Classical Recommendations
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Presto Editor's Choices - February 2022
2nd Mar 2022
A kaleidoscope of African piano music from Rebeca Omordia, Italian baroque rarities from Ian Bostridge, and a musical journey from Prague To Budapest from Laura van der Heijden and Jâms Coleman.
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Presto Editor's Choices - January 2022
2nd Feb 2022
A powerful pasticcio requiem from La Tempête and Simon-Pierre Bestion, enchanting Handel from Sandrine Piau and Les Paladins, and a superb survey of George Walker's piano sonatas from Steven Beck.
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Presto Editor's Choices - November 2021
1st Dec 2021
A terrific debut album of baroque operatic heroines from Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique, a mesmerising 'Venetian Mirror' from Le Consort, and a madcap musical journey down Lewis Carroll's rabbit-hole courtesy of Irish composer Gerald Barry.
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Presto Editor's Choices - October 2021
1st Nov 2021
French mezzos Marianne Crebassa and Lea Desandre excel on two very different recital-discs, Claire Booth and Christopher Glynn offer an unusual perspective on Mussorgsky, and The Hermes Experiment continue to surprise and delight with their second album.
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Presto Editor's Choices - September 2021
2nd Oct 2021
Yannick Nézet-Séguin's Florence Price project from Philadelphia gets off to an electrifying start, Lucas Debargue and Gidon Kremer prove energetic champions of Polish composer-pianist Miłosz Magin, and the Marian and Illyria Consorts join forces for an illuminating Adriatic Voyage.
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Presto Editor's Choices - August 2021
31st Aug 2021
A vividly-painted gallery of French Classical heroines from Véronique Gens, Bull and Byrd in glorious technicolour from Kit Armstrong, and a mesmerising recital of songs by Irish composer Ina Boyle.
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Presto Editor's Choices - July 2021
1st Aug 2021
An exhilarating debut recording from the C/O Chamber Orchestra in Ibert, Bartók and more, a loveable recital of love-song transcriptions from Angela Hewitt, and a superbly-paced Fidelio from Marek Janowski.
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Presto Editor's Choices - June 2021
30th Jun 2021
A hugely enjoyable and thought-provoking debut from US violinist Randall Goosby, an illuminating musical tour of Vienna with pianist Alasdair Beatson, and a superb introduction to the orchestral music of Vítězslava Kaprálová.
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Presto Editor's Choices - May 2021
1st Jun 2021
John Wilson and Sinfonia of London spin a sensuous shaggy-dog story with élan, Kate Lindsey and Arcangelo bring Nero to life in all his monstrous glory, and Elizabeth Llewellyn and Simon Lepper shine light on forgotten songs by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
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Presto Editor's Choices - April 2021
30th Apr 2021
A beguiling recital of lieder by female composers from soprano Olena Tokar and Igor Gryshyn, a revelatory Wesendonk-Lieder from Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho, and a glittering Nutcracker from the brilliant young pianist Ivan Bessonov.
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Presto Editor's Choices - March 2021
31st Mar 2021
A touching and often witty recital of lockdown commissions from Helen Charlston and Michael Craddock, electrifying Ives from Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and a revelatory recital of Florence Price's piano music from Samantha Ege.
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Presto Editor's Choices - February 2021
1st Mar 2021
A breathtaking Liszt recital from Benjamin Grosvenor, three electrifying orchestral works by Raymond Yiu, and a highly enjoyable trip to the zoo with Ashley Riches and Joseph Middleton.
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Presto Editor's Choices - January 2021
2nd Feb 2021
Spellbinding story-telling from Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze, an exciting Eccles world premiere from the Academy of Ancient Music, and hugely appealing chamber music by Swedish Romantic composer Helena Munktell.
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Presto Editor's Choices - November 2020
30th Nov 2020
Ian Bostridge's miller-lad toughens up on the tenor's third recording of Die schöne Müllerin, whilst Philippe Jaroussky and TrioW both unearth some fascinating buried treasure and Paavo Järvi begins a promising new Tchaikovsky cycle.
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Presto Editor's Choices - October 2020
31st Oct 2020
Vivid, cinematic orchestral works from Anna Clyne, Reynaldo Hahn's enchanting first opera, and mesmerising musical riddles from singer-composer Stef Conner.
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Presto Editor's Choices - September 2020
30th Sep 2020
Vivaldi with a twist from Patricia Kopatchinskaja, beautifully downsized Mahler from the late Reinbert de Leeuw, and a superbly atmospheric Peter Grimes from Bergen.
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Presto Editor's Choices - August 2020
31st Aug 2020
Gothic operas from Missy Mazzoli and Saint-Saëns, Fazil Say's complete works for violin, and a startlingly atmospheric song-cycle for mezzo and orchestra by Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen.
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Presto Editor's Choices - July 2020
30th Jul 2020
A terrific debut solo recording featuring Britten and Liszt confirms the young British tenor Stuart Jackson as a major talent, whilst Chandos release two twentieth-century masterpieces centring on incarceration.
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Presto Editor's Choices - June 2020
1st Jul 2020
Thomas Adès's treatment of the Creation myth rivals Haydn's for inventiveness, whilst Arabella Steinbacher smoulders in Piazzolla, and Antonio Pappano whips up a storm in a new studio recording of Verdi's Otello.
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Presto Editor's Choices - May 2020
1st Jun 2020
Imaginative song-recitals from Natalya Romaniw, Roderick Williams and Ilker Arcayürek, luminous Janáček from Thomas Adès, and old-school orchestral fireworks from Airat Ichmouratov.
