Nicky Spence
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Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared
Recommended& other works
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Václava Housková (mezzo), VOICE, Victoria Samek (clarinet)
This excellently recorded performance is strikingly direct. The ebb and flow of the drama is brilliantly captured. Nicky Spence’s tenor is flexible across a huge range…Drake’s accompaniment... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, June 2019
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Record Review, 6th July 2019
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2019, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2019, Nominated - Vocal
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Winner - Vocal
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Winner - Solo Vocal
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Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge & other songs
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Timothy Ridout (viola), Piatti Quartet
The famous cycle On Wenlock Edge (1909) has of ten been recorded, but this is a fine rendering with ‘Bredon Hill’ providing some particularly sublime moments. As always Julius Drake’s accompanying... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, May 2022, Choral & Song Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2022
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Song
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Chamber Music
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Special offer. Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
RecommendedNicky Spence (Gerontius), Anna Stéphany (The Angel), Andrew Foster-Williams (The Priest/Angel of the Agony), Polish National Youth Choir, Gabrieli, Paul McCreesh
This is unquestionably a great recording of Gerontius, one that every Elgarian should have, and ranks high among the many important projects Gabrieli has so far undertaken in its four decades... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2024, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recording of the Week, 26th April 2024
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2024, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Winners, Choral
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winners 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Choral
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2025, Winner - Choral
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Richard Strauss: The Complete Songs 8
RecommendedRoger Vignoles (piano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Rebecca Evans (soprano)
Evans weaves a special magic in the dying falls, with magnificent breath control at the end of 'September'. Gold, though, goes to Nicky Spence and Roger Vignoles, making a remarkable statement... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 4th August 2017
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2017, Choral & Song Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
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Special offer. Janáček: Jenůfa
RecommendedAgneta Eichenholz (Jenůfa), Katarina Karnéus (Kostelnička), Aleš Briscein (Laca), Nicky Spence (Števa), Jan Martiník (Starek, the Foreman/Mayor), Carole Wilson (Grandmother Buryjovka)
London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle
It’s the conflicted characters that we ‘hear’ in this Jenůfa: Laca who cuts the eponymous heroine’s face and the Deaconess Kostelnička who murders her stepdaughter’s illegitimate infant to protect... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 2nd May 2025
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Nominated - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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Special offer. Barber: The Complete Songs
RecommendedDylan Perez (piano), Samantha Clarke, Soraya Mafi, Louise Kemény, Mary Bevan (sopranos), Fleur Barron (mezzo), Jess Dandy (contralto), Nicky Spence (tenor), Dominic Sedgwick, Julien Van Mellaerts (baritones), William Thomas (bass)
Navarra String Quartet
Dylan Perez’s pianism is consistently insightful without obtruding – a tall order for any accompanist – and his curating of the entire project is masterly...These two discs undoubtedly set a... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, May 2022
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BBC Music Magazine, August 2022, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Shortlisted - Song
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Edward Gardner conducts Britten
RecommendedNicky Spence (tenor), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Rarely since Britten’s own classic Decca recording have I heard a performance of the Sinfonia da Requiem bristling with such visceral energy and structural inevitably as this new account from... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 30th May 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2025, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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Special offer. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs Volume 1
RecommendedMary Bevan (soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Roderick Williams (baritone), Jack Liebeck (violin), William Vann (piano)
All three soloists are careful to avoid an over-sophisticated response to songs whose strength is their directness of expression and simple integrity. Williams in particular is a perfect singer... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Special offer. Wagner: Das Rheingold
Samuel Youn (Alberich), Iain Paterson (Wotan), Susan Bickley (Fricka), Emma Bell (Freia), Reinhard Hagen (Fasolt), Clive Bayley (Fafner), David Stout (Donner), David Butt Philip (Froh), Will Hartmann (Loge), Nicky Spence (Mime) & Susanne Resmark (Erda)
The Halle, Sir Mark Elder
The Hallé’s strings don’t have the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s lustre in Jaap van Zweden Naxos version, and the recording isn’t as vivid; but with the glowing brass transition to the heights, the... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 2nd June 2018, Recording of the Week
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Presto Editor's Choice, June 2018
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Handel: Brockes-Passion
RecommendedRobert Murray, Cody Quattlebaum, Elizabeth Watts, Ruby Hughes, Tim Mead, Gwilym Bowen, Nicky Spence
Academy of Ancient Music, Richard Egarr
This formidably well-documented project is matched by a comparably sympathetic performance, Egarr paces the piece unhurriedly, recognising Handel’s often vivid responses to Brockes’s graphic... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2019, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2019, Choral & Song Choice
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The Times Records of the Year, 2019
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Finalist - Choral
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