Beethoven
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an essential recommendation for any collection. These are performances which seem to present a Beethoven 'for the ages', a distillation of a long interpretative tradition, without concern for... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, 100 Greatest Recordings
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Building a Library, October 1999, First Choice
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Building a Library, October 2007, First Choice
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Building a Library, January 2016, First Choice
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1970s
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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From the first note, Osborne’s kinship with the composer is everywhere apparent and he conveys the vast contrasts of the last three sonatas unerringly...What is particularly winning about this... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2019, Recording of the Month
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Record Review, 18th May 2019, Record of the Week
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Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2019, Nominated - Instrumental
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Solo Music
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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Beethoven & Berg: Violin Concertos
RecommendedIsabelle Faust (violin)
Orchestra Mozart, Claudio Abbado
listening to these wonderful performances side by side is cathartic...The journey is vividly delineated from the outset of the Berg. With Abbado drawing sonorities from his first-rate orchestra,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 13th February 2012
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Building a Library, October 2015, First Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2013, Orchestral Finalist
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2012, Disc of the month
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2012, Disc of the Month
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Gramophone Awards, 2012, Winner - Concerto
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New. Ludwig van Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas I
Alina Ibragimova (violin), Cédric Tiberghien (fortepiano)
Everywhere is colour, drama and thought-filled expressive detail... the intimacy and sensitively weighted balancing of this conversation, and the natural immediacy of Andrew Keener’s capturing... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Editor's Choice
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New. Beethoven: The Last Three Piano Sonatas, Opp. 109, 110 & 111
RecommendedMitsuko Uchida (piano)
Uchida's explorative spirit and strength in finding the inner voice of the music remain undimmed. This is an album that will provoke conversation about the music and the musician, and which... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 24th July 2026
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Beethoven: The Piano Concertos
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Hough’s individualities of phrasing and subtleties of pedalling are all contained within a relatively Classical sense of order. He brings splendour to the greater grandiosity of the Emperor... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 2nd May 2020, Record of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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Her Diabelli Variations are a triumph of wit and character…Yet it's in her handling of the profundity lying beneath that Uchida makes her *Diabellis* stand out. Underneath the constantly changing... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2022, Instrumental Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Winner - Piano
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Grammy Awards, 65th Awards (2023), Nominee - Best Classical Instrumental Solo
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Solo Instrument
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The Guardian Classical Albums of the Year, 2022
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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
These are invigorating performances of Beethoven’s first and last concertos, conveying an admirable sense of spontaneity…The entire performance [of No. 2] radiates energy and enjoyment… Bezuidenhout... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 15th February 2020, Record of the Week
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2020, Concerto Choice
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Conductor of the Year
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Instrumentalist of the Year
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2020
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Beethoven & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos
Vilde Frang (violin), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Pekka Kuusisto
Frang’s exquisite tonal subtlety and enhanced range of dynamics allows her to weave in and out of Beethoven’s carefully graded orchestral textures, with a profound sense of listening and responding... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2022, Concerto Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Winner - Concerto
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Shortlisted - Concerto
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Dueñas’s performance favours the Concerto’s abundant lyrical qualities. In the magical Larghetto she combines unaffected simplicity with rich sentiment while her account of the ‘Rondo’ is certainly... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th May 2023
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023, Shortlisted - Debut Solo Album
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Concerto
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2023
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Winner - Young Talent of the Year
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