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Rouvali’s pacing, for the most part, feels instinctively ‘right’…The recording in Gothenburg’s wood-lined Concert Hall offers sonorous, yet clear lower textures, and if the high strings and... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, January 2019
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2019, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Symphonic Music
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The main interpretative obstacle in the First Quartet is how to gauge the progression of its first three movement so the finale is a culmination without obliterating that went before. The Belcea... —
Awards:
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Diapason d’Or, May 2019
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Building a Library, April 2023, Also Recommended
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Buxtehude: Seven Sonatas, Op. 1 BuxWV 252-258
RecommendedSophie Gent (violin), Jonathan Manson (cello) & Thomas Dunford (lute)
Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
This exquisitely balanced recording instantly captures the sense of conversation between the instrumental parts, highlighting the egalitarian approach of Buxtehude's melodic writing. What's... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2017, Chamber Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, July 2017
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Grammy Awards, 60th Awards (2017), Nominee - Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
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Lully, Charpentier & Desmarets: Passion
RecommendedVéronique Gens (soprano)
Ensemble Les Surprises, Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas
Words are Gens’s secret weapon. She brings out their meanings and sonic qualities like no other singer: spiked rhythms register her vitriol, towering anger splits open her vowels on top notes... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, August 2021
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Baroque Vocal
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Finalist - Voice & Ensemble
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For Dieter: Hommage à Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
RecommendedBenjamin Appl (baritone), James Baillieu (piano)
Benjamin Appl’s singing is thoughtful and enjoyable.The voice sometimes uncannily recalls that of his guru...Appl and his artistic partners deserve huge credit for making this imaginative, moving... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 23rd May 2025
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2025, Vocal Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025, Special Project
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[The playing] can affectionately embrace the whimsical to the manner born, but equally bristles with spellbinding virtuosity, compelling insight and crests a lifeforce carrying all before it. —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, February 2024, Recording of the Month
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Chamber Music
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2025, Shortlisted - Chamber
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Rivales
RecommendedSandrine Piau (soprano), Véronique Gens (soprano), Le Concert de la Loge, Julien Chauvin
I don’t know about any rivalry here, but Gens and Piau, both of whom have complete mastery over this repertoire, function extremely well individually (as one might expect) and in duo. They are... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2022
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Opera, June 2022, Disc of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Vocal Music
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Winners, Winner - Voice & Ensemble
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Veress: String Trio & Bartók: Piano Quintet
RecommendedVilde Frang (violin), Barnabás Kelemen (violin), Lawrence Power (viola), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano)
For me, Veress’s trio is the heart of this disc. There have been four previous recordings, none of which I’ve heard, but I can’t imagine a more inspired performance; these three play as if they... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, August 2019, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2019, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Chamber Music
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Winner - Chamber
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Winner - Chamber
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His account of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet suite affords further evidence that he is one of the world’s most accomplished poets of the keyboard, and I have never heard ‘Ondine’ so dainty and... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 12th January 2024
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BBC Music Magazine, February 2024, Instrumental Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2024, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Shortlisted - Piano
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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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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2024
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New. Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 KV 37 & 27 KV 595, Clarinet Concerto KV 622
Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano), Blaž Šparovec (clarinet), ORF Radio Symphonieorchester Wien, Howard Griffiths
