Latest stories
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Presto Editor's Choices - September 2020
30th Sep 2020
Vivaldi with a twist from Patricia Kopatchinskaja, beautifully downsized Mahler from the late Reinbert de Leeuw, and a superbly atmospheric Peter Grimes from Bergen.
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Edition Peters Concert Band Series
30th Sep 2020
The Peters Concert Band Series offers an exciting new range of repertoire for symphonic bands. This expanding series contains new arrangements of some of the most popular concert and choral works of recent years, from the exuberant joyfulness of Jonathan Dove’s Ring Out, Wild Bells or the folky, avant-pop of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s Perpetuum Mobile to the enraptured stillness of Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Stars.
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Parker Ramsay on Bach's Goldberg Variations
29th Sep 2020
The harpist talks about his new album, on which he performs his own arrangement of Bach's Goldberg Variations.
Featured product
Bach: Goldberg Variations (arranged for harp)
Parker Ramsay (harp)
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Michael Collins on his dual career
28th Sep 2020
In the wake of his new recording of Finzi and Vaughan Williams (launching a long-term relationship with BIS), the British clarinettist and conductor talks to Katherine about his 'gradual transition' into directing symphonic repertoire.
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Ermonela Jaho's Anima Rara
25th Sep 2020
The Albanian soprano's debut solo recording on Opera Rara pays tribute to Rosina Storchio, who created the role of Madama Butterfly and was also muse to Leoncavallo, Giordano and Mascagni.
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New Release Round-Up - 25th September 2020
25th Sep 2020
New Beethoven recordings from Angela Hewitt and Daniel Lozakovich, Cramer from Howard Shelley and the London Mozart Players, Bach from Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion, and a 150th anniversary celebration of Vítězslav Novák.
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Thelonious Monk Quartet at Palo Alto
25th Sep 2020
A unique window into a moment in time; the Thelonious Monk Quartet live a school hall in 1968, at a gig arranged by a 15-year-old, and recorded by the janitor! The results more than live up to the backstory.
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Jamie Barton and Jake Heggie on Unexpected Shadows
24th Sep 2020
The American mezzo and composer talk to Katherine about their new album on Pentatone (featuring Heggie's song-cycles The Work at Hand, Iconic Legacies and Statuesque), their long-standing friendship, and the women who've inspired them both.
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Trio of Doom
24th Sep 2020
Jaco Pastorius, Tony Williams and John McLaughlin's incredibly short-lived collaboration, Trio of Doom, was almost too good to be true. The sole commercial recording of this trio of amazing musicians makes for both a great listen and an intriguing snapshot of a week in each player's lives.
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Jazz New Release Round-Up - 24th September 2020
24th Sep 2020
This week's new release highlights include the anniversary of a Coltrane classic, new sounds from ECM, and Tippett spirituals re-interpreted for jazz quartet.
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Episode 5: Time & Place with Jess Gillam
23rd Sep 2020
Saxophonist Jess Gillam talks about the music on her new album Time and how moving from rural Cumbria to London, and the various projects she was involved in during lockdown have shaped her music over the past year.
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Gramophone Awards 2020: The Winners!
22nd Sep 2020
This year's victors in each of the ten categories were revealed this morning.
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Beethoven Complete Violin Sonatas
22nd Sep 2020
Beethoven's ten sonatas for piano and violin, along with those by Mozart, constitute the heart of this classical music genre. Not only does Clive Brown's scholarly critical edition offer a meticulously edited text, but for the first time it presents a list of sources and a Critical Report. Find out more about Barenreiter's Beethoven publications here.
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Robin Ticciati on Strauss
21st Sep 2020
The conductor talks to Katherine about his recording of Tod und Verklärung, Don Juan, and the Brentano-Lieder with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and soprano Louise Alder, out now on Linn.
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New Music Book Publications - 21st September 2020
21st Sep 2020
Two volumes on Richard Wagner, including the latest book from best-selling author, Alex Ross; an updated biography of Bach from the Master Musicians series; the memoirs of song accompanist, Helmut Deutsch; a companion to more than 400 orchestral works; an historical survey of the Renaissance flute; a collection of essays discussing the concept of rhythm; and a guide to singing in Mandarin.
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Jazz New Release Round-Up - 18th September 2020
18th Sep 2020
This week's round-up includes Terje Rypdal's first recording as a bandleader in seven years, the formless, flowing third record from pianist Christian Sands, and a lockdown-inspired suite from Brad Mehldau.
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Beethoven and Gossec from François-Xavier Roth & Les Siècles
18th Sep 2020
François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles put a revolutionary new spin on Beethoven's immortal Fifth, and make the case for his much-neglected contemporary Gossec.
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Rymden - Space Sailors
18th Sep 2020
A trio of Scandinavian jazz heavyweights set a course for the stars on Space Sailors, embracing the sounds of psychedelia and krautrock along the way.
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New Release Round-Up - 18th September 2020
18th Sep 2020
Messiaen from Mannheim, Mozart from Mühlemann, and Jamie Barton in song-cycles by Jake Heggie, with the composer himself at the piano.
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Johannes Pramsohler on Baroque music in Berlin
17th Sep 2020
The violinist and director of Ensemble Diderot talks about the latest stage of his accidental musical tour of the capitals of Baroque Europe – next stop Berlin!
