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Bellini
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AIGUL
RecommendedAigul Akhmetshina (mezzo), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniele Rustioni; with Freddie De Tommaso (tenor), Elisabeth Boudreault (soprano), Kezia Bienek (mezzo)
She is surely vocally ideal for [Carmen], offering both character and taste in numbers that can sound overblown, or even clichéd. Instead, Akhmetshina supplies delicacy and grace, though she... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 26th July 2024
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2024, Editor's Choice
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International Opera Awards, 2024, Shortlisted - Recording (Solo Recital)
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Vocal Music
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2025, Young Talent of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Shortlist, Voice & Ensemble
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Special offer. In The Shadows
RecommendedMichael Spyres (baritenor), Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
this is another fine, fascinating album from an unusually interesting and intelligent artist, handsomely recorded. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 1st March 2024
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Nominated - Male Singer of the Year
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Winner - Solo Vocal Recording of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Finalist - Voice & Ensemble
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International Opera Awards, 2024, Winner - Recording (Solo Recital)
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winners 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Vocal Music
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Special offer. Joyce DiDonato: Stella di Napoli
RecommendedBel Canto Arias
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon, Riccardo Minasi
everyone who cares about singing should promote it immediately to the top of their letters to Santa. Creamy, sumptuous, almost flawless - every adjective may be a cliché, but how else to describe... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 25th August 2014
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2015, Vocal Award Winner
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2014, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2014, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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Gramophone Awards, 2015, Finalist - Recital
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2014, Récital lyrique
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International Classical Music Awards, 2015, Winner - Vocal Recital
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Freddie De Tommaso - Passione
RecommendedFreddie De Tommaso (tenor), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Renato Balsadonna
Listen to Freddie De Tommaso at full throttle and you’ll need to lie down in a darkened room. Passione is singing in the tradition of De Tommaso’s hero Franco Corelli: stylish and heartfelt,... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2021
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Presto Recording of the Week, 2nd April 2021
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2021, Opera Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Winner - Newcomer
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Bellini: Norma
RecommendedMaria Callas (Norma), Christa Ludwig (Adalgisa), Franco Corelli (Pollione), Nicola Zaccaria (Oroveso), Edda Vincenzi (Clotilde), Piero De Palma (Flavio)
Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala Milan, Tullio Serafin
Bellini's tragic Druid priestess was surely one of Maria Callas's greatest roles, and she's caught at her histrionic peak on this 1960 studio recording under Tullio Serafin, with Franco Corelli's... —
Awards:
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1960s
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Presto Favourites, Christa Ludwig - Our Top 10 Recordings
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Casta Diva - Operatic arias transcribed for trumpet
RecommendedMatilda Lloyd (trumpet), Britten Sinfonia, Rumon Gamba
The flawless tone, purity of line and dynamic subtlety she coaxes from her instrument are shown off to particularly impressive effect in Arban's set of variations from Norma...Overall, this... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2023, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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Special offer. Pilar Lorengar
RecommendedBerlin, 1959 - 1962
Pilar Lorengar, Richard Klemm (viola da gamba), Siegfried Behrend (guitar), Hertha Klust (piano)
RIAS-Kammerchor, RIAS-Orchester RSO Berlin & Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
[an] abundance of delights … if you want to revel in the beauty and freshness of one of the postwar era’s most lovable soprano voices in its youthful prime, this is a set to head for. —
Awards:
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Opera, September 2014, Recording of the Month
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Building a Library, July 2019, Also Recommended
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She begins with a nigh-on immaculate account of the waltz song from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. To the Mad scene from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor…she brings a pure and ethereal tone, entering... —
Awards:
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The Times Records of the Year, 2017
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A Tribute To Pauline Viardot
RecommendedMarina Viotti (mezzo-soprano), Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
Imperceptibly Viotti makes them her own, tender but tough in Rosina’s ‘Una voce poco fa’ and producing a cascade of diamondbright coloratura in ‘Bel raggio lusinghier’, as well as an astonishing... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Nominated - Conductor of the Year & Solo Vocal
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International Opera Awards, 2023, Nominated - Recording (Solo Recital)
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