Berlioz
-
Paganini: 24 Caprices
Recommendedplus Caprices by Berlioz, Cervelló, Kreisler, Ortiz, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, Wieniawski
María Dueñas (violin), Itamar Golan (piano), Boris Kuschnir (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mihhail Gerts
The Paganini Caprices have energy in the bowing from the outset, confident octaves and portamento, and impeccable double stops...You could listen straight through, but I’d recommend random shuffling... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 14th February 2025
-
Gramophone Magazine, March 2025, Recording of the Month
-
Gramophone Awards, 2025 Winners, Instrumental
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
-
The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
-
-
This is utterly adorable from start to finish…In the booklet Piau speaks of her joy at performing this kind of repertoire and her rapture is palpable from the breathless opening moments of Saint-Saens’s... —
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, May 2019
-
Diapason d’Or, June 2019
-
BBC Music Magazine, August 2019, Choral & Song Choice
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
-
International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Vocal
-
Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 20th December 2019
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Finalist - Vocal
-
Gramophone Awards, 2020, Winner - Recital
-
-
The beauty of Alice Coote’s mezzo-soprano glows with radiance. —
Awards:
-
Gramophone Magazine, June 2015, Editor's Choice
-
Gramophone Awards, 2016, Finalist - Solo Vocal
-
-
El Nour
Fatma Said (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Burcu Karadag (flute), Rafael Aguirre (guitar), vision string quartet (string quartet)
Clever arrangements allow us to encounter shared visions across France, Spain and North Africa...There’s no tacky Orientalism here...The breathy, soft-voiced ney (a Middle Eastern flute) brings... —
Awards:
-
BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2020, Choral & Song Choice
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2021, Winner - Vocal
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2021, Winner - Newcomer Award
-
Gramophone Awards, 2021, Winner - Song
-
Opus Klassik, 2021, Newcomer of the Year
-
-
What is there left to say about Symphonie fantastique? Plenty, on the evidence of this vibrant new recording of Berlioz’s extraordinary masterpiece...Mäkelä gets the strings to shun the comfort... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 6th June 2025
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
-
-
The first thing to say is that Bernheim has an immaculate natural voice – rich, flexible, mellifluous and nuanced. He is at his very best in French items from the later 19th century…Moreover,... —
Awards:
-
Diapason d’Or, November 2019, Nouveauté
-
The Times Records of the Year, 2019
-
Presto Editor's Choice, November 2019
-
International Opera Awards, 2020, Nominated - Solo Recital Recording
-
Opera, April 2020, Disc of the Month
-
Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Male Singer of the Year
-
Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Winner - Newcomer of the Year
-
-
Régine Crespin: Shéhérazade
RecommendedRégine Crespin (soprano)
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Sumptuous of tone, supremely sensitive, Crespin was born to illuminate the art of French song. Whether floating the seductive allure of Ravel or revelling in the wit of Poulenc these recordings... —
Awards:
-
Building a Library, September 2007, First Choice
-
Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1960s
-
Penguin Guide, Rosette
Purchase product
Downloads
Audio formats guide -
-
L'Opéra
Recommendedjewelcase version
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Ludovic Tézier (baritone), Sonya Yoncheva (soprano)
Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Bertrand de Billy
Kaufmann is a consummate artist who rethinks everything that he sings…You can almost forgive the hooded, crooner-like tone that [he] favours when his characters are interrogating their souls.... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 15th September 2017
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
-
International Opera Awards, 2018, Nominated - Solo Recital
-
-
Special offer. Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été & Harold en Italie
RecommendedMichael Spyres (baritenor), Timothy Ridout (viola), Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, John Nelson
This is special. Two extraordinary masterpieces...Two outstanding soloists thoroughly immersed in Berlioz’s music, partnered by an orchestra and conductor with an unsurpassed pedigree in the... —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 18th November 2022
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
-
Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Nominated - Male Singer of the Year, Solo Vocal & Conductor of the Year
-
-
Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts, Op. 5 (Requiem)
RecommendedRobert Murray (tenor)
Gabrieli Consort and Players, Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Chetham's School of Music Brass Ensemble, Paul McCreesh
McCreesh provides pretty much the enormous forces Berlioz demands- 60 tenors at least- singing French Latin, as well as mostly original instruments… it’s fascinating. —
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 3rd October 2011
-
Gramophone Magazine, November 2011, Editor's Choice
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2012, Award for Technical Excellence
-
