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Their reading of Webern's Five Pieces here bears comparison with the finest on record...Throughout, the performance left me admiring anew the originality and concentration of Webern's score. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2026, Editor's Choice
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Haydn: Die Schöpfung
RecommendedAnna Lucia Richter (soprano), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor), Florian Boesch (baritone), Il Giardino Armonico, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Giovanni Antonini
Antonini has a fine line-up of soloists, and they clearly enjoy themselves: the soprano Anna Lucia Richter and the tenor Maximilian Schmidt both have attractively light-toned voices, and Richter’s... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 9th October 2020
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Choral
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though Piau takes few risks with colour and time, her sound is always brilliant. Kadouch, too, is strict with tempo but superb with colour. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2023, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Shortlisted - Song
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Vocal Music
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Handel: Brockes-Passion
Arcangelo (early music ensemble), Alex Potter, Stuart Jackson (tenor), Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Sandrine Piau (soprano), Andrew Tortise (tenor), Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Matthew Long, Mary Bevan (soprano), Marcus Farnsworth (baritone), David Allsopp, William Gaunt, Jonathan Cohen
You’re in safe hands here. Arcangelo bring their Baroque expertise to this pristine interpretation of Handel’s Brockes Passion. The soloists are fabulous, particularly Sandrine Piau, who shimmers... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 13th March 2021, Record of the Week
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Sunday Times, 21st March 2021, Disc of the Week
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Record Review, Records of the Year 2021
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Special offer. Charpentier: Orphée aux enfers
RecommendedReinoud Van Mechelen (tenor), A Nocte Temporis, Philippe Froeliger, Déborah Cachet, Geoffroy Buffière, Stefanie True, Clara Coutouly, Raphael Höhn, A Vocte Temporis, Victoria Cassano, Zsuzsi Tóth, Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier
Van Mechelen is a seductive Orpheus – small wonder that his limpid, pliant, expressive voice and eloquent diction enchants both his nymph-bride Eurydice (brought to life here by the dewy-voiced... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 17th January 2020
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BBC Music Magazine, March 2020, Opera Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Kodály: Duo for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 7 - Dvořák: Piano Trio, Op. 90 'Dumky'
RecommendedBarnabás Kelemen (violin), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano)
While every phrase is carefully considered, each one is communicated with passion...Everywhere there is a wealth of fascinating detail…Some may find the players’ approach a little too intense,... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Critics' Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Chamber Music
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The Basel CO are fully attuned to the style of these works and play with a slightly softer grain than Antonini’s ‘other’ band, Il Giardino Armonico. —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, July 2022
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Symphonic Music
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Unsuk Chin
Samuel Favre, Dimitri Vassilakis (piano), Ensemble Intercontemporain (chamber ensemble), Pierre Bleuse
few ensembles can animate her precision-engineered fantasies with such poise...A superb entry into Chin's ensemble world and a stylish counterpart to the best in the catalogue. —
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The inspiration of Stravinsky’s Chant du Rossignol is never far away in this [Slonimsky’s Earbox], and sometimes overt in the harmonic and melodic shapes. There’s more for the orchestra to get... —
Awards:
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Contemporary Music
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Nominated - Conductor of the Year
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Arvo Pärt: Credo
RecommendedKalle Randalu, Estonian Festival Orchestra, The Estonian National Male Choir, Ellerhein Girls' Choir, Ellerhein Alumni Choir, Paavo Järvi
All get fine performances from Järvi and his orchestra, including the most familiar, the grieving Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten and radiant Fratres. Here is the essence of Pärt, simple,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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