Latest stories
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Gifts for... Opera Lovers
4th Nov 2020
In the first of our festive gift guides, we've selected some perfect presents for the opera-lover in your life, from the latest recordings to the best books about opera.
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BBC Music Magazine - December 2020 Choices
3rd Nov 2020
Katherine introduces this month's selection, with Diana Damrau's triptych of Donizetti's Tudor Queens on Erato as Recording of the Month.
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The Presto Chart - October 2020
2nd Nov 2020
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for October, with Light for the World from The Poor Clare Sisters Arundel in first place...
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Presto Editor's Choices - October 2020
31st Oct 2020
Vivid, cinematic orchestral works from Anna Clyne, Reynaldo Hahn's enchanting first opera, and mesmerising musical riddles from singer-composer Stef Conner.
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Vasily Petrenko conducts Stravinsky & Respighi
30th Oct 2020
Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra perform two contrasting ballets from Diaghilev's Ballets Russes - Stravinsky's unnerving Petrushka and Respighi's sparkling Boutique fantasque.
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New Release Round-Up - 30th October 2020
30th Oct 2020
Bach from Pavel Kolesnikov, Tavener from Steven Isserlis, Vaughan Williams from Martyn Brabbins, and the final instalment of The Tallis Scholars’s complete Josquin masses on Gimell.
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Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 & Scenes adapted from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano), Christopher Bowen (tenor), Tom Raskin (tenor), Andrew Rupp (bass), Jamie W Hall (bass), Marcus Farnsworth (baritone), Georgina Wheatley (soprano), BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Martyn Brabbins
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Fatma Said on El Nour
29th Oct 2020
The Egyptian soprano talks to Katherine about her debut solo album on Warner Classics, featuring songs by Egyptian, French and Spanish composers.
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Episode 7: Beethoven in Nine Pieces with Laura Tunbridge
28th Oct 2020
Professor Laura Tunbridge offers some new perspectives on Beethoven in the year of his 250th anniversary, by walking us through the pieces she chose to represent him in her acclaimed new book Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces.
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Nathan Meltzer on Roman Totenberg and a lost-and-found violin
27th Oct 2020
The US violinist talks about his debut album, a fascinating recital themed around the history of one unique instrument and its former owner.
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To Roman Totenberg
Nathan Meltzer (violin), Rohan de Silva (piano)
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Shelf Discovery: Trevor Pinnock
26th Oct 2020
In the fourth instalment of our new series, Paul compares and contrasts the conductor and harpsichordist's two recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos, made twenty-five years apart - one with the English Concert and the other with the European Brandenburg Ensemble.
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Mahler from Christiane Karg, Malcolm Martineau - and Gustav Mahler
23rd Oct 2020
The German soprano and her regular recital-partner beguile in the Rückert-Lieder and songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit, whilst the composer himself makes an appearance (via a 1905 piano-roll) for ‘Das himmlische Leben’.
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New Release Round-Up - 23rd October 2020
23rd Oct 2020
World premiere recordings of Dussek’s late Messe Solemnelle and Hahn’s early opera L'île du rêve, Schumann and Klengel Cello Concertos from Raphaela Gromes, and John Sheppard’s Media vita from the Choir of New College Oxford.
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Vaughan Williams's folksong arrangements
22nd Oct 2020
Baritone Roderick Williams, pianist William Vann, and researcher John Francis discuss the first instalment in a new series of recordings, featuring previously unheard folksong arrangements by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
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Antonio Pappano on Donizetti's Queens
21st Oct 2020
The conductor talks to Katherine about recording the final scenes of Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena and Roberto Devereux with Diana Damrau and the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for Warner Classics.
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Boxed Set Selections - October 2020
20th Oct 2020
Anthologies celebrating Wilhelm Kempff, Ivan Moravec, and Kirill Petrenko in Berlin, plus Daniel Barenboim's fifth complete cycle of the Beethoven piano sonatas.
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Jared Sacks on Channel Classics
19th Oct 2020
To mark the Dutch independent label's thirtieth anniversary, its founder reflects on how the story started and 'the joy of creating recordings'.
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New Deutsche Grammophon titles added to Presto CD
17th Oct 2020
Including a medley of Mozart performances and orchestral music conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
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Bertrand Chamayou and Alexandre Kantorow
16th Oct 2020
Two contrasting recitals from award-winning French pianists - one fuelled by melatonin, the other by adrenaline.
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New Release Round-Up - 16th October 2020
16th Oct 2020
An eclectic debut recording from Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, Bruckner from Christian Thielemann, Beethoven from Midori, and five vivid orchestral works by Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne.
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Episode 6: Played in the USA with Rob Cowan
15th Oct 2020
Rob Cowan returns to the show to discuss several box-sets by three European émigré artists who settled in America - pianist Andor Foldes, conductor Antal Doráti, and violinist Isaac Stern.
