Latest stories
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Presto Editor's Choices - May 2022
2nd Jun 2022
Starkly beautiful Purcell, Strozzi, Eccles and Park from Helen Charlston and Toby Carr, plus a vivid, vulnerable Violetta from Lisette Oropesa on Pentatone's new Traviata, and punch-packing Rachmaninov from Steven Osborne on Hyperion.
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The Presto Chart - May 2022
1st Jun 2022
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for April, with Brahms quintets from the Pavel Haas Quartet and guests Boris Giltburg and Pavel Nikl on Supraphon in first place...
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Guitar works by John Brunning
31st May 2022
Composer John Brunning and guitarist Xuefei Yang talk about working together on an album of John's works for the guitar.
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Jakub Józef Orliński on Farewells
30th May 2022
The Polish countertenor discusses his new album of songs by his compatriots, why he thinks his native language is 'a big, beautiful playground' for singers, and how his friendship with pianist Michał Biel began with 'a story of rejection!'.
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Farewells
Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor), Michał Biel (piano)
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Sopranista from Samuel Mariño
27th May 2022
The young Venezuelan's silvery timbre and stratospheric high notes provide thrills aplenty in arias by Mozart, Saint-Georges, Cimarosa and Gluck - most of them composed for soprano castratos.
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New Release Round-Up - 27th May 2022
27th May 2022
Rameau from György Vashegyi, Lisette Oropesa in La traviata, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor from the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, and a box-set of the complete Vaughan Williams symphonies with Richard Hickox & Sir Andrew Davis.
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Golda Schultz on This Be Her Verse
26th May 2022
The South African soprano discusses her debut solo recording - a 'love-letter to women in music' featuring songs by Clara Schumann, Emilie Mayer, Rebecca Clarke and Nadia Boulanger, plus a new commission by composer Kathleen Tagg and librettist Lila Palmer.
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This Be Her Verse
Golda Schultz (soprano), Jonathan Ware (piano)
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Anne Howells (1941-2022)
25th May 2022
The British mezzo Anne Howells, a fine Octavian who also created roles in operas by Nicholas Maw and Mark-Anthony Turnage, has died aged 81.
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Birtwistle: Gawain
Marie Angel (Morgan le Fay), Anne Howells (Lady de Hautdesert), Francois Le Roux (Gawain), John Tomlinson (The Green Knight/Bertilak de Hautdesert), Penelope Walmsley-Clark (Guinevere), Richard Greager (Arthur), Omar Ebrahim (The Fool), Alan Ewing (Agravain), John Marsden (Ywain), Kevin Smith (Bishop Baldwin) The Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Elgar Howarth
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Boxed Set Selections - May 2022
24th May 2022
May heavyweights include Wilhelm Kempff's collected Decca and Polydor recordings, the Richard Hickox/Andrew Davis cycle of Vaughan Williams symphonies, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble's complete Philips Recordings, and a fortieth-birthday anthology from Capriccio.
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Vangelis (1943-2022)
23rd May 2022
The eclectic musician and composer Vangelis, known particularly for his popular soundtracks from the 1980s and 1990s, has died.
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Ravel Piano Concertos from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles
20th May 2022
Les Siècles continue their successful series of Ravel recordings on period instruments under François-Xavier Roth, with Cédric Tiberghien at the piano and baritone Stéphane Degout.
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New Release Round-Up - 20th May 2022
20th May 2022
Mendelssohn, Schubert and Mozart from Riccardo Chailly, Schubert's 'Fair Maid of the Mill' from Nicky Spence & Christopher Glynn, a Parisian recital from flautist Ana de la Vega, and John Williams's Cello Concerto from Yo-Yo Ma (with the composer conducting).
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Gramophone Editor's Choices - June 2022
18th May 2022
Chris introduces next month's selection, headed by a 'lively, supple' account of Handel's early oratorio La Resurrezione on Linn from Harry Bicket and The English Concert.
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Laurence Equilbey on Lucio Silla
17th May 2022
The French conductor discusses her new recording of Mozart's early opera on Erato, starring Alessandro Liberatore as the eponymous dictator and Franco Fagioli in the castrato role of Cecilio.
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Simon Preston (1938-2022)
16th May 2022
The British organist, choirmaster and conductor has died at the age of 83.
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Teresa Berganza (1933-2022)
15th May 2022
The Spanish mezzo, who excelled as Rossini's three great comic heroines and redefined the role of Carmen, has died aged 89.
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Brahms Quintets from the Pavel Haas Quartet and friends
13th May 2022
Three years on from their previous album, the Pavel Haas Quartet make a triumphant recorded return with two quintets by Brahms, for which they are joined by pianist Boris Giltburg and violist Pavel Nikl.
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New Release Round-Up - 13th May 2022
13th May 2022
Brahms from Herbert Blomstedt, Bach from René Jacobs, Mozart from Federico Colli, and Lupo from Fretwork.
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Noemi Gyori and Gergely Madaras on Romantic flute duos
11th May 2022
Flautist couple Noemi Gyori and Gergely Madaras talk about their new album of flute works – showcasing the work of the entrepreneurial Doppler brothers and the "Beethoven of the Flute", Friedrich Kuhlau.
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BBC Music Magazine - May 2022 Choices
10th May 2022
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by young Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä's 'electrifying and revelatory' Sibelius cycle with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra on Decca.
