NMC
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Special offer. Howard Skempton: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
RecommendedChristopher Yates (viola), Roderick Williams (baritone)
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Martyn Brabbins
[Skempton] judges the balance between reiteration and variety to perfection, while the typical Skempton traits – clarity, deceptive simplicity and apparently familiar yet fresh and capricious... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th May 2017
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2017, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
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Gramophone Awards, 2018, Shortlisted - Contemporary
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Special offer. Birtwistle: Night’s Black Bird
RecommendedOwen Slade (tuba)
The Hallé Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth
these are among the most powerful orchestral pieces of recent years...Wigglesworth and the Halle give performances of amazing concentration, accuracy and passion, aided by recorded sound of... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2011, Winner - Contemporary
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2012, Premiere Recording of the Year
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Michael Tippett: New Year
RecommendedRhian Lois (Jo Ann), Ross Ramgobin (Donny), Susan Bickley (Nan), Roland Wood (Merlin), Robert Murray (Pelegrin), Rachel Nicholls (Regan), Alan Oke (The Presenter)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
the tautness of the score more than makes up for the loose weave of the narrative. Fostered teenager Donny’s identity crisis is represented by syncopated lines and a guitar part influenced by... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2025, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025, World Premiere Recording (Rediscovery)
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Finalists, Opera
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Special offer. Huw Watkins: Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto and Symphony
Adam Walker (flute), Alina Ibragimova (violin)
Hallé, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth, Edward Gardner
Cast in the conventional three movements, [the Flute Concerto] dances through a musical landscape full of light and shade. Its invigorating sense of pace and momentum is beautifully caught by... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2018, Editor's Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, September 2018
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The Times Records of the Year, 2018
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Alice Farnham, the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers do affectionate homage to this interesting music, to Imogen Holst’s special legacy, her creative individuality and her significant, often... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024, Shortlisted - Rediscovery
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Special offer. Ferneyhough: La Terre est un Homme
Olivia Robinson (soprano), Jennifer Adams-Barbaro (soprano) & Cherith Millburn-Fryer (alto)
ensemble recherche, BBC Symphony Orchestra, EXAUDI, Martyn Brabbins, James Weeks
In the latter pieces the BBC SO never shirk that lightness of touch which makes listening a pleasure, while Martyn Brabbins directs with calm authority and, above all, a belief in this music’s... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, March 2018
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2018, Editor's Choice
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The Times Records of the Year, 2018
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The Guardian Classical Albums of the Year, 2018
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Special offer. Birtwistle: Angel Fighter
Andrew Watts (Angel) & Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (Jacob)
BBC Singers & London Sinfonietta, David Atherton
Birtwistle unleashes all his powers as a stage composer onto Stephen Plaice's text, using the whole building to create a thrilling dramatisation of the Bible story…pungent pizzicato rhythms,... —
Awards:
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Sunday Times, 2015, Albums of the Year
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2015, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Finalist - Contemporary
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Special offer. Barry, G: The Importance of Being Earnest
Barbara Hannigan (Cecily), Peter Tantsits (Jack Worthing), Joshua Bloom (Algernon), Katalin Károlyi (Gwendoline), Hilary Summers (Miss Prism), Alan Ewing (Lady Bracknell), Benjamin Bevan (Lane/Merriman), Joshua Hart (Dr Chasuble)
BCMG, Thomas Adès
Surely this is not only the best operatic treatment of Oscar Wilde since Salome, but also one of the few absolutely essential operas of the last 20 years...This performances features at least... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, January 2015, Opera Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2016, Opera Finalist
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2014, Editor's Choice
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Special offer. Bernard Rands: Chains Like the Sea
Johannes Moser (cello)
BBC Philharmonic, Clark Rundell
Rands studied with Dallapiccola and Berio and his music is lean, tense and melodically driven…Moser is a committed and nuanced soloist. —
Awards:
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Contemporary Music
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The Times Records of the Year, 2019
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Special offer. Oliver Knussen: Autumnal
Alexandra Wood (violin), Huw Watkins (piano), Claire Booth (soprano), Ryan Wigglesworth (piano), Leila Josefowicz (violin); BBC Symphony Orchestra, BCMG, Oliver Knussen
this CD should do more than any live performance to tell the world what a treasure he is. The Walton-esque Violin Concerto, Knussen’s masterpiece, is played with dazzling artistry by Josefowicz...[the... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2013, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2013, Finalist - Contemporary
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