Latest stories
-
Gramophone Editor's Choices - August 2023
8th Aug 2023by Chris O'Reilly
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by a recording of the Ysaÿe Sonatas that 'will be difficult to equal, let alone surpass' from Hilary Hahn on Deutsche Grammophon...
-
Joseph Middleton on Mahler
7th Aug 2023by Katherine Cooper
The pianist discusses his mission to record all of Mahler's songs in the versions for voice and piano (which launched at the end of last month on Signum Classics) and recounts how 'there was never a grand plan for this to be my job'...
-
Episode 40: A Russian Soul in Exile - Sergei Rachmaninoff with Fiona Maddocks
6th Aug 2023by Paul Thomas
Sergei Rachmaninoff's period of exile from Russia is discussed with the author of a highly enjoyable new book 'Goodbye Russia', Fiona Maddocks.
-
Coleridge-Taylor and Dvořák from the Takács Quartet
4th Aug 2023by David Smith
The Takács Quartet present a double-bill of works from the year 1895: a youthful Coleridge-Taylor, barely into his twenties but already carving out a distinctive style, and a mature Dvořák, recently returned to his beloved Bohemia from the New World.
-
New Release Round-Up - 4th August 2023
4th Aug 2023by Katherine Cooper
A celebration of the Bach dynasty from oboist Albrecht Mayer, Tan Dun's Buddha Passion, Tchaikovsky & Schulhoff from Manfred Honeck in Pittsburgh, and music for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary from ORA & Suzi Digby.
-
Carl Davis (1936-2023)
3rd Aug 2023by David Smith
The American-born, British-resident composer and conductor, known for his wide range of music for film and television, has died at the age of 86.
-
Oklahoma! from John Wilson and other forthcoming highlights
2nd Aug 2023by Katherine Cooper
Sierra Boggess and Nathaniel Hackmann head the cast on Wilson's complete recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1943 musical, with other early autumn highlights including albums from Isabelle Faust, Anna Lapwood and Jakub Józef Orliński.
Featured product
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
Nathaniel Hackmann (Curly), Sierra Boggess (Laurey), Rodney Earl Clarke (Jud Fry), Jamie Parker (Will Parker), Louise Dearman (Ado Annie), Sandra Marvin (Aunt Eller), Nadim Naaman (Ali Hakim), Leo Roberts (Andrew Carnes), Oklahoma! Ensemble, Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
More products from this article -
Presto Editor's Choices - July 2023
1st Aug 2023by Katherine Cooper
Matchless Mahler from Sarah Connolly and Joseph Middleton, a starkly beautiful album of new works by Stuart MacRae from mezzo Lotte Betts-Dean & Sequoia, and a stylish Spanish recital from violinist Francesco Fullana.
-
The Presto Chart - July 2023
1st Aug 2023by Chris O'Reilly
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for July, with Hilary Hahn's set of the Ysaÿe sonatas for solo violin on Deutsche Grammophon in first place...
-
BBC Music Magazine - August 2023 Choices
1st Aug 2023by Chris O'Reilly
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by Chineke!'s 'high-octane' recording of Florence Price's Symphony No. 1 and Piano Concerto (with Jeneba Kanneh-Mason as soloist).
-
Puccini's Il Trittico from Salzburg
28th Jul 2023by Katherine Cooper
Asmik Grigorian stakes her claim as one of the finest singing actresses of today in Christof Loy’s coherent, uncluttered staging of Puccini’s trilogy of one-act operas - culminating in a devastating interpretation of Suor Angelica.
-
New Release Round-Up - 28th July 2023
28th Jul 2023by Katherine Cooper
Romantic horn concertos from Martin Owen (conducted by John Wilson), Mahler song-cycles from Dame Sarah Connolly & Joseph Middleton, Book Two of The Well-Tempered Clavier from Ewa Pobłocka, and lute-songs old and new from Carolyn Sampson & Matthew Wadsworth.
-
Boxed Set Selections - July 2023
26th Jul 2023by Chris O'Reilly
This month's heavyweights include Ferenc Fricsay's complete recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, a Karel Ančerl Edition on Eloquence, a 75th birthday retrospective on Kathleen Battle, and a celebration of Mexican composer and conductor Carlos Chávez.
-
Benjamin Nicholas on Orchestrated Anthems
25th Jul 2023by David Smith
Merton College Choir, the Britten Sinfonia and Benjamin Nicholas present a selection of magnificent orchestrations of favourite church music.
-
Early Music Round-Up - Summer 2023
24th Jul 2023by David Smith
Monumental Obrecht from Cappella Pratensis, Philips and Dering from the Choir of Gonville & Caius (gilded by the addition of In Echo's period instruments), a travelling composer's biography-in-music from La Serenissima, a thrilling Venetian 'battle of the bows' from Chouchane Siranossian and the Venice Baroque Orchestra, and more.
-
Episode 39: A Mercury Legend - Antal Doráti with Rob Cowan and Thomas Fine
23rd Jul 2023by Paul Thomas
The Mono and Stereo recordings made by Antal Doráti with the Minnesota Orchestra are discussed with Rob Cowan and the executive producer of the new box sets, and son of the original producers, Thomas Fine.
-
Ysaÿe's six sonatas for solo violin from Hilary Hahn
21st Jul 2023by David Smith
Hilary Hahn finds magic, morbidity, merrymaking and much more in a brilliant new account of Ysaÿe's six affectionate character-sketches for his violinist friends.
-
New Release Round-Up - 21st July 2023
21st Jul 2023by Katherine Cooper
Mendelssohn from Les Ambassadeurs ~ La Grande Écurie, Bach from Bojan Čičić, a Spanish recital from violinist Francisco Fullana, and fourteen-year-old treble Malakai Bayoh's debut on Decca.
-
Reginald Mobley on Because
20th Jul 2023by Katherine Cooper
Ahead of his Proms performance of the programme at The Sage this weekend, the American countertenor discusses his album of spirituals and songs by Black composers with jazz pianist Baptiste Trotignon, released on Alpha Classics in May.
-
Robyn Allegra Parton on Burnished Gold
19th Jul 2023by Katherine Cooper
The British soprano discusses her Klimt-inspired debut solo album on Orchid Classics, exploring music by composers associated with the Viennese Secession movement and featuring songs by Joseph Marx, Alma Mahler, the teenage Erich Korngold and Johanna Müller-Hermann.