Presto Team Choices | Updated Monthly
Curated by David Smith
Tracks from the recordings featured in the most recent Team Choices from the Presto Classical team. 2 hours 27 minutes
Ambroise Thomas: Psyché
Hélène Guilmette (Psyché), Antoinette Dennefeld (Éros), Tassis Christoyannis (Mercure), Philippe Estèphe (Gorgias), Artavazd Sargsyan (Antinoüs), Christian Helmer (Le Roi); Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian National Choir, György Vashegyi
'This 1857 opera about the love-affair between the son of Venus and the mortal Psyché deftly blends slapstick comedy (in the antics of the heroine's wickedly drawn 'ugly sisters'), Italianate vocal pyrotechnics and darker, more mystical elements - imagine a perfectly-mixed cocktail of Handel's Semele, Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers and Wagner's Lohengrin with a chaser of Rossini's La cenerentola and you won't be far off the mark. Hélène Guilmette brings real pathos to the title-role and Antoinette Dennefeld's high, agile mezzo is fully up to the considerable demands which Thomas places on Éros, whilst big set pieces like the Act Three drinking-scene are done with flair and swagger by Vashegyi and his lusty Hungarian chorus. An absolute delight.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available Formats: Book + 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Dvořák: Slavonic Dances
Czech Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle
'An infectiously joyous album from Simon Rattle and the Czech Philharmonic. As one would expect, the orchestra understands this music perfectly and knows the idiom inside-out. Rattle brings a pleasing degree of flexibility, especially in the expressive Dumka and the convivial Polka of the Op. 46 dances. The famous Op. 46 Furiant bristles with energy, as do the Odzemek and Skočná from the same set, whilst the orchestra offers charm and grace aplenty in the Op. 72 Mazur and Sousedská. Characterised by rich strings and the distinctive timbre of the Czech woodwinds, this enchanting recording is an absolute delight.' (James Longstaffe)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
John Ireland: Piano Works
Rebeca Omordia (piano)
'After introducing us to African pianism and song, Rebeca Omordia now turns to the under-played works of John Ireland, and proves a superb advocate for a composer more readily associated with song. Omordia draws out the song-like qualities of the writing and, as in her previous albums, has a gift for creating the atmosphere of the music, such as in the three Decorations pieces. The programme has been well chosen to demonstrate Ireland's skill in writing miniatures, but also in composing across a larger form, and Omordia's reading of the piano sonata encourages further listening. This album leaves me hoping for more English piano music recordings from Omordia - a pianist who never fails to be interesting.' (Matthew Ash)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
A Romantic From Kharkiv: Music of Sergei Bortkiewicz
Anna Shelest (piano), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
'This is a deeply personal project from Kharkiv-educated Anna Shelest and her Estonian co-musicians. Bortkiewicz was one of the first composers to draw something uniquely Ukrainian out from among the Russian, Polish and Tatar influences moulding his country and career. From its distinctively Tristan opening (surely inspired by the composer’s enraptured first encounter with the opera), Bortkiewicz’s piano concerto is an atmospheric, stirring piece that deserves wider fame, especially among lovers of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. His Thousand and One Nights for solo piano, coincidentally, begins with a fanfare reminiscent of the Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin, drawing on the composer’s lifelong association with Crimea and its Tatar population for a vividly exotic soundworld.' (David Smith)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Found Objects / Sound Objects
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
'On paper, a programme of John Cage, Salvatore Martirano, Stefan Wolpe et al might seem like a slightly forbidding prospect, but Hamelin (as ever) proves the most genial and illuminating of guides: as he acknowledges in a witty, self-deprecatory booklet-note, this is simply a collection of curiosities which he loves, and his affection and enthusiasm draw you into each different soundworld within just a few bars. There's fun to be had with spotting the blink-and-you'll-miss-it fragments of popular piano classics in John Oswald's Tip (there's a niche pub-quiz round if ever there was one), and Hamelin's own dazzling Hexensabbat closes things out in a blaze of devilish glory. Unmissable, and somehow perfect listening for a chilly winter evening.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Bliss: Miracle in the Gorbals & Metamorphic Variations
BBC Philharmonic, Michael Seal
'Few record labels have done more to advance the cause for the music of Arthur Bliss than Chandos, and this latest album from the BBC Philharmonic and Michael Seal continues that noble endeavour with a magnificent account of his 1944 ballet, Miracle in the Gorbals, telling the story of a young woman from Glasgow who commits suicide but is then resurrected by a mysterious stranger. This is coupled with the premiere recording of the complete Metamorphic Variations, including the two movements that were dropped before the first performance in 1973 and not reinstated until now.' (James Longstaffe)
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
B.A.C.H.
Martin Fröst (clarinet), Sebastien Dube (double bass), Anastasia Kobekina (cello), Jonas Nordberg (lute), Göran Fröst (viola), Benny Andersson
'Popular Bach pieces played on clarinet with various combinations of accompanying instruments sounds like a recipe for potential schmaltz, especially when you clock the involvement of ABBA's own Benny Andersson in the closing largo, but don't be fooled. Martin Fröst describes this as '...a personal journey through the landscape of Bach's music...', and it's a journey he makes with utmost respect to the music whilst being unafraid for his own musical voice to be heard. The pieces played with Jonas Nordberg on Theorbo are especially enchanting, and the combination of these two distinctive timbres shines new light on familiar music, without distortion. The Allemande from French Suite No.5 demonstrates very well the stylistic understanding that underpins this project, and the shifting instrumentation across the album is thoughtfully judged with excellent playing.' (Matthew Ash)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Music From Malmö, Vol. 1: Three New Concertos For Bass Clarinet
Carl-Johan Stjernström (bass clarinet), Benjamin Schmid (violin), Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Musica Vitae, Joachim Gustafsson
'New bass clarinet concertos, as the saying goes, are like buses; you wait for ages and then three come along at once. I enjoyed some chamber music by Joseph Phibbs last year, and this concerto introduced me to a whole new side of him - lyrical and melodious, alternately melancholic and frenetic - where his string quartets had tended towards the spectral and textural. Dafgård’s Tandem, with the bass clarinet joined by the contrasting voice of the solo violin, has a refreshingly Classical or early-Romantic air to it - like distorted Holbergian Grieg at times - while Geoffrey Gordon’s Prometheus draws on Kafka’s hyper-compressed take on the Greek legend, moving from that famous tortuous punishment into realms of existential questioning. Soloist Carl-Johan Stjernström excels throughout.' (David Smith)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
