Classical Recommendations
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Presto Team Choices - June 2025
1st Jul 2025
Staff favourites from June include the fourth volume of the LSO's Panufnik Legacies series, piano quintets by Vasyl Barvinsky and Borys Liatoshynsky, Sibelius from Nicholas Collon and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and vibrant Baroque duets from countertenors Carlo Vistoli and Hugh Cutting.
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New Release Round-Up - 27th June 2025
27th Jun 2025
British and American music for brass ensemble from Onyx Brass and John Wilson, Kurtág's Kafka Fragments from Susan Narucki and Curtis Macomber, CPE Bach from Ryo Terakado and Fabio Bonizzoni, and Martinů from Vilém Vlček and Denis Linnik.
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Opus Klassik Awards 2025
26th Jun 2025
Revealed in advance of October's ceremony at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the winners of this year's 'Deutscher Musikpreis' awards include Abel Selaocoe, Emily D'Angelo, Joana Mallwitz and Seong-Jin Cho.
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Gramophone Editor's Choices - July 2025
24th Jun 2025
Chris introduces next month's selection, headed by Bojan Čičić's 'masterly' recording of Biber's complete violin sonatas from 1681 on Delphian.
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New Release Round-Up - 20th June 2025
20th Jun 2025
Haydn from Kammerorchester Basel and Giovanni Antonini, Biber from Bojan Čičić and the Illyria Consort, Mendelssohn's Ein Sommernachtstraum from Pablo Heras-Casado in Freiburg, and fin de siècle French music from the Neave Trio.
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BBC Music Magazine - July 2025 Choices
18th Jun 2025
Chris introduces next month's selection, headed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard's recording of his long-term friend György Kurtág's Játékok on Pentatone.
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New Release Round-Up - 13th June 2025
13th Jun 2025
A Pan-European programme from La Serenissima, Stravinsky and Ravel from Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy, Bach from Francesco Tristano, and Brahms's clarinet sonatas (in new orchestrations by Stephan Koncz) from Daniel Ottensamer and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
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New Release Round-Up - 6th June 2025
6th Jun 2025
Debussy and Messiaen from Magdalena Kožená and Mitsuko Uchida, Sibelius from Nicholas Collon and Christian Tetzlaff with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mozart from Angela Hewitt, and Haydn from the Chiaroscuro Quartet.
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The Presto Chart - May 2025
2nd Jun 2025
Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for May, headed by 'dazzling' accounts of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1 and Symphonic Dances from Sinfonia of London and John Wilson on Chandos.
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Presto Team Choices - May 2025
31st May 2025
Staff favourites from May include Charles Koechlin's Symphony No. 1 from Ariane Matiakh, Madeleine Dring from Nicholas Daniel and friends, a Bruckner 9 with a difference from the Hallé and Kahchun Wong, and Lalo's Breton opera Le Roi d’Ys from György Vashegyi.
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New Release Round-Up - 30th May 2025
30th May 2025
Tchaikovsky from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Alpesh Chauhan, a second helping of British orchestral anthems from Britten Sinfonia and the Choir of Merton College Oxford, Ligeti concertos from Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth, and Anna Lapwood's eclectic new album Firedove.
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Boxed Set Selections - Spring 2025
29th May 2025
Heavyweight sets from the last couple of months include anthologies devoted to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (who would have celebrated his hundredth birthday yesterday), Joan Sutherland, Walter Weller, Steve Reich and Georges Bizet.
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BBC Music Magazine - June 2025 Choices
27th May 2025
Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by a 'distinctive, individual' solo recital from viola-player Timothy Ridout on Harmonia Mundi, featuring music by Telemann, JS Bach, Britten and Shaw.
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New Release Round-Up - 23rd May 2025
23rd May 2025
Purcell from Helen Charlston and Sounds Baroque, Chopin from Benjamin Grosvenor, Beethoven from Elisabeth Leonskaja and the Orchestre Français des Jeunes, and Madeleine Dring from Nicholas Daniel and friends.
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Gramophone Editor's Choices - June 2025
20th May 2025
Chris introduces next month's selection, headed by a 'most distinguished' account of Richard Strauss's Salome from Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic on Chandos, recorded live at the Edinburgh Festival in 2022 with Malin Byström in the title-role.
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New Release Round-Up - 16th May 2025
16th May 2025
Bach from Benjamin Alard, Brahms from Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, Lament and Liberation from the Choir of St John's College Cambridge, and Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven & Liszt from Mariam Batsashvili.
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Early Music Round-Up - Spring 2025
13th May 2025
Provincial Handel-inspired instrumental works from The Corelli Orchestra, Telemann chamber music from The London Handel Players, the culmination of the Orlando Consort's Machaut series, imposing Lusitano motets from Arte Minima, and more. Plus, the final three weeks of our Early Music special offer!
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New Release Round-Up - 9th May 2025
9th May 2025
Chopin from Justin Taylor, Bizet's complete songs from Cyrille Dubois and friends, early Schumann & Bruckner from Jordi Savall, and Shostakovich & Britten from Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
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New Release Round-Up - 2nd May 2025
2nd May 2025
Bruckner from The Hallé and Kahchun Wong, Kurtág from Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Brahms's German Requiem from Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki, and Strauss's Salome from Edward Gardner (with Malin Byström in the title-role).
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Presto Team Choices - April 2025
1st May 2025
Staff favourites from April include orchestral suites by Thomas Adès (conducted by the composer), Prokofiev from Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra, a riveting debut album of bel canto scenes from Italian soprano Eleonora Buratto, and a 'distinctively atmospheric' Bluebeard's Castle from Karina Canellakis.
