Classical Interviews
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Nimrod Borenstein on his concertos and Shakespeare Songs
18th Mar 2026
The composer talks about his new album on SOMM, featuring concertos for mandolin and for oboe plus his Shakespeare Sonnets for soprano and orchestra.
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Michael Waldron on his new Christmas album with London Choral Sinfonia
27th Nov 2025
The Musical Director of London Choral Sinfonia visited Presto to talk about his latest album of Christmas music, released on Orchid Classics to celebrate the ensemble's tenth anniversary.
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Vasily Petrenko on Elgar and Rachmaninoff
6th Nov 2025
Ahead of the release of their debut recording on Harmonia Mundi next week, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director reflects on the parallels between two works which were premiered in 1913 - Elgar's Falstaff and Rachmaninoff's The Bells.
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Sir John Rutter at 80
24th Sep 2025
Composer Sir John Rutter reflects on eight decades of music-making - from studying and conducting at Clare College Cambridge to the turn to full-time composition, and the various influences that have helped to shape his musical style.
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Aziz Shokhakimov in Strasbourg
9th Jun 2025
Ahead of a performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring earlier this spring, the Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg sat down with Presto to discuss his pre- and post-concert routines, building a relationship with the city and its orchestra, and their new recording of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé on Warner Classics.
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Jakub Józef Orliński on Gluck's Orfeo
4th Jul 2024
The Polish countertenor discusses recording 'one of the signature-roles' for his voice-type, how going to hell and back in two contrasting productions of the opera informed his interpretation in the studio, and why acting as co-artistic director on the recording taught him to 'read the room'...
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Paul Agnew on Rameau's Platée from Garsington
19th Jun 2024
During the final stretch of rehearsals for Louisa Muller's new production of Rameau's tragicomic opera (which opened to rave reviews at the end of May), we paid the conductor a visit at the Wormsley Estate to find out more about what makes this score such a weird and wonderful treat - and why we don't see more French Baroque opera on UK stages...
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Rameau: Platée (Blu-ray)
Mathias Vidal (Thespis), Nahuel Di Pierro (Un Satyre/Citheron), Marc Mauillon (Momus), Julie Fuchs (Thalie/La Folie), Tamara Bounazou (L'Amour/Clarine), Lawrence Brownlee (Platée), Jean Teitgen (Jupiter), Reinoud Van Mechelen (Mercure), Adrianna Bignani Lesca (Junon), Les Musiciens du Louvre, Choeurs de l'Opera National de Paris, Marc Minkowski
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Cyrille Dubois on Fauré and treasures of the French Baroque
19th Oct 2023
Following his victory at the Gramophone Awards earlier this month, the French tenor discusses his winning recording of Fauré's complete songs with Tristan Raës - and shares some insights into Jouissons de nos beaux ans!, released in September on Aparté.
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Miloš Karadaglić on Baroque
12th Oct 2023
The Montenegrin guitarist explains why his upcoming album of music by Vivaldi, Marcello, Weiss, Rameau and others feels like 'standing on new ground' - and why JS Bach only came into the picture at the eleventh hour...
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Miloš: Baroque
Miloš Karadaglić (guitar), Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
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John-Henry Crawford on Rachmaninoff
13th Sep 2023
The cellist talks about his new album of Rachmaninoff cello works, built around the sonata in G minor and exploring the relationship between the cello's timbre and the human voice.
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Elgan Llŷr Thomas on Unveiled
28th Jun 2023
In the wake of the release of his debut album featuring a bold new translation of Britten's Michelangelo Sonnets (plus music by Tippett, Gipps and Thomas himself), the Welsh tenor discusses queer representation in opera and song - and why he feels that 'it's about time we started adding other stories into the mix'...
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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"...
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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.
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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.
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Tim Mead on Beauteous Softness
30th Mar 2023
The countertenor discusses his new album of songs by Henry Purcell, John Blow, Pelham Humfrey and William Webb with La Nuova Musica & David Bates (released last week on Pentatone).
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Héloïse Luzzati on La Boîte à Pépites
11th Oct 2022
The French cellist introduces her new label celebrating the legacies of women composers, which launched at the end of last month with a collection of vocal and chamber works by Charlotte Sohy (1887-1955).
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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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Lola Descours on Bassoon Steppes
27th Jun 2022
The bassoonist discusses her new album of transcriptions, featuring Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and more, and the unique relationship between the instrument and Russian repertoire.
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Bassoon Steppes
Lola Descours (bassoon), Paloma Kouider (piano)
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Daniel Hyde on Lenten, Passiontide and Easter music from King's
25th Apr 2022
The Director of Music at King's College discusses the Choir's new album, featuring music for Easter and the period leading up to it.
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Joyce DiDonato on EDEN
7th Mar 2022
The American mezzo talks to Katherine about her new album on Erato, and answers some questions submitted by Presto readers along the way...
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EDEN
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
