An exceptionally high number of new entries this month, with sixteen titles making their first appearance in the Presto Chart, and – for the first time ever – last month’s No. 1 recording disappearing from view altogether. (Given the seasonal nature of December’s best-seller, perhaps that’s not altogether surprising!).
Our 2018 Conductor of the Year, François-Xavier Roth, takes the January top spot for his revelatory accounts of Harold en Italie and Les nuits d’été with Tabea Zimmermann, Stéphane Degout, and the period instruments of Les Siècles, which Katherine described as ‘compelling, nay essential listening’ for this year’s Berlioz anniversary when it featured as Recording of the Week a fortnight ago; the same orchestra’s nuanced, transparent accounts of Debussy’s Nocturnes and Jeux from late 2018 are still sitting pretty in the Top 10. Meanwhile, the annual New Year's Day Concert from Vienna (conducted this year by Christian Thielemann) remains as popular as ever, occupying the No. 4 spot.
No. 1 (new entry)
Tabea Zimmermann (viola), Stéphane Degout (baritone), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 2 (new entry)
Diana Damrau (soprano), Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 3 (No. 3 last month)
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano), Siggi String Quartet
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 4 (new entry)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Christian Thielemann
Available format: Download (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 5 (new entry)
Stile Antico
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 6 (new entry)
Maurizio Pollini (piano)
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 7 (No. 5 last month)
Isabelle Faust (violin), Alexander Melnikov (piano), Tanguy de Williencourt (piano), Magali Mosnier (flute), Antoine Tamestit viola), Xavier de Maistre (harp), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Javier Perianes (piano)
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 8 (No. 2 last month)
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 9 (No. 14 last month)
Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Available formats: 3 CDs + Blu-ray Audio + Blu-ray Video, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 10 (No. 8 last month)
Rachel Podger (violin), Brecon Baroque
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 11 (new entry)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 12 (No. 4 last month)
MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 13 (new entry)
Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 14 (No. 7 last month)
Hilary Hahn (violin)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 15 (No. 13 last month)
Daniil Trifonov (piano), Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 16 (new entry)
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 17 (new entry)
Federico Colli (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 18 (new entry)
Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall
Available formats: 2 SACDs, Download & Streaming (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 19 (new entry)
Boris Giltburg (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 20 (new entry)
Gautier Capuçon (cello), Martha Argerich (piano), Renaud Capuçon (violin), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Bernard Haitink
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
No. 21 (new entry)
Fort Smith Symphony, John Jeter
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 22 (No. 6 last month)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 23 (new entry)
Orchestre de Paris, Paavo Järvi
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 24 (new entry)
Jennifer Pike (violin), Petr Limonov (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 25 (new entry)
Vilde Frang (violin), WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Thomas Søndergård
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
