Latest stories
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25 New Decca and Deutsche Grammophon titles now on Presto CD
28th Apr 2021
Riccardo Chailly, the Takács Quartet and András Schiff are amongst the artists featured on the latest batch of Presto CDs.
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Episode 16: Britain, by George! - Handel with Suzanne Aspden
25th Apr 2021
Professor Suzanne Aspden joins Paul to trace Handel's journey from the youthful Italian cantatas & operas to his later English oratorios.
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Episode 15: Clarinet Chronicles with Julian Bliss
11th Apr 2021
Paul is given a guided tour of the clarinet's history by Julian Bliss, from its first appearances in the eighteenth century, up to the present day, and the important role it played in the development of jazz.
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Episode 15: Clarinet Chronicles with Julian Bliss
11th Apr 2021
The Presto Music Podcast dips its toe into the world of jazz as clarinettist Julian Bliss charts the history of the instrument since the late eighteenth century.
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Episode 14: The Music of Malcolm Arnold with Piers Burton-Page
21st Mar 2021
Author and President of the Malcolm Arnold Society, Piers Burton-Page, gives an overview of the life and work of this important voice in twentieth-century British music.
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Episode 13: Symphonic Titans - Bruckner & Mahler with Peter Quantrill
7th Mar 2021
Bruckner and Mahler are the focus of this week's show, as Paul Thomas is joined by Gramophone writer Peter Quantrill to assess a couple of recent box-sets devoted to each composer.
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New Decca and Deutsche Grammophon titles added to Presto CD
23rd Feb 2021
Featured artists on our latest batch include Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jorge Bolet, Martha Argerich, and Erich Kleiber.
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A Song in Our Hearts with Natasha Loges
11th Feb 2021
In this Valentine's Day Special, Paul talks with author Natasha Loges about the art of Romantic song, as it moved from Vienna to Leipzig in the nineteenth Century.
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Episode 12: A Song in Our Hearts with Natasha Loges
11th Feb 2021
In this Valentine's Day Special, Paul talks with author Natasha Loges about the art of Romantic song, as it moved from Vienna to Leipzig in the nineteenth Century.
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Shelf Discovery: Yehudi Menuhin
4th Feb 2021
Taking in his shifting perspectives on works by Bach, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, Paul considers the great violinist's remarkable triple legacy as performer, educator and peacemaker.
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Episode 11: Tinkling the Ivories with Harriet Smith
27th Jan 2021
After a short break, the Presto Music Podcast is back, and for this first episode, Harriet Smith and Paul Thomas talk through some of their favourite pianists.
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Shelf Discovery: Tasmin Little
21st Dec 2020
In the fifth instalment of our new series, Paul revisits some favourite recordings by the English violinist as she prepares to hang up her bow for good...
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Episode 10: Across the Pond with David Hurwitz
15th Dec 2020
In the final Podcast of 2020 Paul and American writer, YouTuber and hilarious classical commentator David Hurwitz exchange music from each other's nations that has made an impact on them.
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New Deutsche Grammophon titles added to Presto CD
7th Dec 2020
A wide variety of music, from Haydn to Sciarrino, is available on our latest batch of Presto CDs.
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Episode 9: The English Choral Tradition with David Smith
3rd Dec 2020
Presto's own David Smith, a lay clerk at St. Philip's Cathedral Birmingham and member of Ex Cathedra, charts the turbulent development of the English choral tradition.
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38 New Decca titles added to Presto CD
14th Nov 2020
Including Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting Brahms & Shostakovich, Sir András Schiff playing Schubert and Herbert Blomstedt conducting Richard Strauss.
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Episode 8: The Stalin Prize with Marina Frolova-Walker
11th Nov 2020
Paul talks to Russian-born music historian Marina Frolova-Walker about the subject of her book, the notorious (and often misunderstood) Stalin Prize, and some of the composer stories behind it.
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The Stalin Prize with Marina Frolova-Walker
11th Nov 2020
Paul talks to Russian-born music historian Marina Frolova-Walker about the subject of her book, the notorious (and often misunderstood) Stalin Prize, and some of the composer stories behind it.
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Episode 7: Beethoven in Nine Pieces with Laura Tunbridge
28th Oct 2020
Professor Laura Tunbridge offers some new perspectives on Beethoven in the year of his 250th anniversary, by walking us through the pieces she chose to represent him in her acclaimed new book Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces.
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Beethoven in Nine Pieces with Laura Tunbridge
28th Oct 2020
Professor Laura Tunbridge offers some new perspectives on Beethoven in the year of his 250th anniversary, by walking us through the pieces she chose to represent him in her acclaimed new book Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces.
