Latest stories
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Miloš Karadaglić on The Moon and the Forest
5th May 2021by Katherine Cooper
The Montenegrin guitarist talks to Katherine about recording two new concertos written especially for him: Joby Talbot's Ink Dark Moon and Howard Shore's The Forest.
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Anthony Payne (1936-2021)
3rd May 2021by Katherine Cooper
The British composer, whose works included an 'elaboration' of Elgar's unfinished Third Symphony and numerous compositions for his late wife Jane Manning, has died aged 84.
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Presto Editor's Choices - April 2021
30th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
A beguiling recital of lieder by female composers from soprano Olena Tokar and Igor Gryshyn, a revelatory Wesendonk-Lieder from Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho, and a glittering Nutcracker from the brilliant young pianist Ivan Bessonov.
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New Release Round-Up - 30th April 2021
30th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
Zemlinsky and Schreker from Vasily Petrenko in Liverpool, Festmusik from Onyx Brass and John Wilson, Ysaÿe from James Ehnes, and Miloš Karadaglić in new guitar concertos by Joby Talbot and Howard Shore.
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Joyce DiDonato on Winterreise
27th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The American mezzo talks to Katherine about her new recording with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, which approaches Schubert's great song-cycle from the perspective of the woman whom the narrator leaves behind...
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Christa Ludwig (1928-2021)
26th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
One of the most moving and versatile singers of the twentieth century, the great German mezzo-soprano has died aged 93.
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Wagner: Lohengrin
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New Release Round-Up - 23rd April 2021
23rd Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
Winterreise from Joyce DiDonato and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, an homage to Humperdinck on Deutsche Grammophon, Mahler's Resurrection Symphony from Ádám Fischer, and Charles Avison's Scarlatti-inspired concerti grossi on Glossa.
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Colin Currie on HK Gruber
22nd Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The Scottish percussionist talks to Katherine about recording two concertos by his friend 'Nali' - Rough Music from 1983, and into the open… (written for and premiered by Currie in 2015).
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New Release Round-Up - 16th April 2021
16th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder from Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho, Freddie de Tommaso's debut album Passione, Patricia Kopatchinskaja in Pierrot Lunaire, and Vivaldi bassoon concertos from Sergio Azzolini.
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Dr Samantha Ege on Florence Price
15th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The pianist and musicologist talks to Katherine about Fantasie Nègre (released on Lorelt last month), and her fascinating research on the lives and work of Black female composers in mid-twentieth-century Chicago.
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Brahms from Sir András Schiff and other forthcoming highlights
14th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The pianist directs Brahms's concertos from the keyboard with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Cecilia Bartoli sings a gender-fluid Ariodante from Salzburg, and soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn champions Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
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Stravinsky & Eötvös from Pablo Heras-Casado and the Orchestre de Paris
9th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The Spanish conductor delivers a very Gallic Rite of Spring, whilst Isabelle Faust is bewitched and bewitching on the world premiere recording of Péter Eötvös's 'Alhambra' Concerto.
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New Release Round-Up - 9th April 2021
9th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
Bach from Augustin Hadelich, Beethoven from Teodor Currentzis, Mozart from Albrecht Mayer, and an homage to the Rameau family from Justin Taylor.
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Helen Charlston and Michael Craddock on their Isolation Songbook
8th Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The mezzo and baritone (and nearly-weds!) discuss how their open call for new music to sing together during lockdown spiralled into a full-scale album of commissions, released last month on Delphian...
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Jane Manning (1938-2021)
3rd Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The British soprano and contemporary music champion, who premiered works by composers including Harrison Birtwistle, Judith Weir, Oliver Knussen and John Cage, has died aged 82.
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Lise Davidsen in Beethoven, Wagner and Verdi
2nd Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
The powerhouse Norwegian soprano is in expansive, radiant voice for Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder and arias from Fidelio, Otello, La forza del destino, Medea, and Cavalleria rusticana with Sir Mark Elder and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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New Release Round-Up - 2nd April 2021
2nd Apr 2021by Katherine Cooper
Bach transcriptions from Francesco Piemontesi, Hindemith from Les Vents Français, Byrd from Fretwork and Alamire, and an impressive debut disc from Franco-Armenian mezzo Varduhi Abrahamyan.
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Presto Editor's Choices - March 2021
31st Mar 2021by Katherine Cooper
A touching and often witty recital of lockdown commissions from Helen Charlston and Michael Craddock, electrifying Ives from Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and a revelatory recital of Florence Price's piano music from Samantha Ege.
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New Release Round-Up - 26th March 2021
26th Mar 2021by Katherine Cooper
Beethoven, Wagner and Verdi from Lise Davidsen, Bach from Phantasm and Collegium Vocale Gent, and Gounod's Faust from Covent Garden, starring Michael Fabiano and Erwin Schrott.
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Peter Whelan on The Trials of Tenducci
23rd Mar 2021by Katherine Cooper
The conductor talks to Katherine about his new recording with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, which explores the musical life of mid-eighteenth-century Dublin and the legacy of one of its brightest imported stars - the scandal-hit castrato Giusto Fernando Tenducci.