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New Release Round-Up - 2nd June 2023
2nd Jun 2023by Katherine Cooper
Byrd from The Gesualdo Six, Bruckner from Thomas Dausgaard in Bergen, works by Tan Dun, Turnage, Glass and Heggie from the New Century Chamber Orchestra & Daniel Hope, and Handel's Serse (with Emily D'Angelo in the title-role) from Harry Bicket & The English Concert.
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The Presto Chart - May 2023
1st Jun 2023by Chris O'Reilly
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for May, with Spanish violinist María Dueñas's Beethoven and Beyond on Deutsche Grammophon in first place...
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Presto Editor's Choices - May 2023
1st Jun 2023by Katherine Cooper
A spine-tingling programme of macabre ballads from Georg Nigl and Olga Pashchenko, weird and wonderful Royer from Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, and a swashbuckling quartet of Venetian violin concertos from Chouchane Siranossian and the Venice Baroque Orchestra.
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Isata Kanneh-Mason's Childhood Tales
31st May 2023by Katherine Cooper
The pianist discusses growing up in a 'house full of music' in Nottingham, and her new album of works by Mozart, Schumann, Debussy and Dohnányi (out now on Decca Classics).
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Boxed Set Selections - May 2023
30th May 2023by Chris O'Reilly
May heavyweights include Herbert Blomstedt's collected recordings on Decca, a comprehensive Smetana anthology on Brilliant, and Lorin Maazel's complete recordings on Deutsche Grammophon.
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A new Haydn symphony series from Paavo Järvi
26th May 2023by David Smith
Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie launch an exciting new Haydn project, embracing music that's peppered with moments of wry humour.
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New Release Round-Up - 26th May 2023
26th May 2023by Katherine Cooper
Shostakovich from Gianandrea Noseda and the LSO, Childhood Tales from Isata Kanneh-Mason, spirituals and songs by Black composers from American countertenor Reginald Mobley, and Schubert from Marek Janowski in Dresden.
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María Dueñas on Beethoven and Beyond
25th May 2023by Katherine Cooper
The Spanish violinist discusses her debut recording of the Beethoven concerto (plus shorter pieces by Spohr, Kreisler, Saint-Saëns, Ysaÿe and Wieniawski), and explains why she felt it was important to bring 'something of herself' to the work by writing her own cadenzas.
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Cecilia McDowall on her Da Vinci Requiem and Seventy Degrees below Zero
24th May 2023by David Smith
The composer discusses two of her new large-scale choral works, her approaches to matching words to music, and her aims as a contemporary composer.
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BBC Music Magazine - May 2023 Choices
23rd May 2023by Chris O'Reilly
Chris introduces this month's choices, headed by a Turandot of 'passion and intelligence' from Sir Antonio Pappano on Warner Classics, starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Jonas Kaufmann and Ermonela Jaho.
Featured product
Puccini: Turandot
Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), Jonas Kaufmann (Calaf), Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum), Mattia Olivieri (Ping), Gregory Bonfatti (Pang), Siyabonga Maqungo (Pong), Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
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Michael Waldron on Sword in the Soul
22nd May 2023by David Smith
Conductor Michael Waldron shares some of his thoughts on Francis Grier's contemporary Passion oratorio 'Sword in the Soul', which he conducts on a new recording with the London Choral Sinfonia alongside works by Park, Bednall and Elgar.
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Christophe Rousset conducts Spontini's La vestale
19th May 2023by Katherine Cooper
The first-ever period-instrument recording of Spontini's 1807 opera emphasises the score's debt to the French declamatory tradition, with Marina Rebeka on ravishing form in the title-role and Stanislas de Barbeyrac showing his true heroic colours as the Roman soldier Licinius.
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New Release Round-Up - 19th May 2023
19th May 2023by Katherine Cooper
Bruch & Price concertos from Randall Goosby, a snapshot of Mozart's time in Mannheim from the Freiburger Barockorchester, Liszt orchestral songs from Thomas Hampson and friends, and the Bevan Family Consort's debut album of sacred choral music (including works by Palestrina, Tallis, Holst & Stanford).
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Lara Downes on Love at Last
18th May 2023by David Smith
The pianist and activist talks about her new album, pulling together piano miniatures from all around the world, past and present, in response to challenging times.
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Ingrid Haebler (1929-2023)
17th May 2023by David Smith
The Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper broke the news on Sunday that the Austrian pianist and early pioneer of period instrument performance had died at the age of 93.
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Missy Mazzoli on Dark with Excessive Bright
16th May 2023by Katherine Cooper
In the wake of the first full-length album of her orchestral music on BIS, the American composer talks about the writers and musicians who've inspired her work...
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Gramophone Editor's Choices - May 2023
15th May 2023by Katherine Cooper
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by the final instalment of Les Arts Florissants & Paul Agnew's 'compelling' Gesualdo series on Harmonia Mundi...
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Broken Branches from Karim Sulayman and Sean Shibe
12th May 2023by David Smith
The Lebanese-American tenor and Scottish guitarist join forces for a multifaceted yet deeply personal recital, that ranges across cultural and geographical boundaries and explores the idea of diaspora in music.
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New Release Round-Up - 12th May 2023
12th May 2023by Katherine Cooper
Legrenzi motets from Rinaldo Alessandrini, Nielsen from Edward Gardner & James Ehnes, Beethoven's complete piano concertos from Garrick Ohlsson & Donald Runnicles, and orchestral works & Lieder by Franz Schreker from Christoph Eschenbach (with soloists Chen Reiss & Matthias Goerne) in Berlin.
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Tessa Lark on The Stradgrass Sessions
11th May 2023by David Smith
The violinist talks about her new album, which sees her collaborate with an eclectic mix of musicians and explore everything from Ysaÿe's Solo Sonata No. 5 to Michael Cleveland's infectious fiddle-tunes.