Classical Reviews
-
Mark Elder conducts Donizetti's Les Martyrs
4th May 2015
Katherine listens to the first ever complete recording of Donizetti's opera.
-
James Ehnes performs works for violin and viola by Franck, Strauss, and Berlioz
27th Apr 2015
James listens to two new discs featuring James Ehnes on the violin and viola.
-
An Operatic Trip to Paris with Sonya Yoncheva
20th Apr 2015
Katherine listens to Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva's début solo release - a delightful disc of Parisian operatic gems.
-
Smetana from the Pavel Haas Quartet
13th Apr 2015
James listens to the Pavel Haas Quartet's new disc of Smetana's String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2.
Featured product
Smetana: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Pavel Haas Quartet
-
Passion settings by James MacMillan and JS Bach
6th Apr 2015
David listens to two very different musical responses to the Passion story – James MacMillan's new St Luke Passion and the Academy of Ancient Music's performance of Bach's time-honoured St Matthew.
-
Shostakovich from the Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin
30th Mar 2015
David listens to the Takács Quartet's stirring account of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 2, joined by Marc-André Hamelin for his Piano Quintet.
-
Isabelle Faust plays Schumann's Violin Concerto
23rd Mar 2015
David listens to Isabelle Faust's account of Schumann's Violin Concerto in D minor, with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Pablo Heras-Casado.
-
Music from principal woodwind players of the Berlin Philharmonic
16th Mar 2015
Katherine enjoys solo albums from not one but three of the Berlin Philharmonic's finest wind players.
-
Violin music by Bach and Vivaldi from Gil Shaham and Rachel Podger
9th Mar 2015
David listens to two new albums of violin music - Vivaldi concertos from Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque, and Bach solo sonatas and partitas from Gil Shaham.
-
Russian Cello and Piano Concertos from Steven Isserlis and Kirill Gerstein
2nd Mar 2015
David listens to a pair of new releases that throw light on early versions of concertos by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev.
-
French Opera Arias from Bryan Hymel and Piotr Beczala
23rd Feb 2015
Katherine enjoys a double-whammy of new releases from two young star tenors - Bryan Hymel and Piotr Beczala.
-
Schnittke from Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
16th Feb 2015
James listens to Alfred Schnittke's bold, polystylistic Third Symphony, performed by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Vladimir Jurowski.
-
Zemlinsky String Quartets from the Brodsky Quartet
9th Feb 2015
Katherine enjoys string quartets by the Romantic composer Alexander Zemlinsky, performed by the Brodsky Quartet.
Featured product
Zemlinsky: String Quartets
Brodsky Quartet
-
Brahms Serenades from Riccardo Chailly
2nd Feb 2015
James listens to Riccardo Chailly's latest disc of Brahms with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester.
Featured product
Brahms: Serenades
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly
-
Andrew Davis conducts Elgar's King Olaf
26th Jan 2015
James listens to Edward Elgar's relatively little-known cantata, based on Longfellow's poem about Olaf, the first Christian king of Norway.
-
Grigory Sokolov performs Mozart and Chopin
19th Jan 2015
James listens to Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov's first release on DG, featuring Mozart Sonatas and Chopin Preludes.
Featured product
Grigory Sokolov: The Salzburg Recital 2008
Grigory Sokolov (piano)
-
Anna Netrebko sings Tchaikovsky's Iolanta
12th Jan 2015
Katherine listens to Anna Netrebko's new recording of a little-known late Tchaikovsky opera, the one-act Iolanta.
-
Andris Nelsons conducts Sibelius and Wagner
5th Jan 2015
James listens to Andris Nelsons’s début recording with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
-
2014 in review and looking ahead to 2015
29th Dec 2014
Katherine looks back over the year, and takes a peek into the crystal ball at what 2015 holds...
-
Presto Personal Favourites from 2014
22nd Dec 2014
The Presto editorial team pick some "ones that got away" - the discs we just didn't have space to write about when they were released!
