Search - Bartok, Opo, Jansons :: Concerto for Orchestra

How to out-Naxos Naxos

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/24/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For years the super-budget end of the classical market was dominated by Naxos, and despite their range of iffy orchestras and also-ran conductors, the public responded eagerly. Now the typical Naxos prices hovers near $7-$8, so budget lines from EMI are more than competitive. The EMI catalog is so vast that even when they put their second and third-tier recordings on a udghet line, the results are far above anything Naxos has to offer in artistry and execution.



At present the company has decided to dump almost eerything made in the past by Mariss Jansons and Riccardo Muti. They are big-name conductors whose recordings haven't struck gold for one reason and another. In the case of this Bartok pairing, which goes head-to-head with Fritz Reiner's famous version on rCA Living Stereo, the reading is middle-of-the-road but high energy. Jansons gets his Oslo musicians to play with commitment, although obviously not the flash of the CSO. I wouldn't say that the Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta quite keeps up with the Concerto for Orchestra, but both are more than respectable. Playing and interpreatation are lightweight and engaging.



Classical music lovers decry the lack of great new performances of standard works, but we live in a great age for bargain hunters. If obught on the used market, this Bartok CD really does out-Naxos Naxos."