Classical Reviews
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The Calidore String Quartet weave an American Tapestry
13th Feb 2026
The New York-based quartet present music by three of their compatriots (plus one Viennese émigré), in a thoughtful album showcasing the diversity and richness of twentieth-century American music.
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American Tapestry
Calidore String Quartet
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Goldberg Variations from Yunchan Lim
6th Feb 2026
Yunchan Lim brings an expressively muscular yet idiomatic approach in this live recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, making this new album a treasurable addition to a catalogue which includes many celebrated recordings.
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Overtures from the British Isles Vol. 3
30th Jan 2026
Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic lead a whistle-stop tour through the highways and byways of British music around the time of World War Two, taking in works by composers including Havergal Brian, Daniel Jones, Richard Arnell and Robin Orr.
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Renaud Capuçon celebrates his fiftieth birthday with Bach
23rd Jan 2026
The violinist marks a milestone with a classy album of Bach's sonatas and partitas, swapping awestruck veneration for simple personal enjoyment.
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J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas
Renaud Capuçon (violin)
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A Winterreise with a difference from Allan Clayton
16th Jan 2026
The British tenor joins forces with Aurora Orchestra under its founder Nicholas Collon for Hans Zender's 'composed interpretation' of Schubert's bleak song-cycle, premiered in 1993 and bringing the piece's chilly soundscapes to life with an ensemble which includes accordion, guitar, a battery of percussion and a wind-machine.
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Mendelssohn and Enescu Octets from the Ébène and Belcea Quartets
9th Jan 2026
String octets from Mendelssohn and Enescu - both in their teens at the time of composition - show the two composers’ genius already in full flower. The Ébène and Belcea quartets give it their all and the results are spectacular.
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Enescu & Mendelssohn: Octets
Quatuor Ébène, Belcea Quartet
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Sterndale Bennett Concertos from Simon Callaghan
2nd Jan 2026
Simon Callaghan joins the Northern Sinfonia and Martin Yates to champion the music of a nineteenth-century English composer who was admired by Schumann and Mendelssohn, but whose music is played and discussed less than it deserves.
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Presto Personal Favourites from 2025
26th Dec 2025
The members of our editorial team reflect on some favourite albums that got away this year, including music by Sebastian Fagerlund, Mahler, Wilhelm Grosz and Robert Gund, Schoenberg, and anonymous composers from fifteenth-century Poland.
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Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann from Covent Garden
19th Dec 2025
Stuffed with references to films including Moulin Rouge, Casino Royale and Mary Poppins, Damiano Michieletto’s surreal, absinthe-drenched production of Offenbach's final opera is the perfect dark Christmas treat, with Juan Diego Flórez heading a superb cast as the eponymous poet and barfly.
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Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann (Blu-ray)
Juan Diego Flórez (Hoffmann), Ermonela Jaho (Antonia), Alex Esposito (Lindorf/Coppélius/Miracle/Dapertutto), Julie Boulianne (Nicklausse), Olga Pudova (Olympia), Marina Costa-Jackson (Giulietta), Christine Rice (Muse) Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Antonello Manacorda, Damiano Michieletto
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Orchestral Works by Max Reger from Jaime Martín and the Gävle Symphony Orchestra
12th Dec 2025
Released back in August, this album (one of our Top 10 Classical Recordings of 2025) presents a marvellously evocative and captivating account of two orchestral works by Max Reger: the Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin, Op. 128, and the Romantic Suite, Op. 125.
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A Franco-Italian double Baroque Christmas
5th Dec 2025
Festive works by Alessandro Scarlatti and Marc-Antoine Charpentier offer tastes of two different Baroque Christmas flavours, with Giulio Prandi's Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri joined by a brief but glorious stellar turn from Carlotta Colombo and Christophe Rousset marshalling the Monteverdi Singers and English Baroque Soloists.
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A Cuban Christmas from The Sarahbanda
28th Nov 2025
Horn-player Sarah Willis and her Havana-based dance-band add spice and salsa to a host of seasonal favourites including an exuberant reimagining of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, with guest vocals from Carlos Calunga (of Buena Vista Social Club fame).
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Víkingur Ólafsson shares a new perspective on Op. 109
21st Nov 2025
Víkingur Ólafsson’s new album is built around Beethoven’s Op. 109 piano sonata, with the much-loved Icelandic pianist bringing fresh perspective to a cornerstone of the repertoire, elucidating connections with the music of Bach and Schubert, and reinforcing the fact that the composer was more than the romanticised revolutionary of popular legend.
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Vasily Petrenko and the RPO hear the chimes at midnight
14th Nov 2025
An unlikely-looking diptych of Rachmaninoff's The Bells and Elgar's Falstaff puts the RPO and chorus through their paces; Vasily Petrenko brings to the surface the common ground the two works share.
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Walton's Cello Concerto and Symphony No. 1 from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London
7th Nov 2025
John Wilson and Sinfonia of London continue their survey of the orchestral works of William Walton, combining a compelling, mesmerising account of the Cello Concerto (featuring Jonathan Aasgaard as soloist) with an impressively detailed, thrilling performance of Symphony No. 1.
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In Spain (and elsewhere) with the RLPO
31st Oct 2025
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic present two contrasting albums - Spain viewed through rose-tinted French glasses, and some rarely-heard masterpieces of pastoral English Romanticism.
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Gelosia from Philippe Jaroussky and Artaserse
24th Oct 2025
The French countertenor does battle with the green-eyed monster in a programme of secular Italian cantatas, featuring two popular examples by Handel and Vivaldi, one relative rarity by Alessandro Scarlatti, and world premiere recordings of works by Porpora and Galuppi.
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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.
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Bracing Brahms from Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon
10th Oct 2025
A fresh new recording of Brahms's quasi-sacred masterwork combines hints of past approaches - both the luxuriant and the austere - for an overall impression that's clear and light but deep and profound when it counts.
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Tchaikovsky from Daniil Trifonov
3rd Oct 2025
The Russian pianist combines deft dexterity with a vivid musical imagination across a programme which includes Album for the Young and Mikhail Pletnev's transcription of The Sleeping Beauty Suite.
