Gramophone Awards, Romantic (era)
-
Vaughan Williams, Howells, Delius & Elgar - Music for Strings
RecommendedSinfonia of London, John Wilson
The sound, engineered by Ralph Couzens, is magnificent...While fully relishing the at times dreamy polyphony of Vaughan Williams’s textures, Wilson’s Fantasia has sharp, impassioned edges too,... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 3rd February 2023
-
Gramophone Magazine, March 2023, Editor's Choice
-
BBC Music Magazine, April 2023, Orchestral Choice
-
Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Finalist - Orchestral
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2023
-
Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2023
-
Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2023
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2024, Recording of the Year
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2024, Winner - Orchestral
-
-
Some extremely daring speeds guarantee excitement, pushing the technical limits in what are, of course, despite their generic title (Études , or Studies), so much more than technical exercises,... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 19th April 2024
-
Gramophone Magazine, May 2024, Recording of the Month
-
Gramophone Awards, 2024 Winners, Piano
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024, Shortlisted - Debut Solo Album
-
International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Solo Instrument
-
Sunday Times, 20 Best Classical Albums of 2024
-
Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2024
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2025, Recording of the Year and Instrumental Award
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2025, Newcomer of the Year
-
-
Tchaikovsky & Sibelius Violin Concertos
RecommendedLisa Batiashvili (violin)
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
Batiashvili focuses on poetic intimacy in this deeply thoughtful performance. —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 18th November 2016
-
BBC Music Magazine, April 2017, Concerto Choice
-
Gramophone Magazine, January 2017, Disc of the Month
-
Gramophone Awards, 2017, Finalist - Concerto
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2016
-
Record Review, 28th January 2017, Recording of the Week
-
Building a Library, November 2023, Recommended Recording
-
-
Trifonov’s approach is to search out through rounded and constantly beautiful piano tone the music’s pre-Debussyian side – a legitimate take on Liszt’s radical streak, keeping any risk of meretricious... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 7th October 2016
-
Gramophone Magazine, October 2016, Disc of the Month
-
Gramophone Awards, 2017, Finalist - Instrumental
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2016
-
ECHO Klassik Awards, 2017, Winner
-
Schallplattenkritik Awards, 2017, Winner - Jahrespreis
-
Grammy Awards, 60th Awards (2017), Best Classical Instrumental Solo
-
-
Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
RecommendedLise Davidsen (Senta), Gerald Finley (The Dutchman), Brindley Sherratt (Daland), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Erik), Anna Kissjudit (Mary), Eirik Grøtvedt (Steersman)
Orchestra and Chorus of Norwegian National Opera, Edward Gardner
Finley and Davidsen sound like sleep-walkers as they plumb the depths of their shared predicament, and they are supported by a first-class cast. Stanislas de Barbeyrac’s agonised Erik and Brindley... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 18th April 2025
-
Gramophone Magazine, May 2025, Recording of the Month
-
Gramophone Awards, 2025 Winners, Opera
-
International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Winner - Opera
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025
-
Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2025, Opéra
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2026, Shortlisted - Opera & Stage
-
-
Dynamic ranges are wide, with Ravel's crescendos not underplayed in any mistaken attempt at classicism, and rubatos are applied with tactful expressivity. —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 5th October 2009
-
Building a Library, March 2009, First Choice
-
Gramophone Magazine, December 2008, Editor's Choice
-
Gramophone Awards, 2009, Recording of the Year
-
Gramophone Awards, 2009, Winner - Chamber
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2009, Newcomer of the Year
-
Building a Library, January 2019, Also Recommended
-
Building a Library, March 2020, Recommended Recording
-
-
The Romantic Piano Concerto 27 - Saint-Saëns
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
If Saint-Saëns's idiom once answered – and maybe still does – to qualities fundamental to the French musical character, it must be said straight away that Hough sounds the complete insider.... —
Awards:
-
Gramophone Awards, 2002, Recording of the Year
-
Gramophone Awards, 2002, Winner - Concerto
-
Gramophone Magazine, November 2001, Editor's Choice
-
Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
-
Penguin Guide, Rosette
-
Gramophone Awards, 2008, Gold Disc
-
-
Davidsen’s grandly sized soprano is headed for Wagner and other dramatic operas, but we know from recital appearances that she is also a very appreciable artist in solo song. Everything here... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 7th January 2022
-
Gramophone Magazine, January 2022, Recording of the Month
-
Record Review, 15th January 2022
-
Gramophone Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Song
-
International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Vocal Music
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2022
-
Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2022
-
-
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony
Recommendedoriginal 1913 version
London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox
Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra have come up with a recording that you can cheerfully measure against most others in the catalogue, before you consider its unique extra charms! —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 1st December 2008
-
Gramophone Awards, 2001, Recording of the Year
-
Gramophone Magazine, July 2001, Editor's Choice
-
Building a Library, November 2016, Also Recommended
-
Penguin Guide, Rosette
-
-
Special offer. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet
RecommendedPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
This is one of the best new Tchaikovsky Fifths I’ve heard for ages...even if this Fifth came with no coupling, I’d still recommend it. —
Awards:
-
Gramophone Magazine, September 2023, Recording of the Month
-
Grammy Awards, 66th Awards (2024), Nominee - Best Engineered Classical Album
-
International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Symphonic Music
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2023
-
Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2023
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 29th December 2023
-
Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Shortlisted - Orchestral
-
