Orchestral, Symphonies
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an essential recommendation for any collection. These are performances which seem to present a Beethoven 'for the ages', a distillation of a long interpretative tradition, without concern for... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, 100 Greatest Recordings
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Building a Library, October 1999, First Choice
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Building a Library, October 2007, First Choice
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Building a Library, January 2016, First Choice
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1970s
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Special offer. Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6
RecommendedLondon Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano
They’re both electrifying, and they sound absolutely magnificent...Pappano makes sure [the Fourth] sings as often as it can...This is a terrible beauty, energetic, Satanic, utterly spellbinding,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 16th April 2021
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2021, Recording of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2021
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Symphonic Music
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2021
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Record Review, Records of the Year 2021
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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New. Antonin Dvořák: Symphony No. 9; Carlos Simon: Four Black American Dances
RecommendedPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Honeck has that rare ability to make even the most well-worn works sound engagingly fresh...Simon's riotously colourful Four Black American Dances (2023) makes an apt coupling. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 3rd July 2026
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2026, Recording of the Month
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Hrůša has an assured drive through the elusive symphonic structures, culminating in an incessantly hair-raising Sixth...It's a journey you'll want to follow in close succession. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 15th May 2026
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Record Review, 23rd May 2026, Record of the Week
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Recording of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, August 2026, Orchestral Choice
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Walton: Symphony No. 1 & Violin Concerto
RecommendedTasmin Little (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Little's way with the virtuoso passages is a notch less headlong than [on her earlier recording], allowing the ear to savour her phenomenal accuracy, yet with no loss of fire...Gardner and the... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 21st April 2014
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2014, Disc of the month
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2014, Disc of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2014
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Building A Library, July 2022, Also Recommended
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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet
RecommendedPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
This is one of the best new Tchaikovsky Fifths I’ve heard for ages...even if this Fifth came with no coupling, I’d still recommend it. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2023, Recording of the Month
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Grammy Awards, 66th Awards (2024), Nominee - Best Engineered Classical Album
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Symphonic Music
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2023
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2023
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th December 2023
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony
Recommendedoriginal 1913 version
London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox
Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra have come up with a recording that you can cheerfully measure against most others in the catalogue, before you consider its unique extra charms! —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 1st December 2008
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Gramophone Awards, 2001, Recording of the Year
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2001, Editor's Choice
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Building a Library, November 2016, Also Recommended
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Honeck’s Bruckner Ninth is the greatest I’ve heard since Giulini, and for me it surpasses any current rival. Bruckner collectors are known for being fiercely partisan about the conductors they... —
Awards:
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Grammy Awards, 62nd Awards (2019), Nominee - Best Orchestral Performance
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Grammy Awards, 62nd Awards (2019), Nominee - Best Engineered Album (Classical)
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Symphonic Music
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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The New York Times, Recordings of the Year 2019
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Korngold: Symphony in F sharp, Theme and Variations & Straussiana
RecommendedSinfonia of London, John Wilson
The playing of the Sinfonia of London is astonishingly brilliant, with Hollywood-dream glories in the string tone. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 30th August 2019
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2019, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, November 2019, Recording of the Month
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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 Recordings of the Year, Winner 2019
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The Times Records of the Year, 2019
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Winner - Orchestral
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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The Philadelphia polish helps to highlight one of Price’s most endearing qualities: those kaleidoscopic orchestrations, with piquant detailing from all corners, including celesta and slide whistle...... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, September 2021
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2021, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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Grammy Awards, 64th Awards (2022), Winner - Best Orchestral Performance
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Record Review, Records of the Year 2021
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Symphonic Music
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