Critics Choice December 2025

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!

Highly Reviewed Albums of the Month
Baltimore Symphony • Alsop
Nominee | International Classical Music Awards
Recommended | MusicWeb International

‘[Anna Clyne’s] inspiring compositions are sure to delight a wide audience without ever being ingratiating or showy. I love it!’
Pizzicato

‘It’s enthralling writing, executed with sensitivity… The Baltimore strings here under Marin Alsop judge dynamic and momentum to perfection, very much playing with the softness and elasticity requested in the score…’
MusicWeb International


UNITEL Edition 811408
Also available on Blu-ray Video
(811504)
Volkov • Stundyte • Sulimsky • Thomas • Samoilov • Vienna State Opera Chorus • Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra • Gražinytė-Tyla • Warlikowski
Nominee | International Classical Music Awards
Quarterly Critic’s Choice | Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award)
Diapason d’Or | Diapason
Editor’s Choice | Limelight

‘…First-class Salzburg recording…’
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award)

‘Heated to white heat by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s musical direction and Krzysztof Warlikowski’s poetic staging, a cast united in excellence does perfect justice to Weinberg’s monumental and final stage work.’
Diapason

‘…A truly compelling performance from Bogdan Volkov…’
Limelight

Audio Releases
Naxos Releases
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony • Alsop
Discos Recomendados | Ritmo

‘…Brouwer’s voice: an orchestral language of lyrical intensity, refined timbral palette, and modern yet accessible structure. Alsop captures this discourse with clarity and achieves a superb performance from the orchestra.’
Ritmo


Di Piazza • NDR Big Band • Basel Sinfonietta • Engel

‘…This is a worthwhile commemoration of an important composer.’
Gramophone


Tarara • Eun-Sun Hong • De Solaun

‘Solaun’s performance is enchanting: lively, fluid and always expressive. One is reminded of Lortzing’s Mayor from Saardam.’
Pizzicato ★★★★


Gustav Piekut

‘Without a doubt, I have hardly ever heard Janáček’s confessions of the soul so narrative, so immediate, and so exciting.’
Pizzicato


Naxos 8.660572–73
B. Mulligan • J. Holloway • B. Register • Netherlands Radio Choir • Hong Kong Philharmonic • van Zweden

‘Each member on point at every moment and a collective character in their own right in the drama.’
BBC Music Magazine ★★★★


Independent Label Releases (in alphabetical order)
Staples • Kožená • Devieilhe • Dreisig • Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony • Rattle
Nominee | International Classical Music Awards
Editor’s Choice | Gramophone
Recommended | MusicWeb International

‘Rattle’s glorious sense of the sweep of the score and drama alike makes for a superb experience, both theatrically and musically.’
Gramophone

‘Rattle presides over a compelling, distinctive and potent performance. Undoubtedly, this recording of Idomeneo ticks all my boxes.’
MusicWeb International

‘…A lovely interpretation of Mozart’s early masterpiece, performed to the hilt by a fresh-sounding cast of lighter voices, a committed choir and an orchestra…’
Limelight ★★★★


Norrköping Symphony • Steffens
Want List | Fanfare

‘The Third of these is a masterpiece as upbeat as Schumann’s “Rhenish.” Romantic and heartfelt, with an unforgettably swaggering parade march at the end and a touch of Wagner throughout.’
Fanfare


Barton Pine • Pacifica Quartet
Want List | Fanfare

‘…The most persuasive performance of Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet I’ve yet to hear. ’
Fanfare


Carbonare • Bergen Philharmonic • Gardner
Editor’s Choice | Gramophone
Orchestral Choice | BBC Music Magazine

‘…There’s nothing generalised about Edward Gardner’s response to Carl Nielsen’s distinctive idiom. …listeners will be struck most forcibly by the ebullience, clarity and flow of the music-making.’
Gramophone

‘Carbonare’s virtuosity searches out every corner of the exacting solo part, while Gardner’s accompaniments are vivid and alert… Then comes the Fifth Symphony, in an interpretation brilliantly in line with the work’s reputation as a 20th-century masterpiece.’
BBC Music Magazine


Florian Krumpöck

‘…Spontaneous and appealing.’
Pizzicato ★★★★★


Ruben Micieli

‘I was so satisfied with this that I immediately played it a second time.’
American Record Guide


J. Müller • Tomasi-Musso Guitar Duo

‘Combined with the sound of the guitar, all this results in a creative and imaginative approach to Winterreise!’
Pizzicato ★★★★★


Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra • Segerstam
Excepcional | Scherzo

‘This impressive collection of fifteen discs brings together the best and most complete orchestral works of Sibelius, in one of the most significant interpretations.’
Scherzo


Lyngstad • Copenhagen Phil • Ollikainen
Want List | Fanfare

‘Theodor Lyngstad’s probing account of the solo parts, sensitive accompaniment, and realistic sound make this release very special.’
Fanfare


Ensemble Galilei

‘…Fun and technically impressive.’
Baker & Taylor CD Hotlist


South West German Radio Vocal Ensemble • Y. Weinberg

‘Every syllable is clinically enunciated, every unexpected off-beat observed. Absolutely amazing: take a bow, conductor Yuval Weinberg…’
The Critic, Album of the Week


Johnson • Wallfisch • Lenehan • Hartmann • Witthoefft • Cigleris • Hannigan • Duerden • Andreassen • Tippett Quartet
Recommended | MusicWeb International

‘Toccata’s performances and sound are up to the level of Hyperion’s pioneering series of recordings – in other words, the very best.’
MusicWeb International

Audiovisual Releases
Naxos Releases
Naxos 2.110779
Also available on Blu-ray Video
(NBD0187V)
Dumaux • Fuchs • Molinari • Iervolino • Shahbazi • Le Concert d’Astrée • Haïm • Bieito
Nominee | International Classical Music Awards

‘All of the cast are bought into Bieto’s vision, none more so than Julie Fuchs as Cleopatra, who sings and acts with a magnetic brilliance… Haïm is absolutely outstanding…’
MusicWeb International


Independent Releases (in alphabetical order)
A film by Günter Atteln
Nominee | International Classical Music Awards
Quarterly Critic’s Choice | Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award)

‘…A powerful, realistic film… The result is an exciting and unusually candid portrait of an exceptionally talented musician on her way to the top.’
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award)


Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings BSOREC1006
Also available on Blu-ray Video
(BSOREC2006)
Kulchynska • Zhilikhovsky • Soghomonyan • Bavarian State Orchestra • Jurowski • Tcherniakov
Nominee | International Classical Music Awards

‘A stupendous achievement… Vladimir Jurowski conducts with appropriately military precision and playing and singing are superb, the chorus magnificent…’
Opera Now ★★★★★


C Major 769608
Also available on Blu-ray Video
(769704)
Netrebko • Eyvazov • Leva • Furlanetto • Arena of Verona Choir and Orchestra • Armiliato • Zeffirelli

‘The reworked direction of the actors brings this lavish and exuberant show to life, perfectly in tune with Puccini’s grand opera aesthetic. It is a feast for the eyes and the ears.’
Diapason ★★★★★


Dynamic DYN-37993
Also available on Blu-ray Video
(DYN-57993)
Corbelli • Esposito • Donizetti Opera Choir and Orchestra • Milletarì • Micheli
Want List | Fanfare

‘…Micheli’s L’aio nell’imbarazzo features a highly elaborate internet motif and thus comes across as “busy” yet dazzling.’
Fanfare



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