Classical Recommendations
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Presto Editor's Choices - April 2020
1st May 2020
Anna Prohaska sings of man's first disobedience, Yuja Wang dances with the devil, and Gerald Barry, Thomas Adès and Mark Stone paint a touching portrait of Beethoven in love.
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Presto Editor's Choices - March 2020
1st Apr 2020
Ripping yarns from Stéphane Degout and Simon Lepper, an exuberant Diabelli Variations with a twist from Rudolf Buchbinder, and an affectionate tribute to Leopold Godowsky from the brilliant young Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin.
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Presto Editor's Choices - February 2020
1st Mar 2020
A captivating collection of English song from Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton, a Spanish postcard from Offenbach, and a weird and wonderful Skalkottas anthology from Athens.
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Presto Editor's Choices - January 2020
31st Jan 2020
An eloquent, gently moving debut from the young Swedish violinist Johan Dalene, French connections from John Wilson, and a terrific triptych of Ariannas from American mezzo Kate Lindsey.
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Presto Editor's Choices - November 2019
1st Dec 2019
Arresting debut albums from tenor Benjamin Bernheim, violinist Diana Tishchenko and mezzo Adèle Charvet, plus fleet-footed Schubert from Maxim Emelyanychev in his first recording with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
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Presto Editor's Choices - October 2019
31st Oct 2019
Awe-inspiring Ravel and Stravinsky from Italian pianist Beatrice Rana, eloquent Schumann from Camilla Tilling, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, and a superbly spooky Der Freischütz from Marek Janowski.
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Presto Editor's Choices - September 2019
8th Oct 2019
Sumptuous Elgar from Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, fiery Falla from Pablo Heras-Casado and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and lightly-worn virtuosity from the sweet-toned Chinese violinist Ning Feng.
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Presto Editor's Choices - August 2019
31st Aug 2019
Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion paint a vivid picture of Mozart on the cusp of operatic greatness, Christophe Rousset makes a hugely persuasive case for Gounod’s original version of Faust, and Johannes Moser and Alasdair Beatson beguile in a programme of music for cello and piano by the Mendelssohns.
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Presto Editor's Choices - July 2019
31st Jul 2019
An utterly enthralling debut recital from American soprano Melody Moore, a pacey period-instrument account of Weber’s Oberon from the Stadttheater Gießen, and eclectic new concertos for violin and clarinet from Wynton Marsalis and Joseph Phibbs.
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Presto Editor's Choices - June 2019
1st Jul 2019
Intensely dramatic Janáček from Nicky Spence, Julius Drake and friends, an operatic oratorio on The Fall of Man by Josef Mysliveček, and an intriguing debut album of chamber works from octogenarian composer Erika Fox.
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Presto Editor's Choices - May 2019
1st Jun 2019
An almost indecently seductive French song programme from Sandrine Piau, a thought-provoking debut album from young British pianist Martin James Bartlett, and a rare outing for Granados’s one-act opera Goyescas, which crackles with Mediterranean heat.
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Presto Editor's Choices - April 2019
4th May 2019
A beautifully-programmed and sung recital which takes the Schumann-Wieck engagement as its theme, a Casella triptych from Tuscany, and vivid depictions of strong women from the Bible courtesy of Charpentier and Ensemble Correspondances.
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Presto Editor's Choices - March 2019
31st Mar 2019
Fazil Say’s appropriately epic Troy Sonata, the Italian version of Moniuszko’s Halka, Richard Rodney Bennett’s vivid depiction of the signs of the zodiac, and a glorious Paris recital from Stéphane Degout and Simon Lepper.
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Presto Editor's Choices - February 2019
4th Mar 2019
Two contributions to this year’s Offenbach bicentenary by rising young French virtuosos, orchestral works by ‘the father of Scottish music’, and superb advocacy for three female composers from violinist Tasmin Little.
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Presto Editor's Choices - January 2019
1st Feb 2019
Two startlingly original symphonies by the African-American composer Florence Price, Berlioz laid bare by four hands on a Pleyel, and hot-to-the-touch Schumann from Gautier Capuçon and Martha Argerich.
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Presto Editor's Choices - December 2018
31st Dec 2018
Donizetti from Stephen Costello, Mozart from Ensemble Appassionato and Mathieu Herzog, and upscaled Corelli from Gottfried von der Goltz and the Freiburger Barockorchester.
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Presto Editor's Choices - November 2018
30th Nov 2018
Schumann from Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, Beethoven from Maxim Emelyanychev and the Nizhny Novgorod Soloists, and Elgar from Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé.
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Presto Editor's Choices - October 2018
31st Oct 2018
An all-Strauss programme from Arabella Steinbacher, world premiere recordings of three Parry orchestral works, and an assured and mesmerising debut on Warner Classics from Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński.
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Presto Editor's Choices - September 2018
30th Sep 2018
A Winterreise with a twist, a voluptuous tour of fin de siècle Vienna with Barbara Hannigan, and a fascinating collection of orchestral music by the British twentieth-century composer Ruth Gipps.
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Presto Editor's Choices - August 2018
2nd Sep 2018
An irresistible collection of evergreens from a veteran baritone, Mendelssohn from the cutting-room floor, and two rare sets of incidental music by Fauré feature among this month’s favourites.
