Naxos label
| Naxos Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Parent company | HNH International |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder | Klaus Heymann |
| Genre | Classical music, jazz |
| Country of origin | Hong Kong |
| Official website | naxos |
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.
Naxos is the largest independent classical label in the world and one of the two largest-selling classical labels. It is also one of the largest distributors of independent classical record labels in the world. Since 2009 the company has distributed blu-ray discs, streaming web radio and podcasts. The company allows members of subscribing Public Libraries and Music Schools such as Hong Kong Public Libraries, Auckland Libraries, and Wellington City Libraries free streaming of Naxos classical and jazz collections.
The company originally was known for its budget pricing of discs, with simpler artwork and design than most other labels. In the 1980s, Naxos primarily recorded central and eastern European symphony orchestras, often with lesser-known conductors to minimize recording costs and maintain its budget prices.
In more recent years, Naxos has taken advantage of the expiring copyrights of other companies' studio recordings by selling disks remastered from gramophone records. Examples include the complete recordings of great opera singers such as Enrico Caruso, Amelita Galli-Curci and Titta Ruffo and of the 1934 world première performance of Howard Hanson's opera Merry Mount. Legal restrictions prevented some of these recordings being sold in the United States. Naxos has also recorded the music of contemporary composers, including Leonardo Balada, Bechara El-Khoury, Laurent Petitgirard and Alla Pavlova. The label has also branched out into jazz, world music, and books on musical subjects. Naxos Spoken Word Library contains non-music products, such as audiobooks and radio dramas.
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