Read by Marin Alsop, 4 CDs

This lively recording is a perfect way to introduce classical music to the entire family. It looks at the music through the lives of the great composers and their environment, from the churches and cathedrals that produced the familiar sound of Gregorian chant, to Johann Sebastian Bach, the family man composing for the glory of God, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the child prodigy, genius and prankster who wrote some of the finest music ever, yet was buried in a pauper’s grave. The story will be taken to the composers of the twenty-first century.

This unusual and special production by the two most important brand names in classical music includes more than 100 musical examples taken from the extensive Naxos catalog.

It includes a CD-ROM element which contains text, pictures of composers, glossary of terms, and more.

[Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Read by Marin Alsop, 2 CDs

Following on the success of The Story of Classical Music, Darren Henley and Marin Alsop combine forces again to tell, in more detail, the lives of six key composers Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvořák and Shostakovich. Their colourful lives and their love of music is told against the backdrop of some of their finest works – an ideal combination.

In addition, there is an imaginative CD-ROM section on the second CD which looks at particular works in greater detail – with extra music.

[Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Read by Benjamin Soames, UNABRIDGED, 4 CDs

The Tale of Troy by Benedict Flynn

There was once a time, nearly four thousand years ago, when the tall towers of a city called Troy reached gleaming into the sky; when its proud king fought against an invading army in a desperate siege. The Tale of Troy was so important to the ancient Greeks that its author, Homer, became a kind of hero. Long after his death artists, thinkers and ordinary people still look to his tale for inspiration. This exciting version of the famous story is retold especially for eight- to thirteen-year-olds.

Music: Stravinsky, Koechlin, Grieg, Gilson, Salter & Skinner, Wagner, Mendelssohn, Schreer, Ravel, Walton, Prokofiev

The Adventures of Odysseus by Benedict Flynn

The Adventures of Odysseus is the story of what happened after the Trojan War when Odysseus, the most cunning of all the Greek heroes, left Troy and made his way back to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. It was first told by a poet named Homer nearly three thousand years ago and is retold in this new version especially for younger listeners.

Music: Mahler, Schumann, Glazunov, Khachaturian, d’Indy, Bliss, Debussy

[Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Read by Garrick Hagon, Abridged, 4 CDs

Two of Twain’s great classics are combined here, adding to Naxos Audiobooks’ now well-established collection of box sets.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the story of a boy’s adventures growing up in a small town on the banks of the Mississippi river over a hundred years ago. The cheerful, adventurous hero plays truant to form a pirate band and, together with his best friend, Huckleberry Finn, finds fun, excitement, and buried treasure, along the shores of the great river.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, floating down the Mississippi on their raft, Huckleberry Finn and Jim, a runaway slave, find life filled with excitement and the spirit of adventure. Join Huck and Jim and their old friend Tom Sawyer as they come up against low-down thieves and murderers whilst being chased by Huck’s evil, drunken father who is after Huck’s treasure. It is a trip you’ll never tire of.

[Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]