8.557273 Elgar Marches

“For all those odious associations, [Pomp and Circumstance] is still a heck of a tune, given the full treatment here by James Judd and the New Zealand Symphony, along with 10 more equally rousing Elgar marches.” Anthony Holden, The Observer, 20/03/05

8.557274 Berlioz Les nuits d’été

“[Elsa Maurus] enjoys finely drawn support from the Orchestre National de Lille-Région Nord/Pas de Calais under the gifted conductor Jean-Claude Casadesus.” Rob Cowan, The Independent, 21/03/05

8.557220-21 Britten Folk Song Arrangements

“The singers, both in prime vocal condition, are Felicity Lott and Philip Langridge, with Johnson again on piano and the guitarist Carlos Bonell.” Rob Cowan, The Independent, 21/03/05

8.557666 Guarnieri Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3

“Played with sparkling devotion by Max Barros, with the Warsaw Symphony under Thomas Conlin, they are a budget-price delight.” Anthony Holden, The Observer, 27/03/05

8.557283 Bridge String Quartet Nos. 2 & 4

“The Magginis follow their impressive accounts of Frank Bridge’s First and Third Quartets for Naxos with equally convincing performances of his other two numbered quartets, to complete a recorded cycle that is the finest available version of what is arguably the most important British contribution to the string-quartet literature.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 25/03/05

“Thanks to two public-spirited companies, the neglected Frank Bridge has been rescued from his state of subservience as teacher of Benjamin Britten and supplier of the theme for one of that precocious talent’s most brilliant early compositions. …Naxos and the Maggini Quartet have added to their discography of the chamber music this impressive issue.” David Cairns, The Sunday Times, 27/03/05

8.558166-67 Opera Explained: Gilbert & Sullivan

“David Timson reads with verve; you can almost imagine him humming along to the musical extracts. You certainly will be.” Christina Hardyment, The Times, 26/02/05

8.557428 Brahms Symphony No. 1

“Marin Alsop – a conductor known better for her performances of modern repertoire – gives a broad, generous account of Brahms Symphony No. 1, underpinned by a solid sense of the work’s structure. Nothing is flashy or over-gestural and yet it never feels ponderous either.” Warwick Thompson, The Metro, 7/03/05

“This is a strong start to a new Brahms symphony cycle from Naxos. Marin Alsop, already well established on the label as a powerful advocate of American music, brings the right balance of freshness and tradition to Brahms’s First Symphony. Alsop admirably captures the symphony’s mixture of dynamism and lyricism.” Matthew Rye, The Daily Telegraph, 26/03/05

8.557491 Canteloube Chants d’Auvergne

“[Véronique Gens’] singing is smooth and delicate, with plenty of body in the tone for some of the earthier movements. Jean-Claude Casadesus and the Lille Orchestra bring out all the little details in the score, such as the lovely wood-wind solos that link the three Bourrées. This will no doubt become the interpretation for the present decade. It deserves to be a success, and then maybe the same forces will let us hear some of Canteloube’s enormous body of other songs.” Patrick O’Connor, The Gramophone, April 2005

“[Véronique Gens] gives a winning account of the popular ‘Bailèro’, but there are equal pleasures to be found in the lesser-known ‘The Hunchback’ and ‘A Pretty Sheperdess’ and in the humour of ‘Oh! Ah!’ and ‘The Cuckoo’, which Gens sings with infectious insouciance, avoiding archness. Her performance of ‘By the Bridge of Mirabel’ is a gem of characterisation. Jean-Claude Casadesus is the empathetic conductor.” Michael Kennedy, The Sunday Telegraph, 13/03/05

“The soprano is Véronique Gens, whose slightly grainy tone might not be to everyone’s taste, though her declamatory, passionate delivery ensures that each song is turned into a sharply characterised monologue – all preferable to the wordless warbling found on many previous recordings. Conductor Jean-Claude Casadesus, and his Lille orchestra, similarly, purge the accompaniments of any connotations of schmaltz.” Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 11/03/05

“Véronique Gens brings an authentic Gallic touch: never mind that her birthplace of Orléans does not exactly make her a native of the Auvergne, as claimed on the packaging, though she holidayed there with her grandmother as a child. And she brings a voice that, though more familiar to us in the music of Mozart or the Baroque, has just the right degree of allure and warmth without sounding precious or clever-clever.” Matthew Rye, The Daily Telegraph, 26/03/05

8.557480 Rawsthorne Symphonies Nos. 1-3

“These are remarkably confident and assured performances, paced by David Lloyd-Jones’ firm, experienced hand. Charlotte Ellett brings a sweet tone to the finale of No. 2.” Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine, April 2005

“Rawsthorne’s centenary year gets off to a flying start with this valuable Naxos survey of his three symphonies. As on previous volumes within the series, David Lloyd-Jones directs with evident conviction, and he secures a consistently enthusiastic and spruce response from the Bournemouth SO. The recording is hugely vivid, offering as it does a pretty much ideal combination of bite and amplitude, and the disc represents irresistible value for money. What are you waiting for?” Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone, April 2005

“It’s never easy stuff despite being very sympathetically played by the BSO.” Geoff Cowart, Windsor & Eton Express, 4/03/05

8.557290 Ferguson / Gerhard Piano Concertos

“Peter Donohoe achieves miracles in delivering mountains of notes with dazzling aplomb and simultaneously directing the excellent Northern Sinfonia strings.” Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine, April 2005

8.557570 Tippett A Child of Our Time

“A classic recording. Tippett eliciting weighty utterance without clouding textures or losing momentum. The two upper soloists take the laurels, and the chorus matches them.” William Whitehead, BBC Music Magazine *****, April 2005

“One of its most striking features is the vehemence with which Go Down, Moses (“a spiritual of anger”, Tippett called it) is delivered.” Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News, 11/03/05

8.557280-81 Bach Suites for Solo Cello

“She is a fine technician, her intonation near impeccable even when using a four-string cello for the Sixth Suite, for which Bach intended an extra top string.” George Pratt, BBC Music Magazine, April 2005

8.557165 Corelli Violin Sonatas Op. 5

“This is charming evening music, delicately performed.” Alexander Bryce, Scotland on Sunday, 27/02/05

“Now comes a first-class collection from the perceptive and sympathetic Artur Pizarro. He opens brilliantly with Rodrigo’s evocation of Albéniz, A l’ombre de Torre Bermeja, herem as elsewhere, bringing out its affinities with the guitar. In sum, Pizarro captures the moods of this music very well. If you have not discovered Rodrigo at the piano I urge you to try this generous collection, vividly recorded and with excellent booklet-notes by Graham Wade: you won’t be disappointed.” Ivan March, The Gramophone (Editor’s Choice), April 2005

8.557272 Rodrigo Piano Music Vol. 1

“[Rodrigo] was a fine pianist and, as Artur Pizarro shows, an imaginative and idiomatic writer for the instrument, less extrovert but by no means less poetic than Granados.” Robert Croft, Yorkshire Post, 25/02/05

8.557274 Berlioz Les nuits d’été

“Casadesus gives a fine performance of Dukas’s tone poem, one sensitive to the subtle melodic lines and the rich orchestration.” John Warrack, The Gramophone, April 2005

8.557389 Lefanu Catena for Eleven Solo Strings

“This new Naxos compilation of disciplined performances from the Goldberg Ensemble under their founder director Malcolm Layfield should do much to introduce her music to a wider audience.” Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone, April 2005

8.557518-19 Schoenberg Gurre-Lieder

“Of course, it doesn’t often get performed, so the chance to hear a good performance on CD is a valuable one: and this is a very good performance.” Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News, 4/02/05

8.559179 Foss Piano Music

“Both show Foss’s wide range as a writer and Scott Dunn upholds a high standard of playing. Seeing as this is the first complete recording of Foss’s writing for solo piano, Naxos is on to a bargain disc winner.” Geoff Cowart, Windsor & Eton Express, 18/02/05

8.559192 Cowell Quartet for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord

“Continuum’s compelling disc, the first of two issued on Naxos’s American Classics line, is a first-rate introduction to [Cowell’s] multi-faceted musical character.” Music Week, 12/03/05

8.557701 Deutsch The Maltese Falcon

“The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, under William Stromberg, performs wonderfully throughout. “ Bob Reynolds, Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 25/02/05

8.111001 Richard Tauber – Opera Arias Vol. 2

“The great Austrian lyric tenor was as remarkable for the range of his repertoire as for his sweet-voiced, stylish singing. Though this collection of 21 tracks, mostly dating from the late 1920s and 1930s, does not include the operetta roles that brought him his widest fame, it shows him excelling in everything from Mozart’s Tamino to Wagner’s Walther and Offenbach’s Hoffmann (particularly memorable).” David Cairns, The Sunday Times, 6/03/05

8.111007 Lehar The Merry Widow

“And needed to be, if it is to be heard by future generations with the awe and wonder I felt listening to Naxos’s marvellous new transfer of EMI’s classic The Merry Widow of 1953. What a feast for a fiver.” David Mellor, The Mail on Sunday, 6/03/05

8.110308-10 Wagner Lohengrin

“The engineer responsible for this reissue [8.111007], Mark Obert-Thorn, has also produced a new transfer of the 1953 Bayreuth Lohengrin. Some allowances need to be made for the sound, but the ear soon adjusts and you settle into a performance of real distinction under an experienced Wagnerian, Joseph Keilberth. At £15, less than ten per cent of the cost of a good seat at Covent Garden, this set offers a lifetime of listening pleasure, and a performance you could not readily replicate live today.” David Mellor, The Mail on Sunday, 6/03/05

8.110897-98 Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel

“This 1953 recording underlines the value of the opera, its simple entertainment value, and Humperdinck’s work in meshing traditional music with newly created themes. Karajan conducts with a very light touch, while the recording quality never drops.” Alexander Bryce, Scotland on Sunday, 6/03/05