Latest stories
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Anne-Sophie Mutter on East Meets West
30th Mar 2026
To celebrate the launch of her new series on Alpha Classics, ASM Forte Forward, the violinist talks about her long history of commissioning and performing new works by composers including John Williams, Witold Lutosławski, Unsuk Chin, and Aftab Darvishi.
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Alessandro Quarta on Sixteen Seasons
6th Jul 2022
Italian violinist, composer and musical superstar Alessandro Quarta talks to Presto's Paolo Pezzangora about his new album Sixteen Seasons - juxtaposing four composers' musical responses to the seasons of the year.
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Johan Dalene performs violin concertos by Nielsen & Sibelius
1st Apr 2022
The Swedish violinist offers a characterful performance of Sibelius's concerto alongside a virtuosic account of the piece that swept him to victory at the 2019 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition.
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Episode 28: Karel Ančerl Live with Rob Cowan and Matouš Vlčinský
27th Feb 2022
The live recordings by the great Czech conductor Karel Ančerl, and Bohemian musical culture are explored by Rob Cowan and Matouš Vlčinský from Supraphon records.
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Jack Liebeck on Ysaÿe
22nd Nov 2021
The violinist talks about his new album of the six sonatas of Eugène Ysaÿe for solo violin.
Featured product
Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas
Jack Liebeck (violin), Daniel Grimwood (piano)
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Baroque fireworks from Bojan Čičić and the Illyria Consort
29th Oct 2021
The violinist and his ensemble present four virtuosic concertos, showcasing the legacy of Vivaldi's incredible panache as a performer as well as the earliest origins of what would eventually become the solo violin caprice.
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A double-bill of very different Baroque violin albums
30th Jul 2021
Nicola Benedetti makes a successful first venture into early music with a programme of Geminiani and Vivaldi, and Théotime Langlois de Swarte teams up with William Christie to bring some French Baroque gems to light.
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Hideko Udagawa on Nostalgic Russia
6th Jul 2021
The violinist talks about her new release of Russian rarities for violin and piano with Petr Limonov, and reflects on her relationship with music from Russia.
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Renaud Capuçon on Elgar
16th Mar 2021
The French violinist talks to Katherine about recording the Violin Concerto and Sonata with Sir Simon Rattle, the London Symphony Orchestra, and Stephen Hough.
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Johan Dalene on Nordic Rhapsody
2nd Mar 2021
The Swedish violinist talks about his new album of music from Northern Europe, with pianist Christian Ihle Hadland.
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Francesca Dego on Paganini's Violin
22nd Feb 2021
The violinist talks about her new recording on Paganini's own violin, featuring works by, dedicated to and responding to the great composer.
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Nicola Benedetti plays Elgar
7th Aug 2020
The Scottish-Italian violinist embraces the heart-on-sleeve qualities of a work which the composer ruefully described as 'awfully emotional', her passion and responsiveness matched by Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Episode 2: The Art of Music Criticism with Harriet Smith
29th Jul 2020
For the second Presto Music Podcast, Paul is joined by music critic Harriet Smith, to discuss the art involved in reviewing classical music recordings.
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Adrian Chandler on Extra Time
28th Jul 2020
Adrian Chandler talks about his latest album of rarely-encountered Baroque gems with La Serenissima, released this Friday on Signum.
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Shostakovich from Alina Ibragimova
29th May 2020
The Russian-born violinist brings searing intensity and muscular tone to the two concertos, backed to the hilt by Vladimir Jurowski and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov'.
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Alina Ibragimova on Shostakovich
21st May 2020
The Russian-British violinist talks to Katherine about her recording of the two concertos with Vladimir Jurowski and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov', out on Hyperion next Friday.
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Jack Liebeck on Brahms and Schoenberg
22nd Apr 2020
The violinist talks to Katherine about his BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month, which was inspired in part by the memory of his grandfather Walter Liebeck - an accomplished amateur violinist and German emigré.
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Korngold's Violin Concerto from John Wilson, Andrew Haveron and the RTE Concert Orchestra
3rd Apr 2020
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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La Serenissima's The Godfather
15th Nov 2019
La Serenissima explore the network of friendships and collaborations that helped bring together German and Italian styles during the Baroque, with concertos by Telemann, Pisendel, Brescianello and others.
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Kati Debretzeni on Bach's Violin Concertos
11th Nov 2019
Violinist Kati Debretzeni talks to David about her new recording of Bach violin concertos - originals and adaptations - with John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists.
