Classical Interviews
-
Gregorian chant-inspired contemporary choral music by Henrik Ødegaard
20th Jun 2023
The Norwegian composer talks about his new album of choral works, performed by Vox Clamantis with Jaan-Eik Tulve.
Featured product
Music By Henrik Ødegaard
Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve
-
Eva Zaïcik and David Haroutunian on 'Mayrig: To Armenian Mothers'
19th Jun 2023
The mezzo-soprano and violinist explore some of the themes from their recent album, based around reflections on motherhood in the Armenian classical tradition and in particular the works of Komitas and Aprikian.
-
The Bevan Family Consort on Vidi Speciosam
15th Jun 2023
Five Bevans joined us at our store in Leamington Spa last month to launch their new album of sacred choral music on Signum - and share some anecdotes about growing up in a large musical family...
Featured product
Vidi Speciosam
The Bevan Family Consort, Graham Ross
-
Paavo Järvi on Haydn's 'London' symphonies
14th Jun 2023
The conductor talks about his recently-launched Haydn project, his upcoming milestone with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and why "there is absolutely zero difference between Haydn and Bruckner"...
-
Karina Canellakis on Bartók
6th Jun 2023
The American conductor talks about her debut recording on Pentatone with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic - and explains why the repertoire on the album required such high levels of trust and caffeine...
-
Isata Kanneh-Mason's Childhood Tales
31st May 2023
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).
-
María Dueñas on Beethoven and Beyond
25th May 2023
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.
-
Cecilia McDowall on her Da Vinci Requiem and Seventy Degrees below Zero
24th May 2023
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.
-
Michael Waldron on Sword in the Soul
22nd May 2023
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.
-
Lara Downes on Love at Last
18th May 2023
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.
Featured product
Love at Last
Lara Downes (piano, voice)
-
Missy Mazzoli on Dark with Excessive Bright
16th May 2023
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...
-
Tessa Lark on The Stradgrass Sessions
11th May 2023
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.
-
Jocelyn Freeman on The Poet's Echo
4th May 2023
The pianist discusses her album of works with a Pushkin connection (including a new version of Britten's eponymous song-cycle, Shostakovich's Cello Sonata and Prokofiev's Three Romances), recently released on Rubicon and also featuring soprano Gemma Summerfield, baritone Gareth Brynmor John & cellist Abi Hyde-Smith.
-
Matilda Lloyd on 'Casta Diva'
3rd May 2023
In an exclusive post-concert interview for Presto Music following her launch recital at London's Wigmore Hall, trumpeter Matilda Lloyd talks about her new album of opera-inspired variations for trumpet and ensemble, 'Casta Diva' - featuring arrangements of works by Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, Viardot and more, and showcasing the instrument's more lyrical side.
-
Raider of the Lost Archives - Michael Spyres on Contra-Tenor
27th Apr 2023
The American singer discusses becoming 'the Indiana Jones of the tenor voice' on his latest album for Erato, which charts the evolution of the Baroque tenore assoluto and features rarities by composers including Latilla, Mazzoni & Piccinni...
-
Eric Whitacre at... 30!
26th Apr 2023
Looking back over three decades of music, the world-renowned composer talks Whitman, musical hits and misses, and the correlation between a piece's length and the age of the composer's children...
-
David Skinner on Byrd's 'Songs of Sundrie Natures'
18th Apr 2023
The artistic director of Alamire talks about his new recording with Fretwork of Byrd's 1589 collection of church and domestic songs, complementing an album from two years ago in which they explored the previous volume from 1588.
-
Franco Fagioli on Anime Immortali
14th Apr 2023
The Argentinian countertenor discusses his new album of sacred and secular Mozart (out today on Pentatone) - and recounts how his love-affair with singing the composer's music was ignited when he was cast as First Boy in Die Zauberflöte aged 11...
-
Florian Deuter on Biber's sonatas "for altar and court"
13th Apr 2023
The violinist talks about his recent album of ensemble music by Biber - twelve sonatas for various combinations of instruments, interleaved with twelve duos for trumpets, all coming from Biber's time in the service of the Salzburg court.
-
Bracing Change - Helen Grime on contemporary string quartets
11th Apr 2023
Scottish composer Helen Grime discusses her second string quartet, which features on the second volume of Bracing Change string commissions from NMC and the Wigmore Hall.
