Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - March 2023
Antonio Pappano's 'magnificently recorded' account of Puccini's final opera Turandot (the first complete recording to present Franco Alfano's original ending in full) sweeps all before it in this month's issue, with reviewer Mark Pullinger noting that 'Pappano captures all the savagery of the score' and praising American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky's 'truly imperious' singing in the fearsome title-role. Despite only having been released on Friday, the set is already sitting proudly at No. 2 in the Presto Best-Sellers Chart for 2023 to date - read James's full review here.
Recording of the Month
Puccini: Turandot
Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), Jonas Kaufmann (Calaf), Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum), Mattia Olivieri (Ping), Gregory Bonfatti (Pang), Siyabonga Maqungo (Pong); Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
'A Turandot for the ages? This recording holds its own against venerable competition and, in the original Alfano completion, is unique.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Editor's Choices
'[Măcelaru] displays real kinship here with the melodic colour and cast of the music – not least Bartók’s curvaceous lyricism – and marries it so compellingly to the textural elements.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'I’m going to end by sticking my neck out and saying that this cycle is spiritually and sonically the best we’ve yet had on record.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'I expect it has been said before, but the Sinfonia of London belongs in the Formula 1 class of orchestras, and in this repertoire sits in pole position.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Recoloured in this scrumptious, nasal resonance, Phantasm have brought to life aspects of Bach’s music I knew to be there, inscribed into the musical notation, with utter stylishness.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'As to Grimwood’s performances, they are compelling, fearless and nuanced, bearing all the hallmarks of having been in his fingers for a long time.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Place Lugansky alongside such exceptional versions [as Richter, Pletnev and Kempf] and you have a rich display of some of the most precious jewels in the piano repertoire.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'These are notoriously difficult pieces but Stile Antico sing them with great poise, particularly the complex flourishes in Propter veritatem.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
'His trademark concentration of feeling, allied to Schmalcz’s subtly changing colourings, ensures that the attention is held throughout.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'It all adds up to a beautiful, often profoundly affecting recital, to which you will want to return again and again.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
Porpora: L'Angelica (DVD)
Teresa Iervolino (Orlando), Paola Valentina Molinari (Medoro), Ekaterina Bakanova (Angelica), Gaia Petrone (Licori), Sergio Foresti (Titiro), Barbara Massaro (Tirsi); La Lira di Orfeo, Federico Maria Sardelli, Gianluca Falaschi
'The predominantly young cast sing and act with verve...La Lira di Orfeo under Federico Maria Sardelli play with spirit. Porpora, rival of Handel, mentor of Haydn, is worth exploring.'
Available Format: DVD Video
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
Julius Prüwer: The Forgotten Maestro
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin-Charlottenburg Opera Orchestra, Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Julius Prüwer
'Many of Prüwer’s purely orchestral records are impressive, especially in Mark Obert-Thorn’s superb transfers, not least an unusually broad 1928 Schubert Unfinished.'
This title is not currently available from Presto Music, but can be purchased directly from Pristine Classical here.
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
