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Paavo Järvi on Mahler
As he embarks upon a cycle of Mahler’s symphonies with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi talks about his early exposure to the composer’s music listening at home to recordings with his father, and how Mahler’s own experience as a conductor helps inform interpreters of his music today.
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Epidsode 57: James Rhodes on MANíA
James Rhodes talks to Matthew Ash about his new album MANíA (out now on Signum), in a wide-ranging conversation that reaches deep into a shared wonder at the power and beauty of music, as well as 4AM awakenings and coffee.
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Ravel Fragments from Bertrand Chamayou
Pianist Bertrand Chamayou presents a selection of homages to, and transcriptions of, Ravel's music to mark the composer's 150th birthday.
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New Release Round-Up - 14th March 2025
Mahler from Paavo Järvi in Zürich, a recital of preludes from Jan Lisiecki, 'Organised Delirium' (built around Boulez) from Tamara Stefanovich, and the world premiere recording of Michael Tippett's final opera New Year from Martyn Brabbins et al.
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Sofia Gubaidulina 1931-2025
The German-resident, Russian-born composer, who combined a profound Orthodox faith with an unrelenting musical modernism, has died aged 93.
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Martyn Brabbins on Michael Tippett's New Year
The conductor discusses the world premiere recording of Tippett's final opera, a 'space-aged fairytale' from 1989 which centres on a troubled child psychologist's transformative encounter with time-travellers from the future.
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Play It Again, Steve - Minimalism and more from Steve Reich
Our guest-contributor Rob Cowan explores a new collection on Nonesuch (released this coming Friday), representing six decades of Reich’s compositions and celebrating his forty-year relationship with the label.
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Steve Reich: Collected Works
Steve Reich
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María Dueñas on Caprices
The violinist gives us a peek behind the scenes of how her new album centred around Paganini's legendary Caprices came to be.
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Stephen Hough plays Stephen Hough
Sir Stephen Hough's latest release is a composer-pianist album for the 21st century, offering a colourful and virtuosic celebration of the past which encapsulates the eclecticism that is a strong feature of his musicianship and passion for life.
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New Release Round-Up - 7th March 2025
An anniversary homage to Ravel from Bertrand Chamayou, Mahler's Symphony No. 3 from the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov, the world premiere recording of Grace Williams's Missa Cambrensis from the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales and Adrian Partington, and Clara & Robert Schumann from Julian Bliss and James Baillieu.
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Bertrand Chamayou on Ravel Fragments
Bertrand Chamayou talks about his new album, open-minded creativity, and a piano concerto you may not have come across before.
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Nevermind Ensemble on recasting Bach's Goldberg Variations
The quartet talk about their new recording of the immortal Goldberg Variations, seamlessly adapted for flute, violin, gamba and continuo.
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Gramophone Editor's Choices - March 2025
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by a 'multi-coloured, lyrical' set of the Paganini Caprices from the young Spanish violinist María Dueñas on Deutsche Grammophon.
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The Presto Chart - February 2025
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for February, headed by the complete nocturnes of John Field from Alice Sara Ott on Deutsche Grammophon.
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Presto Team Choices - February 2025
Staff favourites from February include Rachmaninov from Boris Giltburg, new works by Gavin Higgins, an impressive debut album from soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, and twentieth-century French music for flute, harp and cello from Trio Mirages.
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John Wilson and Sinfonia of London perform works by William Walton
A characterful collection of works including a suite from Troilus and Cressida alongside the overture Portsmouth Point and a dazzling account of the Violin Concerto performed by the orchestra's leader, Charlie Lovell-Jones.
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New Release Round-Up - 28th February 2025
Malcolm Arnold rarities from the London Choral Sinfonia, Stephen Hough's new piano concerto 'The World of Yesterday', Khachaturian from Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the debut solo recording from South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha.
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Fatma Said on Lieder
In the wake of her recent recording of songs by Schubert, Brahms, Robert Schumann and the Mendelssohns, the Egyptian soprano discusses how her passion for the German language and literature was ignited during her childhood in Cairo, the joy of making music with true friends - and why her heart lies in the concert-hall rather than the opera-house for the moment...
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BBC Music Magazine - March 2025 Choices
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Camerata Bern's Exile (featuring music by Panufnik, Ysaÿe, Schubert, Wyschnegradsky and Schnittke) on Alpha Classics.
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Lise Davidsen and Gerald Finley in Der fliegende Holländer
A live recording from Oslo captures what will be the Norwegian soprano's only assumption of the role of Senta, with other stand-outs for spring including Tosca from Rome (with Eleonora Buratto, Jonathan Tetelman and Ludovic Tézier), Havergal Brian's one-act opera Agamemnon, and Liszt from Leif Ove Andsnes.
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Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
Lise Davidsen (Senta), Gerald Finley (The Dutchman), Brindley Sherratt (Daland), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Erik), Anna Kissjudit (Mary), Eirik Grøtvedt (Steersman) Orchestra and Chorus of Norwegian National Opera, Edward Gardner
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