Berlioz
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Paganini: 24 Caprices
Recommendedplus Caprices by Berlioz, Cervelló, Kreisler, Ortiz, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, Wieniawski
María Dueñas (violin), Itamar Golan (piano), Boris Kuschnir (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mihhail Gerts
The Paganini Caprices have energy in the bowing from the outset, confident octaves and portamento, and impeccable double stops...You could listen straight through, but I’d recommend random shuffling... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 14th February 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2025, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Winners, Instrumental
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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This is utterly adorable from start to finish…In the booklet Piau speaks of her joy at performing this kind of repertoire and her rapture is palpable from the breathless opening moments of Saint-Saens’s... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, May 2019
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Diapason d’Or, June 2019
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BBC Music Magazine, August 2019, Choral & Song Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Vocal
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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Presto Recording of the Week, 20th December 2019
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Finalist - Vocal
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Winner - Recital
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Special offer. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
RecommendedLondon Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Davis is always lithe and nuanced, somehow eliciting a diaphonous glow even in the forceful moments and charming the ear —
Awards:
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Building a Library, October 2011, First Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2001, Editor's Choice
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What is there left to say about Symphonie fantastique? Plenty, on the evidence of this vibrant new recording of Berlioz’s extraordinary masterpiece...Mäkelä gets the strings to shun the comfort... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 6th June 2025
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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The beauty of Alice Coote’s mezzo-soprano glows with radiance. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2015, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Finalist - Solo Vocal
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Special offer. Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été & Harold en Italie
RecommendedMichael Spyres (baritenor), Timothy Ridout (viola), Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, John Nelson
This is special. Two extraordinary masterpieces...Two outstanding soloists thoroughly immersed in Berlioz’s music, partnered by an orchestra and conductor with an unsurpassed pedigree in the... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 18th November 2022
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Nominated - Male Singer of the Year, Solo Vocal & Conductor of the Year
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Special offer. Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust
RecommendedMichael Spyres (Faust), Joyce DiDonato (Marguerite), Nicolas Courjal (Méphistophélès), Alexandre Duhamel (Brander)
Coro Gulbenkian, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, John Nelson
Nelson has a great feel for the weird structure of the piece, with its sudden lurches of pace and location...Nelson’s pacing is uncannily ‘right’; he’s not one to force Berlioz, period-style,... —
Awards:
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Diapason d’Or, November 2019, Nouveauté
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Presto Recording of the Week, 22nd November 2019
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The New York Times, Recordings of the Year 2019
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Female Singer of the Year (DiDonato)
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Claudio Abbado: The Last Concert
Recorded in May 2013, Philharmonie Berlin
Deborah York (soprano) & Stella Doufexis (mezzo-soprano)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
The bonus documentary on Claudio Abbado's first year with the Berlin Philharmonic is full of insights…[the last concert] gave the [Berliners] a chance to show in Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's... —
Awards:
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International Classical Music Awards, 2017, Winner - Symphonic
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Special offer. Mirages
RecommendedOpera Arias & Songs
Sabine Devieilhe (soprano) & Alexandre Tharaud (piano)
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Devieilhe’s singing lights up the good, the bad and the music of Ambroise Thomas with her vivid, pure tone and apparently limitless breath. Alexandre Tharaud pops in as a sensitive piano partner;... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
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Presto Editor's Choice, November 2017
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2017, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, January 2018, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2018, Finalist - Recital
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Grammy Awards, 61st Awards (2019), Nominee - Classical Solo Vocal Album
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2019, Finalist - Vocal
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Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts, Op. 5 (Requiem)
RecommendedRobert Murray (tenor)
Gabrieli Consort and Players, Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Chetham's School of Music Brass Ensemble, Paul McCreesh
McCreesh provides pretty much the enormous forces Berlioz demands- 60 tenors at least- singing French Latin, as well as mostly original instruments… it’s fascinating. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 3rd October 2011
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2011, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2012, Award for Technical Excellence
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