Latest stories
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Semyon Bychkov on Mahler
6th Apr 2022
In advance of the first instalment of his Mahler cycle with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra on Pentatone, the conductor reflects on 'a lifetime of exploring and loving this music' - and why he believes that 'all Czech people are born musicians'...
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New Release Round-Up - 1st April 2022
1st Apr 2022
Handel's La Resurrezione from Harry Bicket and The English Concert, Strauss, Korngold and Schreker from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London, operatic rivalry from Véronique Gens and Sandrine Piau, and Schubert from Stephen Hough.
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Presto Editor's Choices - March 2022
31st Mar 2022
White-hot Rachmaninov from Asmik Grigorian and Lukas Geniušas, four vivid orchestral works by American composer James Lee III, some riveting new commissions from Manchester Camerata, and a macabre but mesmerising 'Celebration of Life in Death' from Anna Prohaska.
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John Williams's new violin concerto and other forthcoming highlights
29th Mar 2022
Other stand-out releases for May and beyond include Brahms from the Pavel Haas Quartet and friends, a recital of Polish songs from Jakub Józef Orlinski and Michał Biel, and male soprano Samuel Mariño's debut album on Decca.
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Ian Bostridge on Tormento d'amore
28th Mar 2022
The English tenor discusses his recent album of arias from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Italian operas, featuring music by composers including Cavalli, Vivaldi, Cesti, Stradella and Sartorio.
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New Release Round-Up - 25th March 2022
25th Mar 2022
Fanny Hensel & Felix Mendelssohn from Chen Reiss, Stravinsky from Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, Sibelius from Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic, and the culmination of Le Compagnia del Madrigale's Gesualdo cycle.
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Fenella Humphreys on Caprices
24th Mar 2022
The violinist talks to Katherine about how her new album sprang in part from conquering childhood demons about Paganini, and how commissioning a host of composers to contribute to a new set of micro-variations on his Caprice No. 24 for the project 'brought some absolutely brilliant people into her life'.
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Caprices
Fenella Humphreys (violin)
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Ophélie Gaillard on A Night in London
22nd Mar 2022
The French cellist talks to Katherine about her new album centring on three composer-cellists who made their mark on the English capital in the mid-eighteenth century: the Italians Nicola Porpora and Giovanni Battista Cirri, and the Scotsman James Oswald.
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New Release Round-Up - 18th March 2022
18th Mar 2022
Bach's St Matthew Passion from Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon, orchestral works by James Lee III, Jóhann Jóhannsson's Drone Mass, and a film version of Vivaldi's Stabat Mater from Jakub Józef Orliński.
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JS Bach: Matthäus-Passion
Julian Prégardien (Evangelist), Stéphane Degout (Christus), Sabine Devieilhe & Hana Blažiková (sopranos), Lucile Richardot (mezzo), Tim Mead (countertenor), Reinoud Van Mechelen & Emiliano Gonzalez Toro (tenors), Christian Immler (bass-baritone) Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
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Nadine Sierra on Made for Opera
16th Mar 2022
The American soprano talks about her new album on Deutsche Grammophon (featuring snapshots of Verdi's Violetta, Donizetti's Lucia and Gounod's Juliette), how the #MeToo movement has played out in the opera world, and the women who've empowered her in her career.
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Pélleas et Mélisande from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siėcles
11th Mar 2022
Period instruments provide revelations aplenty in Debussy's opera - and the central love-triangle is cast in an intriguing new light...
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New Release Round-Up - 11th March 2022
11th Mar 2022
Rachmaninov from Asmik Grigorian and Lukas Geniušas, Beethoven from Boris Giltburg and Vasily Petrenko, two Knappertsbusch editions on Eloquence, and Jeanine Tesori & Tazewell Thompson's powerful new opera Blue.
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Chen Reiss on Fanny Hensel
8th Mar 2022
The Israeli soprano talks to Katherine about her new recording on Onyx showcasing Hensel's under-appreciated gifts as an orchestrator, and why she feels 'it’s about time that we give this composer the stage that she deserves'...
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Joyce DiDonato on EDEN
7th Mar 2022
The American mezzo talks to Katherine about her new album on Erato, and answers some questions submitted by Presto readers along the way...
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EDEN
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
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Dance With Me from LUDWIG Orchestra and Barbara Hannigan
4th Mar 2022
An ensemble drawn from the Netherlands-based chamber orchestra have a ball with a selection of twentieth-century dances, taking in music by Elgar, Kurt Weill, Glenn Miller and Barry Manilow along the way...
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New Release Round-Up - 4th March 2022
4th Mar 2022
Bach from Frank Peter Zimmermann and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Brahms from the Belcea Quartet and two special guests, and Donizetti's Tudor Queens from Sondra Radvanovsky.
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Presto Editor's Choices - February 2022
2nd Mar 2022
A kaleidoscope of African piano music from Rebeca Omordia, Italian baroque rarities from Ian Bostridge, and a musical journey from Prague To Budapest from Laura van der Heijden and Jâms Coleman.
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Joyce DiDonato's EDEN
25th Feb 2022
Featuring music by composers including Ives, Cavalli, Handel, Gluck and Wagner (plus a ravishing new commission by Rachel Portman), the American mezzo's eclectic new concept-album with Il Pomo d'Oro explores our relationship with 'the grammar of the earth'.
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EDEN
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
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New Release Round-Up - 25th February 2022
25th Feb 2022
Haydn from Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Mozart violin sonatas from Francesca Dego and Francesca Leonardi, Salonen and Ravel from Nicolas Altstaedt, and Sebastián Durón's zarzuela Coronis from Le Poème Harmonique.
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Josephine Veasey (1930-2022)
24th Feb 2022
The British dramatic mezzo, who excelled in Wagner and Berlioz, has died aged 91.
