Among Patrick Enander's favorite labels, he included Chandos and EMI.
I gave these two labels some consideration before providing my list, but
I had reservations:

a.  Chandos, in my opinion has lost some ground in recent years.  They
have not upgraded their artist roster and the repertoire is getting stale.
Hickox, Jarvi, Bekova Sisters, etc.  are the best they have - fine artists
but not anywhere near the top. Hyperion has shown that a relatively small
label CAN obtain top performers.  Also, I find the Chandos Opera in English
series a real turn-off, although Hyperion's "Everything of Liszt's you
didn't want to hear but now can" series is almost as uninviting; even the
British magazines have complained of the lack of good material and Howard's
artistry.

b.  EMI - Yes, they have some fantastic artists and a wealth of old
recordings.  But, they're the throw-away label - new recordings of
distinction get scratched very quickly.  I very much dislike that level
of disloyalty to the artists.

Both labels would certainly have been in a top 20 of my making.  I didn't
select BIS for my top 7, but I do want to give it honorable mention.

Don Satz
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