Thomas Dunford
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We very quickly learn just how characterful Desandre can be with her amused, laughing reactions to women in battle in ‘Non posso far’, and the dark glitter of her voice in the melancholic ‘Lasciatemi... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Critics' Choice 2021
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2021, Editor's Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, October 2021
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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Record Review, Records of the Year 2021
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Opus Klassik, 2022, Female Singer of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Finalist - Voice & Ensemble
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Approaching the repertoire with a shared musical vision, they produce ravishingly expressive accounts from curtain up to lights down...De Swarte plays a noble Jacob Stainer violin from 1665... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, January 2021, Chamber Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Winner - Baroque Instrumental
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Chamber
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Special offer. Songs of Passion
RecommendedLea Desandre (mezzo), Thomas Dunford (lute, theorbo), with Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone)
Jupiter
Across two discs, the performers shed any hint of 'whitewashed' English restraint, fathoming Dowland's twilight world and Purcell's exuberant theatricality. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2025, Editor's Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Winner - Baroque Vocal
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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Buxtehude: Seven Sonatas, Op. 1 BuxWV 252-258
RecommendedSophie Gent (violin), Jonathan Manson (cello) & Thomas Dunford (lute)
Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
This exquisitely balanced recording instantly captures the sense of conversation between the instrumental parts, highlighting the egalitarian approach of Buxtehude's melodic writing. What's... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2017, Chamber Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, July 2017
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Grammy Awards, 60th Awards (2017), Nominee - Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
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Special offer. Handel: Eternal Heaven
Lea Desandre (mezzo), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Thomas Dunford, Jupiter
Desandre’s pure, warm core and skilled application of vocal colours make her lyricism seductive, while her warp-speed passagi are simply astonishing. Countertenor Iestyn Davies delivers the... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, November 2022
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2023, Editor's Choice
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Nominated - Female & Male Singer of the Year, Conductor of the Year, Solo Vocal
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All four soloists dig into the virtuosic writing with glee – Peter Whelan’s pyrotechnics in the Bassoon Concerto are little short of astonishing, and Franco-Italian mezzo Lea Desandre rivals... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, October 2019
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International Classical Music Awards, 2020, Winner - Assorted Program
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Special offer. Barricades
RecommendedJean Rondeau (harpsichord), Thomas Dunford (lute), Lea Desandre (mezzo-soprano), Marc Mauillon (baritone), Myriam Rignol (viola da gamba)
Though still both around 30, Dunford and Rondeau are already steeped in this rich and subtle repertoire, and play it like they own it …Both also like to indulge in some slowish tempos, but Dunford’s... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th June 2020
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Altstaedt and pianist-conductor Emelyanychev have wonderful musical chemistry in this sophisticated album of 1960s compositions..Unreservedly recommended. —
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Special offer. Cavalli: Heroines of the Venetian Baroque
Mariana Flores (soprano), Anna Reinhold (mezzo)
Cappella Mediterranea, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon
Flores's softer languid singing aptly conveys a nymph's erotic longing for the return of her lover Jupiter…[Isifile's lament] is sequenced next to a vividly dramatic account of her rival Medea's... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Shortlisted - Recital
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Spanning four centuries, this gorgeous recital from a couple who were brought together through a mutual love of French Baroque is absolutely hypnotic stuff...Desandre's limpid, flexible mezzo... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, October 2023
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