Naxos Music Group – A World of Classical Music

Naxos was founded in 1987 and has developed from being known primarily as a budget label focusing on standard repertoire into a virtual encyclopaedia of classical music with the fastest-growing catalogue of unduplicated repertoire. Over 10,000 titles are currently available at affordable prices, recorded in state-of-the-art sound, both in hard format and on digital platforms. Naxos works with artists of the highest calibre and its recordings have been recognised with numerous international honours, including GRAMMY, ICMA, Opus Klassik and Gramophone Editor’s Choice Awards.

The company has also transformed into a global music group that owns, administers and/or distributes a large number of other independent record labels. Some of these labels are listed in this catalogue.

The Naxos name is synonymous not only with music recordings, but also with other products and services, from audiovisual products to books, e-books, audio books, apps and musical scores, as well as a wide range of online resources and services, for both general and professional consumption.

With its suite of subscription streaming platforms, Naxos continues as a leader and innovator, particularly in the area of education. Launched in 2002, NaxosMusicLibrary.com is used by thousands of educational institutions and libraries around the world. With almost 200,000 albums from hundreds of labels and more than 1,000 albums being added every month, it has become the listening source of choice for generations of students and professional musicians as they explore classical music. Together with the Naxos Video, Jazz, World Music and Spoken Word libraries, our online resources have had a great impact in developing future audiences for these genres.

The Naxos label’s 2024 musical milestones

The Naxos label is famous for its many projects to record either a composer’s complete oeuvre, or complete cycles of works from within that output. Cycles completed in 2024 include the complete piano works of Béla Bartók and Ferruccio Busoni; Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano; and Robert Fuchs’ violin sonatas. Moreover, a number of previously completed editions were newly presented as box sets. These include the Anton Bruckner 200th anniversary box set of all his symphonies in all versions, and Franz Schmidt’s complete symphonies, released to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the composers birth.

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We began a number of new cycles in 2024, including the complete songs of Erich J. Wolff; George Walker’s complete piano works; Carl Teike’s marches; and Heinrich August Marschner’s piano trios.

Ongoing projects include recordings in the Music of Brazil series; Mozart’s complete masses conducted by Christoph Poppen; Brahms’ complete Lieder; Elisabetta Brusa’s orchestral works; Dario Salvi’s exploration of Auber’s overtures; Haydn’s late symphonies with Adam Fischer and the Danish Chamber Orchestra; Paul Wranitzky’s orchestral works; Jun Märkl’s survey of Toshio Hosokawa’s music; and Eugene Zádor’s orchestral works. The monumental editions of Liszt’s complete piano music and Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas continue, while the completion of the edition of Rossini operas gets tantalisingly closer, with only one more opera left to be released to complete the cycle.

Naxos and its affiliated labels continued to add some truly outstanding releases throughout the year, with several notably winning international awards and attracting award nominations. In the ICMA 2024 Awards, for example, Ondine was named winner of the chamber music category for its captivating album of Schubert piano trios, and Capriccio received the special achievement award for its magnificent series of recordings of Bruckner’s complete symphonies.

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Our leading Naxos artists again featured on a number of acclaimed new releases. Highlights included Marin Alsop’s recording of orchestral works by John Adams (‘The performances and recording are terrific.’ MusicWeb International); JoAnn Falletta’s programme of symphonic and concertante works by Lukas Foss (‘Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra are pitch-perfect throughout.’ Gramophone); Giancarlo Guerrero’s fizzing album of organ concertos (‘Paul Jacobs gives a delightful performance, vigorously supported by Giancarlo Guerrero’s brightly polished Nashville Symphony.’ BBC Music Magazine); an album of French orchestral music conducted by Jean-Luc Tingaud (‘Time to bring César Franck in from the cold, and this outstanding Naxos release is a good way to begin.’ The Mail on Sunday); and recitals of Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano by cellist Gabriel Schwabe accompanied by Nicholas Rimmer (‘[F]or the duration of all four works, I was totally engrossed by the duo’s warm, keenly articulated playing style.’ Gramophone)

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Opera lovers were treated to a wide selection of both audio and audiovisual recordings. Notable among the latter were productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Enchantress (‘ … one of Tchaikovsky’s least-known, least-performed mature operas in a fine production from Frankfurt Opera.’ Gramophone); Wagner’s Das Rheingold (‘[T]he music making by the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin conducted by Donald Runnicles is first-rate.’ The Flip Side); Busoni’s Faust (‘[A] magnificent and dazzling performance.’ Scherzo); and Dvořák’s Rusalka (‘Performances are first-class across the board.’ operaramblings)

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Our incomparable American Classics series grew to a total of 586 albums with the addition of 16 new entries, including fine recordings of Daron Hagen’s The Art of Song (‘[T]his fascinating album represents nothing less than a whole new kind of song cycle.’ Allmusic.com); orchestral song cycles by Richard Danielpour (‘Danielpour ... couldn’t have asked for better performances.’ American Record Guide); and string quartets by Florence Beatrice Price and Leo Sowerby. (‘All told, this is an excellent release.’ BBC Music Magazine)

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In total, the Naxos label added 150 new audio and audiovisual releases to the catalogue, 67 of which featured world premiere recordings of music across a range of genres. These first recordings included a performance of Joachim Raff’s opera Die Eifersüchtigen (‘[A] beautifully conceived look back at opera buffa from the late romantic era.’ MusicWeb International); songs by Grace Williams (‘[T]his is a recording worth investigating of music by a much underrated and neglected composer.’ Gramophone); and concertos by Francisco Mignone (‘[T]his is a fabulous album you must buy! Where else can you discover a first-rate, accessible 20th-century composer, excellent music, excellent performers, and excellent recordings all in one?’ American Record Guide)

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New recordings from our affiliated labels

Our affiliated labels released 165 new recordings, many of which were recognised with prestigious citations, including two short-listed finalists for the 2025 ICMA Awards on the Ondine label: a programme of symphonic and concertante works by Witold Lutosławski featuring violin soloist Christian Tetzlaff (‘A recording to cherish.’ American Record Guide); and an album of piano quartets by Brahms performed by Christian Tetzlaff, Barbara Buntrock, Tanja Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt. (‘This profoundly powerful recording is a fitting memorial to Vogt and a remarkable chamber music artefact.’ AllMusic.com) This latter album also received Diapason d’Or and Gramophone Choice citations.

The Naxos label and its growing roster of affiliated labels offers something for everyone, newcomers and collectors alike. Whether you are an early music fan, guitar enthusiast, opera buff or connoisseur of historical performances, you will find a host of new discoveries in both audio and audiovisual formats that will both surprise and delight.

News from our digital services

Our educational platforms and streaming services – the Naxos Music Library, the Naxos Music Library Jazz, the Naxos Music Library World, the Naxos Video Library, the Naxos Spoken Word Library and the newly launched Naxos for Education portal – all continue to develop and provide access to an incredible wealth of music, spoken word content, educational content and other musical composition information.

In 2024, 28 labels joined our various libraries, enhancing the already rich content of these valuable resources. The breadth of recordings available is simply incomparable.

The Naxos Spoken Word Library continues to grow, with new features, publishers and other enhancements, both online and offline.

The Naxos Works Database also experienced significant growth, following continued collaboration with leading music publishers and music information centres, and now offers more than 150,000 works from over 10,100 composers.

Naxos Atmosphere

For those who prefer to listen to and explore classical music through streaming, Naxos and its affiliated labels are present on all major platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, both on a number of playlists, and under their own curated profiles, including Naxos, Naxos Moods, Grand Piano Records, and several others. Our ATMOSphere playlist on Apple Music features Naxos recordings that have been remastered in Dolby Atmos, an immersive spatial format that brings the concept of 'surround sound' to a new level.

All this, together with the development of mobile apps for our libraries, demonstrates the Naxos commitment to providing the best possible access to recorded classical music in the world. For more information on Naxos’ products and services, please visit www.naxosmusicgroup.com.

Explore the catalogue of independent labels: