The Violin Channel had the privilege of chatting with Naxos Founder and head, Klaus Heymann.

The young British composer Alexander Campkin has already received over 90 commissions from organisations such as The Royal Opera House, The London Mozart Players, The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Aldeburgh Music and The BBC Performing Arts Fund.

Take one farm, add thirty chickens, three lambs, one cat, one dog, a pond to take care of, a lot of grass to mow and a world class, state-of-the-art studio hidden in the barn, and the likelihood is that the man pulling weeds in the distance is one of the most recorded organists of our time.

Peter Breiner’s memory goes back a long way, but music in his life goes further still. Best known as a brilliant and prolific arranger, he is also a composer, conductor, pianist, percussionist (for many years a professional) and voracious musician.

No man is truly omnivorous. To be so would require a complete lack of discrimination. David Lloyd-Jones, on the other hand, combines remarkable musical gifts with immense sophistication, vast experience and a capacity for enthusiasm and curiosity that have seen him through more repertoire, in more genres, than most conductors ever dream of.

To meet Henning Kraggerud, the foremost Norwegian violinist of his generation, is to meet three-quarters of a string quartet.

Though born and largely domiciled in Poland, and a world-renowned champion of his national musical heritage, Antoni Wit has long been counted among the natural aristocrats of the musical world.

Long among the most admired of chamber groups, the Fine Arts Quartet, though domiciled as quartet-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is familiar all over the world.

In his native England, John Rutter is most famous for his Christmas carols. His prolific, and varied, output, however, reaches far beyond these.

Whatever the period, he seemed at home in it. Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary, you name it.

Proclaimed by Mstislav Rostropovich as ‘the best cellist I have heard since Jacqueline du Pré’, Maria Kliegel is a household name amongst record buyers around the world.

As befits conductors of distinction, Morten Schuldt-Jensen is an all-rounder, his tastes ranging as widely as his approaches to performance. 

Yablonsky’s progress was essentially slow but steady. He reckons it took him about 15 years to really feel at ease in his conductor’s shoes, as it were.

Gramophone met up with Klaus Heymann, founder of Naxos, to find out his views of the future of the classical recording business and the role Naxos will play in it.

To know, that is, to really understand, music, you need to separate the particular characteristics of the music itself, the instrument you play and your own ego.

The Fine Arts Quartet, ‘one of the gold-plated names in chamber music’ (Washington Post), is one of the most distinguished ensembles in chamber music today, with an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive recording legacy, including several Naxos CDs.

JoAnn Falletta shares her thoughts on several of her Naxos recordings, on working with the Buffalo Philharmonic and why the ‘crisis’ in classical music today is nothing new in this interview with Stephen Schafer.

Gerard Schwarz, Music Director of Seattle Symphony since 1985, Principal Conductor of the Eastern Music Festival, and Conductor Emeritus of New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, boasts an extensive, highly acclaimed and ever-growing discography on Naxos.

Once set aside by retailers as cheap music, the Naxos label now rivals the big guns in quality, writes Sam Olluver

Twice a winner of the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for her Naxos recordings, Elizabeth Farr is on the faculty of the University of Colorado where she teaches harpsichord and organ, conducts the Early Music Ensemble, and offers classes in performance practices and basso-continuo playing.

British lutenist Nigel North discusses his abiding love of Dowland’s music with Stephen Schafer and mused about what he’d do with a million dollars.

Marin Alsop is recognised as one of today’s leading conductors and boasts a number of outstanding Naxos recordings. She recently shared some thoughts about her career with Stephen Schafer, Editorial Manager for Naxos International Marketing.