarities and the more strictly occasional pieces that prove to be the more interesting items here.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 1/04/05

8.557283 Bridge: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 4

“The splendid Maggini are working their way through British composer Frank Bridge’s works for strings, this time putting in two inspired performances of his Second and Fourth quartets.” Geoff Cowart, Slough Express, 1/04/05

“The CD is a great introduction to Bridge’s music, and the passionate and committed playing will please lovers of string quartets – it may even encourage listeners and performers to explore more of his chamber music repertoire.” MUSO, April/May 2005

“Thank goodness we have Naxos recording our neglected British composers at a price we can all afford. You could not improve on this sound quality.” David Denton, Yorkshire Post, 8/04/05

“All of this is brought out with something close to perfection by the magnificent Maggini Quartet. The emotions come across strongly, though without sacrificing either Bridge’s subtlety or his intellectual strength.” Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005

“These are exemplary, scrupulously prepared readings from the Magginis, who play with unquenchable fire, keen intelligence and immaculate polish throughout. With the vividly realistic, beautifully balanced sound from the experienced Walton/Thompson production-team and succinct annotation by Andrew Burn, this is an unmissable disc.” Andrew Achenbach, The Gramophone, May 2005

8.557290 Ferguson/Gerhard: Piano Concertos

“Partnered by an attentive and equally virtuosic Northern Sinfonia, which Donohoe somehow manages to direct from the keyboard, these two excellent performances alone make the CD worth buying. This splendidly played and recorded 78-minute disc is a snip at the price and a definite must-have” David Hart, Birmingham Post, 7/04/05

“Manchester-trained pianist Peter Donohoe has done his country’s composers a great service here by putting four 20^th-century British piano concertos on disc. No problem there for our Peter – his virtuosity is beyond reproach and his instinctive musicality makes the most of every note.” Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News, 15/04/05

“Naxos’s British Piano Concerto series goes from strength to strength with this third volume, a generous and rewarding survey in which Peter Donohoe more than maintains the auspicious standards he set in previous anthologies devoted to Rawsthorne and Bliss.” Andrew Achenbach, The Gramophone, May 2005

8.557433 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin

“Marin Alsop and the BSO rise to its challenges: vibrant woodwind and snarling brass offering appositely garish colours, while the music’s more static moments have the right, eerily seductive feel. Most impressive is the combination of such atmosphere with technical precision. Alsop has something of a mature Boulez here.” Stephen Pettitt, Evening Standard, 1/04/05

“Conductor Marin Alsop responds to the menace of Bartók’s score but also to its Grand Guignol humour. In the dance of the first victim, she switches between the jaunty and the sleazy with ease, and during the appearance of the mandarin the trombone glissandi are deliciously suggestive.” Warwick Thompson, The Metro, 18/04/05

“Everything about Alsop’s performance, though, has a genuine, steely integrity; her grip on the sometimes garish dramatic structure is always utterly secured and the way in which the intensity is steadily ratcheted up as the drama unfolds is totally convincing.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 22/04/05

8.557500 Stravinsky: The Firebird

“This is the premiere recording of the original version of Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Let the Firebird soar again!” Geoff Cowart, Slough Express, 25/03/05

“The music flows easily from scene to scene in this highly dramatic rendition.” Alexander Bryce, Scotland on Sunday, 10/04/05

8.557530 Webern: Symphony

“This generously filled disc marks the start of Robert Craft’s complete Webern cycle.” Misha Donat, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005

8.557644 Finzi: Songs

“Having mined the old Collins Classics archive for many of its English Song series, Naxos here offers a stand-out new recording from baritone Roderick Williams and highly regarded accompanist Iain Burnside. Their partnership in three Finzi cycles can stand comparison with the best in the catalogue, underpinned by a shared conviction that words by Shakespeare and Hardy demand to be heard and brought to life.” Music Week, 9/04/05

8.557666 Guarnieri: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3

“Max Barros is the fabulous soloist, with the Warsaw Philharmonic, who recently gave a spectacular concert in Leeds, offering a superb accompaniment in a recording high on impact and rich in orchestral detail.” David Denton, Yorkshire Post, 15/04/05

“This is a most encouraging issue. In the wake of BIS’s continuing series of Mozart Camargo Guarnieri’s symphonies, Naxos – knowing a good thing when they hear it – have collected his three piano concertos onto a single disc.” Guy Rickards, The Gramophone, May 2005

6.110075-76 Kálmán: Die Csárdásfürstin

“Bonynge knows exactly how to twitch a lip and jerk a tear.” Christopher Cook, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005

8.559216-18 Bolcom: Songs of Innocence and Experience

“The talent line-up is extraordinary.” Geoff Brown, The Times, 22/04/05

8.559417 Toch: Cantata of the Bitter Herbs

“Disturbing stuff, it’s played with great ferocity by the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz.” Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 8/04/05

8.559192 Cowell & 8.559193 Cowell

“These always approachable pieces are consistently performed by Continuum with rare affection and a fine sense of style, nowhere more so than their wonderfully sculptured reading of the late Quartet for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord – a classic that seems to stand right outside time.” Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005

8.559135 Barber: Capricorn Concerto

“It’s hard to stop praising Naxos’s courage and resource. It steps in where other labels fear to tread to produce winners like the American Classics series which has well served the composer Samuel Barber. The bounding rhythms and rhapsodic interludes of this fresh, beautifully worked score are well caught by conductor Marin Alsop, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and soloists Stephane Rancourt, Karen Jones and John Gracie. Great disc; amazing value.” Robert Croft, Yorkshire Post, 25/03/05

8.559225 McKay: Violin Concerto

“The American soloist and conductor are persuasive advocates…and the Kiev orchestra contributes whole-heartedly.” Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005

8.110785-86 Gilbert and Sullivan: The Sorcerer

“This neglected G&S has much inventive and witty music.” George Hall, BBC Music Magazine, May 2005