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BBC Music Magazine - May 2020 Choices
21st Apr 2020by Chris O'Reilly
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by violinist Jack Liebeck's 'stellar Brahms and expressive Schoenberg' concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Gourlay on Orchid Classics.
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Marina Rebeka on Elle
20th Apr 2020by Katherine Cooper
The Latvian soprano talks to Katherine about her new album of French opera arias, out now on Prima Classic.
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François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles perform Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
17th Apr 2020by James Longstaffe
The French conductor and ensemble return to the music of Ravel, with his orchestration of Mussorgsky's piano suite alongside a dazzling performance of La Valse.
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New Release Round-Up - 17th April 2020
17th Apr 2020by Chris O'Reilly
Beethoven and Barry from Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia, a strongly-cast Frau ohne Schatten from Vienna, and a Russian recital from Karina Gauvin.
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Catherine Foster on Wagner
16th Apr 2020by Katherine Cooper
The British dramatic soprano, who sings Brünnhilde on the Weimar Ring Cycle which is now available on Arthaus Musik, talks to Katherine about her remarkable journey from midwifery to Bayreuth.
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Wagner: Siegfried (DVD)
Johnny Van Hall (Siegfried), Frieder Aurich (Mime), Tomas Möwes (Der Wanderer), Mario Hoff (Alberich), Hidekazu Tsumaya (Fafner), Catherine Foster (Brünnhilde), Heiki Porsten (Forest Bird), Nadine Weissmann (Erda), Staatskapelle Weimar, Carl St. Clair, Michael Schulz (director)
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Boxed Set Selections - April 2020
15th Apr 2020by Chris O'Reilly
Vintage Beethoven string quartets from Melodiya, a sixtieth-birthday celebration from the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and forty years of recordings from the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.
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Penelope Thwaites on her choral music and songs
14th Apr 2020by David Smith
The pianist and composer talks to David about her eclectic new album with Carolyn Sampson, James Gilchrist and Ex Cathedra, recently released on Somm.
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Purcell's Fairy Queen from Paul McCreesh and Gabrieli
10th Apr 2020by David Smith
A glorious return to the Restoration stage, with a semi-opera if anything even more vivid than King Arthur - featuring a cast of gods, fairies, peasants, poets and... monkeys?
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New Release Round-Up 10th April 2020
10th Apr 2020by Chris O'Reilly
Bach albums from Alisa Weilerstein and Benjamin Alard, Beethoven from Cuarteto Casals, four-hand Schubert from Richard Egarr and Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya, and a recital themed around the figure of Eve from Anna Prohaska and Julius Drake.
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Nigel Short on Gesualdo and Couperin
9th Apr 2020by David Smith
David talks to conductor Nigel Short about Tenebrae's new album of atmospheric Holy Week responsories by Couperin and Gesualdo.
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Damien Guillon on Stradella
8th Apr 2020by Katherine Cooper
The French conductor and countertenor talks to Katherine about recording the Italian composer's dramatic 1675 oratorio San Giovanni Battista with Le Banquet Céleste.
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Richard Egarr on Handel's Brockes-Passion
7th Apr 2020by David Smith
The conductor talks to David about his recording of Handel's visceral Passion setting, which was taken from a live performance at the Barbican on Good Friday 2019 and released on the Academy of Ancient Music's own label last autumn.
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Gramophone Editor's Choices - April 2020
6th Apr 2020by Chris O'Reilly
Chris introduces this month’s Choices, headed by Masaaki Suzuki's second account of Bach's St. Matthew Passion with Bach Collegium Japan as Recording of the Month.
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JS Bach: St Matthew Passion
Benjamin Bruns (Evangelist), Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Aki Matsui (soprano), Damien Guillon (counter-tenor), Clint van der Linde (baritone), Makato Sakurada (tenor), Zachary Wilder (tenor), Christian Immler (baritone), Toru Kaku (bass), Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
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Korngold's Violin Concerto from John Wilson, Andrew Haveron and the RTE Concert Orchestra
3rd Apr 2020by Katherine Cooper
A bracing, unsentimentalised take on the composer's most popular work, plus an exuberant account of the youthful String Sextet from the Sinfonia of London Chamber Ensemble.
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New Release Round-Up - 3rd April 2020
3rd Apr 2020by Chris O'Reilly
Brahms from Lars Vogt and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Shostakovich from Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra, and world premiere recordings of two new works by Sir James MacMillan
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The Presto Chart - March 2020
2nd Apr 2020by Chris O'Reilly
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for March, with Víkingur Ólafsson's hypnotic new album of Rameau and Debussy on Deutsche Grammophon out in front by a country mile...
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Peter Jablonski on Scriabin
2nd Apr 2020by David Smith
The pianist talks to David about his recently-released album of Scriabin mazurkas on Ondine.
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Presto Editor's Choices - March 2020
1st Apr 2020by Katherine Cooper
Ripping yarns from Stéphane Degout and Simon Lepper, an exuberant Diabelli Variations with a twist from Rudolf Buchbinder, and an affectionate tribute to Leopold Godowsky from the brilliant young Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin.
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The Presto Playlist - Week One
30th Mar 2020by Katherine Cooper
With our main office and Leamington shop currently closed, our staff share their personal soundtracks for working from home.
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Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)
29th Mar 2020by Chris O'Reilly
The Polish composer, whose talent for creating uncanny sonorities inspired film-directors including Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese, has died aged 86.
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Penderecki: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Symphony No. 1, Cello Concerto No. 1
Wanda Wilkomirska (violin), Siegfried Palm (cello), Felicja Blumental (harpsichord), Sabine Meyer (clarinet) & Alfons Kontarsky (piano) London Symphony Orchestra, Krakow Philharmonic Chorus, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Krzysztof Penderecki
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