Latest stories
-
Behzod Abduraimov on Inferno
2nd Jun 2026
Behzod Abduraimov spoke to us about his latest album Inferno (a recent Presto Recording of The Week which demonstrates depths far beyond sheer virtuosity), his approach to both familiar and demanding music, and his summer performance plans.
-
Inferno from Behzod Abduraimov
8th May 2026
Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov combines the fire and virtuosity suggested by the title and cover of his new album, with a level of poetry and communication which explores the full potential of a varied and engaging solo recital.
-
Contemporary Music Round-Up - Spring 2026
5th May 2026
In our latest round-up of contemporary music releases, Ben celebrates Michael Finnissy's eightieth birthday and explores albums devoted to the music of Huw Watkins, Unsuk Chin, John Casken, Augusta Read Thomas and Morton Feldman.
-
Anne-Sophie Mutter on East Meets West
30th Mar 2026
To celebrate the launch of her new series on Alpha Classics, ASM Forte Forward, the violinist talks about her long history of commissioning and performing new works by composers including John Williams, Witold Lutosławski, Unsuk Chin, and Aftab Darvishi.
-
Christian Immler on Be Still My Heart
16th Mar 2026
In the run-up to the release of Raphaël Pichon's recording of the St John Passion (on which he sings the bass arias and Pilatus), the German singer discusses a recent passion-project of his own - a beguiling recital of songs by Wilhelm Grosz and Robert Gund with pianist Helmut Deutsch on Alpha Classics.
-
Martin Helmchen on Schubert
29th Jan 2026
To mark the composer's 229th birthday on Saturday, the German pianist reflects on the joys of discovering his early and unfinished sonatas (several of which feature on the first instalment of his new cycle on Alpha Classics).
Featured product
Schubert: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Martin Helmchen (piano)
-
Paavo Järvi on Arvo Pärt
27th Oct 2025
In the wake of an album celebrating Pärt's ninetieth birthday, the Estonian conductor discusses his long relationship with the man and his music, how his father Neeme's early advocacy of the Credo led to both composer and conductor being blacklisted by the Soviet authorities, and his own 'holy mission' to champion the work of his compatriots.
-
Véronique Gens and Offenbach's Divas
17th Oct 2025
The great tragédienne lets her hair down in a sparkling programme of excerpts from Offenbach's comic operas, including La belle Hélène, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein and La Périchole.
-
Giovanni Antonini on Il Giardino Armonico
20th Aug 2025
As the Italian period instrument ensemble celebrates its fortieth anniversary, its founder member and current Music Director reflects on the group's evolution - and why he believes that 'everything in Italy is theatre, for better or for worse'...
-
Mozart's Clavichord from Alexander Gergelyfi and Georg Nigl
18th Jul 2025
The Austrian clavichordist and baritone explore a range of keyboard pieces, songs and arias on the soft-grained instrument where Mozart first conjured several of them into life in a remarkable recital recorded at the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg last spring.
-
Presto Presents... Benjamin Appl & James Baillieu
7th Jul 2025
In this latest episode of Presto Presents, baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist James Baillieu perform a selection of pieces from their latest album For Dieter: Hommage à Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (released in May on Alpha Classics).
Featured product
For Dieter
Benjamin Appl (baritone), James Baillieu (piano)
-
Russian cello sonatas from Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Martin Helmchen
20th Jun 2025
The German wife-and-husband duo present a magnificent double album of six cello sonatas from Russian and Soviet composers, composed between the 1890s and 1970s.
-
For Dieter: Hommage à Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
23rd May 2025
Together with his regular recital-partner James Baillieu, Benjamin Appl celebrates the centenary of his mentor's birth with a beautifully-crafted recital charting the various stages of his life - including music which was written 'For Dieter' and world premiere recordings of pieces by family-members.
Featured product
For Dieter
Benjamin Appl (baritone), James Baillieu (piano)
-
Paavo Järvi on Mahler
17th Mar 2025
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.
-
Nevermind Ensemble on recasting Bach's Goldberg Variations
5th Mar 2025
The quartet talk about their new recording of the immortal Goldberg Variations, seamlessly adapted for flute, violin, gamba and continuo.
-
Benjamin Appl on Lines of Life
24th Feb 2025
The German baritone discusses working with György Kurtág (who turned 99 last week) on his Hölderlin-Gesänge and other works - and why the resulting album 'turned out to be the most extensive (and expensive) recording I’ve ever made'...
-
Benjamin Appl comes home for Christmas
29th Nov 2024
The German baritone reunites with his boyhood choir in Regensburg for a classy, introspective seasonal offering featuring oratorio arias and Christmas songs from Germany, England, France and Sweden, stylishly accompanied by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under Florian Helgath.
-
Florian Sempey sings of medieval knights and legends
15th Nov 2024
The French baritone explores his family's lineage of blacksmithery to present an eclectic album centred around the theme of knights from the Middle Ages, with pieces by Wagner, Donizetti, and Carl Orff sitting alongside more unfamiliar works by Meyerbeer, Grétry, Vincent d'Indy, and Ambroise Thomas.
-
Golda Schultz on Mozart's Women
27th Jun 2024
The South African soprano (who is currently singing Fiordiligi at Covent Garden) discusses her new Mozart album on Alpha Classics, why the three Da Ponte operas feel 'more relevant than ever' today, and the role which 'changed her as a person' - even though she never wants to sing it again...
-
Guy Braunstein on his Abbey Road Concerto
6th Jun 2024
The violinist talks about the world premiere recording of his 35-minute fantasy based on The Beatles' 1969 album, composed in lockdown after his young son developed Beatlemania...
