Latest News: Classical, Presto Editor's Choices
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - April 2020 1st May 2020Anna Prohaska sings of man's first disobedience, Yuja Wang dances with the devil, and Gerald Barry, Thomas Adès and Mark Stone paint a touching portrait of Beethoven in love.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - March 2020 1st April 2020Ripping yarns from Stéphane Degout and Simon Lepper, an exuberant Diabelli Variations with a twist from Rudolf Buchbinder, and an affectionate tribute to Leopold Godowsky from the brilliant young Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - February 2020 1st March 2020A captivating collection of English song from Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton, a Spanish postcard from Offenbach, and a weird and wonderful Skalkottas anthology from Athens.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - January 2020 31st January 2020An eloquent, gently moving debut from the young Swedish violinist Johan Dalene, French connections from John Wilson, and a terrific triptych of Ariannas from American mezzo Kate Lindsey.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - November 2019 1st December 2019Arresting debut albums from tenor Benjamin Bernheim, violinist Diana Tishchenko and mezzo Adèle Charvet, plus fleet-footed Schubert from Maxim Emelyanychev in his first recording with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - October 2019 31st October 2019Awe-inspiring Ravel and Stravinsky from Italian pianist Beatrice Rana, eloquent Schumann from Camilla Tilling, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, and a superbly spooky Der Freischütz from Marek Janowski.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - September 2019 8th October 2019Sumptuous Elgar from Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, fiery Falla from Pablo Heras-Casado and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and lightly-worn virtuosity from the sweet-toned Chinese violinist Ning Feng.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - August 2019 31st August 2019Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion paint a vivid picture of Mozart on the cusp of operatic greatness, Christophe Rousset makes a hugely persuasive case for Gounod’s original version of Faust, and Johannes Moser and Alasdair Beatson beguile in a programme of music for cello and piano by the Mendelssohns.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - July 2019 31st July 2019An utterly enthralling debut recital from American soprano Melody Moore, a pacey period-instrument account of Weber’s Oberon from the Stadttheater Gießen, and eclectic new concertos for violin and clarinet from Wynton Marsalis and Joseph Phibbs.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - June 2019 1st July 2019Intensely dramatic Janáček from Nicky Spence, Julius Drake and friends, an operatic oratorio on The Fall of Man by Josef Mysliveček, and an intriguing debut album of chamber works from octogenarian composer Erika Fox.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - May 2019 1st June 2019An almost indecently seductive French song programme from Sandrine Piau, a thought-provoking debut album from young British pianist Martin James Bartlett, and a rare outing for Granados’s one-act opera Goyescas, which crackles with Mediterranean heat.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - April 2019 4th May 2019A beautifully-programmed and sung recital which takes the Schumann-Wieck engagement as its theme, a Casella triptych from Tuscany, and vivid depictions of strong women from the Bible courtesy of Charpentier and Ensemble Correspondances.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - March 2019 31st March 2019Fazil Say’s appropriately epic Troy Sonata, the Italian version of Moniuszko’s Halka, Richard Rodney Bennett’s vivid depiction of the signs of the zodiac, and a glorious Paris recital from Stéphane Degout and Simon Lepper.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - February 2019 4th March 2019Two contributions to this year’s Offenbach bicentenary by rising young French virtuosos, orchestral works by ‘the father of Scottish music’, and superb advocacy for three female composers from violinist Tasmin Little.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - January 2019 1st February 2019Two startlingly original symphonies by the African-American composer Florence Price, Berlioz laid bare by four hands on a Pleyel, and hot-to-the-touch Schumann from Gautier Capuçon and Martha Argerich.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - December 2018 31st December 2018Donizetti from Stephen Costello, Mozart from Ensemble Appassionato and Mathieu Herzog, and upscaled Corelli from Gottfried von der Goltz and the Freiburger Barockorchester.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - November 2018 30th November 2018Schumann from Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, Beethoven from Maxim Emelyanychev and the Nizhny Novgorod Soloists, and Elgar from Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - October 2018 31st October 2018An all-Strauss programme from Arabella Steinbacher, world premiere recordings of three Parry orchestral works, and an assured and mesmerising debut on Warner Classics from Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - September 2018 30th September 2018A Winterreise with a twist, a voluptuous tour of fin de siècle Vienna with Barbara Hannigan, and a fascinating collection of orchestral music by the British twentieth-century composer Ruth Gipps.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - August 2018 2nd September 2018An irresistible collection of evergreens from a veteran baritone, Mendelssohn from the cutting-room floor, and two rare sets of incidental music by Fauré feature among this month’s favourites.