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CD, Purcell (composer)
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The ensemble is a coterie of some of the finest early musicians on the scene today – friends who evidently relish the art of musical conversation, the guiding ethos of the English consort tradition. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2024, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recording of the Week, 24th May 2024
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2024, Chamber Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Baroque Instrumental
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Purcell: Dido & Aeneas
RecommendedJoyce DiDonato (Dido), Michael Spyres (Aeneas), Fatma Said (Belinda), Beth Taylor (Sorceress), Hugh Cutting (Spirit), Laurence Kilsby (Sailor), Alena Dantcheva and Anna Piroli (Witches)
Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
DiDonato is magnificent as Dido, fully understanding how badly her story will end in her first aria as Purcell slides from minor to minor, then sumptuously sorrowful in 'When I am laid in Earth',... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th August 2025
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2025, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2025, Recording of the Month
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International Opera Awards, 2025, Shortlisted - Complete Recording
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Nominated - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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The Times, Best Classical Albums of 2025
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Songs of Passion
RecommendedLea Desandre (mezzo), Thomas Dunford (lute, theorbo), with Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone)
Jupiter
Across two discs, the performers shed any hint of 'whitewashed' English restraint, fathoming Dowland's twilight world and Purcell's exuberant theatricality. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2025, Editor's Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Winner - Baroque Vocal
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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Chance’s tone is pellucid; notes fall round and clear as water drops...a recording in which Chance stakes serious claim to the title of his generation’s most exciting British countertenor. —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2023
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2023, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Baroque Vocal
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Nominated - Young Talent of the Year
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Charlston's mezzo is as dark and full-bodied as a good claret, and she offers highly expressive readings of the texts, plumbing their depths with cut-glass diction and a glorious range of colours... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, May 2022
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BBC Music Magazine, August 2022, Choral & Song Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2023, Winner - Vocal
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Winners, Concept Album of the Year
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Purcell: The Fairy Queen, 1692
RecommendedCarolyn Sampson (soprano), Anna Dennis (soprano), Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Roderick Williams (baritone), Gabrieli, Paul McCreesh
McCreesh’s production rises to the occasion: original voicing, unorthodox continuo, project-specific trumpet design and rediscovered string techniques bring out qualities missing from earlier... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 10th April 2020
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2020, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2020, Opera Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Opera
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Building a Library, February 2023, Recommended Recording
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Special offer. Serpent & Fire
RecommendedAnna Prohaska (soprano)
Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini
a maddening, fascinating and often bewitching disc —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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Gramophone Awards, 2017, Finalist - Recital
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International Classical Music Awards, 2017, Winner - Baroque Vocal
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the most striking aspects of Podger’s playing throughout this recital (compared to most 20th-century ‘golden-agers’), is her enhanced range of tone and articulation, her vastly more flexible... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, October 2022
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2023, Recording of the Year
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2023, Winner - Instrumental
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Winner - Solo Instrumental
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Finalist - Instrumental
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Special offer. The Sound of the Trumpet
RecommendedPeter Hurford (organ), Alan Stringer (trumpet), Gwynne Howell (bass), John Wilbraham (trumpet), Philip Jones (trumpet), Leslie Pearson (organ), The Michael Laird Brass Ensemble, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, London Festival Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner, Elgar...
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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He uses the capabilities of the modern Steinway judiciously, maintaining some of the qualities of the spinet and harpsichord of Purcell’s time whilst using but not over-using the vast tonal... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 30th August 2024
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Solo Instrument
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