Latest News: Classical
Obituary,
2021 Goodbyes
A short video tribute remembering some of the musicians who died during 2021.
Presto Chart,
The Presto Chart - 2021
Our 50 best-selling titles across all formats for the whole of last year, with Víkingur Ólafsson's recital of music by Mozart and his contemporaries leading the pack...
Presto Chart,
The Presto Chart - December 2021
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for December, with An Elizabethan Christmas from Fretwork and mezzo Helen Charlston on Signum in first place...
Recording of the Week,
Marc-André Hamelin plays CPE Bach
The Canadian pianist's Midas touch is everywhere in evidence on this programme of sonatas and rondos, many of which reveal the composer's delight in the new expressive possibilities offered by early pianos.
BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - January 2022 Choices
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by a 'joyful feast' of Korngold's chamber music from the Eusebius Quartet and pianist Alasdair Beatson on SOMM.
Interview,
Anna Netrebko on Amata dalle tenebre
The Russian soprano answers some quick questions about her new album on Deutsche Grammophon, featuring arias from operas including Dido and Aeneas, Ariadne auf Naxos, Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde.
Box Set Selections,
Boxed Set Selections - December 2021
End-of-year heavyweights include Erich Kleiber's complete recordings for Decca, Alessandro Marangoni's survey of Rossini's 'sins of old age', a boundary-crossing anthology of Yo-Yo Ma albums, and a thirtieth-anniversary celebration of the Praga label.
Recording of the Week,
Presto Personal Favourites from 2021
Recordings from Igor Levit, Ensemble Diderot and Will Liverman & Paul Sánchez feature among the editorial team's individual picks of the year.
Coming Soon,
Joyce DiDonato's EDEN and other forthcoming vocal and opera highlights
The American mezzo and Il Pomo d'Oro explore 'the power and fragility of Nature', Lise Davidsen and Leif Ove Andnes join forces for an all-Grieg recital, and Hans Abrahamsen's opera The Snow Queen (starring Barbara Hannigan as Gerda) receives its DVD/Blu-ray premiere.
Interview,
Aleksandra Kurzak on Mozart
The Polish soprano talks to Katherine about drawing on her background as a violinist to direct the Morphing Chamber Orchestra on her new recording of opera arias with obbligato instruments.
Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - December 2021
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by French soprano Sabine Devieilhe's 'almost indecently ravishing' recital of Bach and Handel on Erato.
Obituary,
John Mitchinson (1932-2021)
The versatile English tenor, who excelled as Gerontius and Tristan as well as in Czech repertoire, has died aged 89.
Recording of the Week,
Byrd and Bull from Kit Armstrong
The American pianist makes the case for considering the two Tudor virginalists William Byrd and John Bull as the founding fathers of the solo piano genre.
New Release Round-up,
New Releases from late November and early December 2021
Chopin from prize-winning Canadian pianist Bruce Liu, Bach and Brouwer from Andreas Scholl and Edin Karamazov, Madama Butterfly starring Melody Moore, and Haydn's Die Schöpfung from Jordi Savall and his Catalonian forces.
Interview,
Vanessa Benelli Mosell on Debussy
The Italian pianist and conductor talks to Katherine about her new recording of the Second Book of Préludes, why she now considers the composer to be 'the father of contemporary music', and plans for her parallel career on the podium...
BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - Christmas 2021 Choices
Chris introduces this month's selection, with Handel's Unsung Heroes from La Nuova Musica, David Bates and assorted vocal and instrumental soloists in pride of place...
Interview,
Jeanine De Bique on Mirrors
The Trinidadian soprano talks to Katherine about her debut solo recording, juxtaposing a series of Handel heroines against their counterparts in operas by Telemann, Manna, Broschi and Graun.
Presto Music Classical Podcast,
Episode 26: On the Fiddle with Charlotte Gardner
This week we are joined by writer Charlotte Gardner to discuss changing styles of violin-playing over the past hundred years.
Recording of the Week,
Scenes from the Kalevala - Finnish Orchestral Music
Dima Slobodeniouk conducts the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in a quartet of compositions inspired by the great Finnish nineteenth-century work of epic poetry, the Kalevala.
Awards,
Recordings of the Year 2021 - Our Top 10
The winners revealed - ten fantastic recordings which really stood out from the crowd for us over the past twelve months, plus the results of our five special category awards...
