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!
‘[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
‘…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
‘…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
‘…This is a worthwhile commemoration of an important composer.’
– Gramophone
‘Solaun’s performance is enchanting: lively, fluid and always expressive. One is reminded of Lortzing’s Mayor from Saardam.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★
‘Without a doubt, I have hardly ever heard Janáček’s confessions of the soul so narrative, so immediate, and so exciting.’
– Pizzicato
‘Each member on point at every moment and a collective character in their own right in the drama.’
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
‘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 ★★★★★
‘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
‘…The most persuasive performance of Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet I’ve yet to hear. ’
– Fanfare
‘…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
‘…Spontaneous and appealing.’
– Pizzicato ★★★★★
‘I was so satisfied with this that I immediately played it a second time.’
– American Record Guide
‘Combined with the sound of the guitar, all this results in a creative and imaginative approach to Winterreise!’
– Pizzicato ★★★★★
‘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
‘Theodor Lyngstad’s probing account of the solo parts, sensitive accompaniment, and realistic sound make this release very special.’
– Fanfare
‘Every syllable is clinically enunciated, every unexpected off-beat observed. Absolutely amazing: take a bow, conductor Yuval Weinberg…’
– The Critic, Album of the Week
‘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
‘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
‘…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)
‘A stupendous achievement… Vladimir Jurowski conducts with appropriately military precision and playing and singing are superb, the chorus magnificent…’
– Opera Now ★★★★★
‘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 ★★★★★
‘…Micheli’s L’aio nell’imbarazzo features a highly elaborate internet motif and thus comes across as “busy” yet dazzling.’
– Fanfare








































