Naxos: The Anniversary Collection (Naxos 503293)
German entrepreneur Klaus Heymann founded Naxos Records in 1987 as a budget classical CD label, offering a CD for the price of an LP, when CDs cost about three times more than LPs. The focus was on recording the standard classical repertoire in state-of-the-art digital sound with outstanding (if—in many cases—unknown) artists and orchestras, initially mainly from Slovakia and Hungary. As the label’s success grew recordings by well-known conductors, orchestras and instrumentalists expanded the Naxos catalogue. Today Naxos Records releases around 200 CDs a year, and their complete catalogue contains some 9000 recordings. The Anniversary Collection offers a representative selection of historic Naxos recordings, but as Mr. Heymann explains, it “is also a tribute to the artists and orchestras with whom the label is identified.” Those artists include the prolific pianist Jenő Jandó, cellist Maria Kliegel, the Kodály Quartet, and guitarist Norbert Kraft, along with the Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony, Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony, JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Seattle Symphony led by Gerard Schwarz.
This limited edition anniversary boxed set comprises thirty CDs featuring releases from 1987 to 2016 and a host of stellar artists. Each disc has received critical acclaim and has contributed to the huge success of the world's largest independent classical record label.
CD 1 - Bach: Orchestral Suites
CD 2 - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas
CD 3 - Brahms: Cello Sonatas and Songs
CD 4 - Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
CD 5 - Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
CD 6 - Copland: Rodeo
CD 7 - Daugherty: Metropolis Symphony
CD 8 - Debussy: 24 Preludes
CD 9 - Dvorak: Piano Trios
CD 10 - Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
CD 11 - Dvorak & Elgar: Cello Concertos
CD 12 - Elgar: Marches
CD 13 - Glière: Symphony No. 3
CD 14 - Górecki: Symphony No. 3
CD 15 - Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites
CD 16 - Handel: Water Music
CD 17 - Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76 Nos. 4-6
CD 18 - Liszt: Piano Concertos
CD 19 - Mozart: Flute Concertos
CD 20 - Nordic Violin Favorites
CD 21 - Rachmaninov: Etudes-tableaux
CD 22 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Suites
CD 23 - Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
CD 24 - Rossini: The Barber of Seville (Highlights)
CD 25 - Sarasate: Music for Violin & Orchestra
CD 26 - Szymanowski: Stabat mater
CD 27 - Tallis: Spem in alium
CD 28 - Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony
CD 29 - Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
CD 30 - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons