Classical Reviews
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Chopin Études from Yunchan Lim
19th Apr 2024
The South Korean pianist makes an impressive début with Chopin's Études, combining breathtaking agility with a real sense of musical narrative.
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Chopin: Études, Opp. 10 & 25
Yunchan Lim (piano)
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Isabelle Faust performs Britten's Violin Concerto
12th Apr 2024
The German violinist yet again demonstrates absolute mastery of her instrument with commanding performances of works by Britten, including the world premiere recording of two pieces written whilst the composer was still a schoolboy.
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A new Bach cantata project from Les Arts Florissants
5th Apr 2024
Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants kick off a new project aimed at retracing the steps of Bach's life - focusing on his early work in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, still barely out of his teens.
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Mozart and Strauss Lieder from Sabine Devieilhe & Mathieu Pordoy
29th Mar 2024
The French coloratura soprano and her new recital-partner draw all manner of illuminating parallels between the two composers in a recital which includes Mozart's Das Kinderspiel and Abendempfindung & Strauss's Mädchenblumen, Morgen! and Amor.
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Paavo Järvi conducts Mendelssohn symphonies
22nd Mar 2024
The Estonian conductor and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich present stylish, propulsive accounts of Mendelssohn's five symphonies, plus the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream.
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Mendelssohn: Symphonies
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Paavo Järvi
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Vienna Octet Old and New
19th Mar 2024
Our guest-contributor Rob Cowan explores two anthologies of chamber music which 'will bless your listening hours with countless joys'.
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Chopin and Beethoven from Beatrice Rana
15th Mar 2024
The Italian pianist presents an unusual pairing of sonatas - a sensitive, light performance of Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 complemented by a masterful and fearless Hammerklavier.
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Chopin & Beethoven: Sonatas
Beatrice Rana (piano)
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Orchestral Works by Dorothy Howell
8th Mar 2024
Rebecca Miller conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra in world premiere recordings of the Humoresque, The Rock, the Three Divertissements and Koong Shee plus a terrific account of Lamia - the Keats-inspired tone-poem which made the 21-year-old composer an overnight success after its Proms premiere in 1919.
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In The Shadows with Michael Spyres
1st Mar 2024
The American singer teams up with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset to explore some of the operas which influenced Wagner - including works by Méhul, Beethoven, Meyerbeer and Spontini.
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Janáček's Katya Kabanova from Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra
23rd Feb 2024
Amanda Majeski is riveting as the doomed heroine grasping for happiness in the face of a loveless marriage (and a monstrous mother-in-law) in provincial Russia, with Rattle expertly balancing the score's elemental power and claustrophobic intensity.
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A Lifetime of Vivaldi from Théotime Langlois de Swarte
16th Feb 2024
A lively re-telling of Vivaldi's life through a selection of his violin concertos, from perhaps the most exciting young Baroque violinist around - including a number of world premiere recordings, and a gorgeous recent rediscovery.
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Rob Cowan on Victoria de los Ángeles
15th Feb 2024
Our regular guest-contributor explores the Catalan soprano's collected recordings on Warner Classics, released at the end of last year to mark the centenary of her birth.
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Handel's Alcina from Marc Minkowski
9th Feb 2024
Magdalena Kožená is at the height of her powers as a vocal actress in the title-role, with peerless performances from Anna Bonitatibus, Erin Morley and Elizabeth DeShong as Ruggiero, Morgana and Bradamante respectively.
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Marc-André Hamelin performs his own compositions plus Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie
2nd Feb 2024
The virtuoso pianist presents a dazzling album of his own works, alongside taking the solo role in Messiaen's Turangalîla with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gustavo Gimeno.
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A Lionel Tertis Celebration from Timothy Ridout
26th Jan 2024
This beautifully-performed and curated recital paints a vivid picture of the great violist in his capacities as commissioner, composer and arranger - featuring works by composers including York Bowen, Rebecca Clarke, Eric Coates, Frank Bridge and William Henry Reed.
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Lalo orchestral works from Neeme Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
19th Jan 2024
The veteran conductor and his musicians present a selection of sweeping and vivid orchestral works by the late-nineteenth-century French Romantic composer Édouard Lalo.
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Shadows of My Ancestors from Behzod Abduraimov
12th Jan 2024
The Uzbek pianist presents a dazzlingly evocative album of virtuosic piano works by Prokofieff, Ravel, and his compatriot Dilorom Saidaminova.
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Puccini Songs from Charles Castronovo
5th Jan 2024
Johannes X. Schachtner's idiomatic new orchestrations of the composer's sixteen published songs inspire some ardent, full-throated singing from the American tenor - with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester on incendiary form under Ivan Repušić.
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Presto Personal Favourites from 2023
29th Dec 2023
Recordings of works by Franz Schreker, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Andrew Poppy and the late Einojuhani Rautavaara feature among the editorial team's individual picks of the year.
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Handel's Messiah from John Nelson
22nd Dec 2023
Devotion and drama work hand-in-glove on the American conductor's live recording from Coventry Cathedral with The English Concert and soloists Lucy Crowe, Alex Potter, Michael Spyres & Matthew Brook.
