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 2025 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 2025 include Mozart’s complete masses in six volumes conducted by Christoph Poppen; Haydn’s piano trios in a total of nine volumes featuring five distinguished ensembles; Goffredo Petrassi’s Concertos for Orchestra performed by Francesco La Vecchia and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma; and Reginald Smith Brindle’s complete works for solo guitar in recitals by Duilio Meucci. Marking perhaps the most significant milestone was the completion of our complete Rossini operas project with the release of Adina.

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Ongoing projects include recordings in our acclaimed Music of Brazil series; 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 the music of Toshio Hosokawa; the Brahms Trio’s magnificent History of the Russian Piano anthology; and the chamber ensemble arrangements of Mozart’s piano concertos, spearheaded by the Fine Arts Quartet. Meanwhile, the editions of Liszt’s complete piano music and Domenico Scarlatti’s complete keyboard sonatas continue on their monumental path.

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Naxos and its affiliated labels continued to add some truly outstanding releases throughout the year, with several winning international awards and attracting award nominations. Spanish pianist Isabel Dobarro’s album Kaleidoscope on the Grand Piano label received the 2025 Latin Grammy Award for Best Classical Album, and Marin Alsop’s Naxos album of orchestral music by John Adams received the ICMA award for best album in the Contemporary Music category. Conductor Adam Fischer and pianist Oliver Triendl, both well represented in Naxos Music Group catalogues, were both presented with ICMA Lifetime Achievement Awards.

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Our leading Naxos artists again featured on a number of acclaimed new releases. Highlights included pianist Boris Giltburg’s Rachmaninov sonatas recital: ‘… awesome pianism.’ (AllMusic.com); The French in Spain programme from the Buffalo Philharmonic under JoAnn Falletta, ‘… in brilliant form, presenting an exquisitely curated programme of lush French works inspired by Spain … music that, in performances like these, never loses its magic.’ (BBC Music Magazine); an album of contemporary orchestral works by Anna Clyne, conducted by Marin Alsop: ‘I was blown away by the definitive renditions on this album of some of Clyne’s major works.’ (Stereophile); and Jun Märkl’s programme of works by Toshio Hosokawa: ‘Märkl inspires rich and transparent playing from the Residentie Orkest The Hague.’ (Fanfare)

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Opera lovers were treated to a wide selection of both audio and audiovisual recordings of major works. Notable among them were Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin: ‘Laurent Pelly’s refined production … carried to great heights by Alain Altinoglu’s passionate conducting.’ (Diapason); Richard Strauss’ Arabella: ‘ … a fascinating production … the cast, all excellent actors.’ (Opera Now); Wagner’s Der fliegende Hollände: ‘ … van Zweden stirs up considerable excitement in a spontaneous way.’ (Fanfare); and Mayr’s Amor non ha ritegno: ‘The soloists ... are all excellent … Hauk leads a well-paced, loving performance.’ (American Record Guide)

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Our incomparable American Classics series grew to a total of 582 albums with the addition of 9 new entries, including three fine recordings of music by Florence Price, the concerto album from that group cited as ‘one of the best Florence Price collections around.’ (Fanfare) Michael Daugherty extended his presence in the catalogue with an orchestral programme of ‘three warmly evocative recent works … This well-performed album is both moving and uplifting.’ (BBC Music Magazine) A mixed programme of music by Alan Hovhaness featuring violin soloist Zina Schiff was welcomed by The Strad as a ‘an intriguing snapshot of a prolific composer … a rich collection.’ And an album of three brass concertos by Jennifer Higdon was hailed as ‘bold … virtuosic … sparkling … contagious.’ (Pizzicato)

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Fifty-three of the 151 new audio and audiovisual additions to the Naxos catalogue featured world premieres across a range of genres, including the complete violin sonatas of Francisco Mignone in ’expressive and excellently crafted interpretations.’ (Pizzicato); a mixed programme of works by Fazil Say, dubbed by MusicWeb International as ‘an amazing experience ... a revelation.’; Valentin Silvestrov’s Violin Concerto and Eighth Symphony which Fanfare strongly recommended ‘to any listener with a taste for deeply felt, masterful, and accessible contemporary music.’; and Adolphe Adam’s orchestral score for Griseldis, or the Five Senses, welcomed by MusicWeb International as ‘tuneful, engaging and an altogether welcome rediscovery from ballet history.’

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New recordings from our affiliated labels

The 428 new recordings from our affiliated labels received wide recognition, including two short-listed finalists for the 2026 ICMA Awards on the Ondine label, the first a programme of symphonic and concertante works by Sibelius: ‘This is a Sibelius recording that’s up there with the finest of any era … strikingly imaginative – Christian Tetzlaff’s top-drawer solo playing caps a remarkable release.’(BBC Music Magazine); the second a performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius: ‘A very distinguished addition to the pantheon of Gerontius recordings, conducted by Collon with acute sensitivity to the tiniest nuances in Elgar’s score.’ (The Guardian) Additionally, a release on the Prophone label featuring the Bohuslän Big Band and the music of Danilo Pérez received a GRAMMY nomination in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category: ‘A striking new release that brings together flavourful Pan-American rhythms, Latin jazz and Nordic big band traditions.’ (World Music Central)

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The Naxos label and its growing roster of affiliated labels offer 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 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 2025, some 30 labels joined our various libraries, enhancing the already rich content of these valuable resources. The breadth of recordings available is simply incomparable.

The Naxos Works Database also experienced significant growth, following continued collaboration with leading music publishers and music information centres, and now offers more than 152,000 works from more than 10,000 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, 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.

Additionally, the award-winning titles in our audiovisual catalogue, comprising stunning operas, ballets, theatre productions and documentaries, are now available for viewing on Amazon Prime Video.

All this, together with the development of a range of books, apps and e-books, 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: