US TARIFFS UPDATE | August 2025 | No impact expected on your Presto orders | Read full details
Latest stories
Katherine Cooper
Head of Editorial
Katherine Cooper read English at University College, Oxford, and joined Presto in 2009. She began her musical life as a violinist, but now spends much of her time singing Rossini and Elgar (sometimes even for money). She is also an Associate Lecturer for the Open University, specialising in music and literature.
-
New Release Round-Up - 8th May 2026
8th May 2026by Katherine Cooper
Elegiac Haydn from Giovanni Antonini, Brahms and Dora Pejačević from the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Florence Price from Ted Black & Sascha El Mouissi, and a Heine-themed recital from Helen Charlston and Sholto Kynoch.
-
New Release Round-Up - 1st May 2026
1st May 2026by Katherine Cooper
Schubert and Schumann from Arcadi Volodos, Beethoven from Paul Watkins and Alessio Bax, Reicha from Trio Bohémo, and Morales from De Profundis.
-
Thomas de Hartmann's Esther
24th Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
De Hartmann's 1946 opera-oratorio about the Biblical queen who thwarts a poisonous courtier's bid to annihilate the Jewish race receives its first complete professional recording courtesy of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Kirill Karabits, with Corinne Winters in the title-role.
Featured product
De Hartmann: Esther
Corinne Winters (Esther), Yuriy Yurchuk (Assuérus), Andrew Foster-Williams (Mardochée), Bernard Richter (Aman), Olga Bezsmertna (Élise), Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Hydaspe /Asaph), Paul Appleby (Chantre), The Grange Festival Chorus, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits
More products from this article -
New Release Round-Up - 17th April 2026
17th Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
Contemporary works from guitarist Sean Shibe, a double-bill of Chausson from violinist Renaud Capuçon, a transatlantic celebration of Spanish and South American Baroque and traditional music from L'Arpeggiata, and Mozart piano concertos from Jan Lisiecki.
-
Michael Waldron on Arthur Oldham
13th Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
To mark the release of Mentor (out now on Orchid Classics), the conductor of London Choral Sinfonia discusses the unique relationship between Benjamin Britten and his only private pupil, whose centenary falls this year.
-
Jonas Kaufmann's Magische Töne
10th Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
The superstar tenor sounds in mint condition on this fascinating exploration of operetta by Hungarian-born composers including Emmerich Kálmán, Franz Léhar and Paul Abraham, supported by wonderfully idiomatic playing from the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra under Dirk Kaftan.
-
New Release Round-Up - 10th April 2026
10th Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
French orchestral mélodies from Cyrille Dubois, Semyon Bychkov's complete Mahler cycle with the Czech Philharmonic, Prokofiev from Isata Kanneh-Mason, and Steve Reich from the Colin Currie Group.
-
Nicholas Collon on Hans Zender
8th Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
The British conductor discusses recording and performing Zender's 'composed interpretation' of Schubert's Winterreise with Aurora Orchestra and Allan Clayton, and explains why he believes that this version of the piece has much to offer to seasoned Schubertians and newcomers like.
-
New Release Round-Up - 3rd April 2026
3rd Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
Shostakovich from John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic, Fauré from Pascal Rogé and Elena Font, a prayerful operatic recital from Elsa Dreisig, and super-sized Benevoli from I Fagiolini and Robert Hollingworth.
-
Cristian Măcelaru on Elsa Barraine
2nd Apr 2026by Katherine Cooper
The Romanian conductor discusses the remarkable legacy of 'one of the most prominent figures in twentieth-century French cultural life', whose symphonies he recently recorded with the Orchestre National de France for Warner Classics.
-
New Release Round-Up - 27th March 2026
27th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
Mendelssohn from Andris Nelsons in Leipzig, Handel's Messiah from Peter Whelan in Dublin, Baroque songs and arias from Jakub Józef Orliński and Michał Biel, and the first instalment of Anne-Sophie Mutter's ASM Forte Forward project.
-
Rosa Feola on Donizetti
25th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
The Italian soprano discusses collaborating with Carlo Rizzi on the seventh instalment of Opera Rara's mammoth Donizetti Song Project, masterminded by musicologist Roger Parker and launched in late 2024.
-
Claire Booth on Life Stories
24th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
The soprano discusses her recent cabaret-themed album on Orchid Classics, featuring the world premiere recording of Zoë Martlew's theatrical song-cycle Hôtel Babylon plus music by Gershwin, Eisler, Poulenc and Adès.
-
New Release Round-Up - 20th March 2026
20th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
Beethoven from the Chiaroscuro Quartet, Schubert and Schumann from Can Çakmur, Madeleine Dring from Kitty Whately and Julius Drake, and Holst and Bax from the London Symphony Orchestra and Antonio Pappano.
-
Kazuki Yamada on Walton
19th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
The Japanese conductor discusses his recent recording of the symphonies with the CBSO, settling into life in Birmingham, his first brush with English music as a high-school student, and inspirational visits to Ischia, Malvern and Aldeburgh.
-
Christian Immler on Be Still My Heart
16th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
In the run-up to the release of Raphaël Pichon's recording of the St John Passion (on which he sings the bass arias and Pilatus), the German singer discusses a recent passion-project of his own - a beguiling recital of songs by Wilhelm Grosz and Robert Gund with pianist Helmut Deutsch on Alpha Classics.
-
Early Puccini from Sinfonia of London and John Wilson
13th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
With the emphasis on clean lines and rhythmic drive, this collection of student symphonic works, upscaled chamber music and orchestral excerpts from the first three operas presents a fully-rounded Portrait of the Composer As A Young Man.
-
New Release Round-Up - 13th March 2026
13th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
The world premiere recording of Clémence de Grandval's 1892 opera Mazeppa, Mahler from Paavo Järvi in Zürich, Nico Muhly from The Tallis Scholars, and Telemann from Florilegium with Elizabeth Watts and Rachel Podger.
-
Martin James Bartlett on Bach, Mozart and Britten
12th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
The British pianist discusses his new album of early concertos by Bach and Mozart plus Britten's Young Apollo, recorded in Salzburg with the Mozarteumorchester and Howard Griffiths.
-
New Release Round-Up - 6th March 2026
6th Mar 2026by Katherine Cooper
A Huw Watkins triptych from the Hallé and Sir Mark Elder, Lise Davidsen's 2023 recital from the Metropolitan Opera, Jóhann Jóhannsson from Alice Sara Ott, and Mozart from Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov.