Edward Gardner
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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:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 18th April 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2025, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Winners, Opera
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Winner - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2025, Opéra
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2026, Shortlisted - Opera & Stage
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Special offer. Walton: Symphony No. 1 & Violin Concerto
RecommendedTasmin Little (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Little's way with the virtuoso passages is a notch less headlong than [on her earlier recording], allowing the ear to savour her phenomenal accuracy, yet with no loss of fire...Gardner and the... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 21st April 2014
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2014, Disc of the month
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2014, Disc of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2014
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Building A Library, July 2022, Also Recommended
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Special offer. Walton: Viola Concerto, Partita for Orchestra & Sonata for String Orchestra
RecommendedJames Ehnes (viola)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Ehnes, long established as one of the world’s leading violinists, doesn’t offer the same hefty, almost cello-like weight of tone on the viola as some of his specialist colleagues. Then again,... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2018, Editor's Choice
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Record Review, 28th April 2018, Recording of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2018
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Special offer. Walton: Symphony No. 2 & Cello Concerto
RecommendedPaul Watkins (cello)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
If a new Walton release can finally put paid to the notion that his music somehow 'went off' after his move to the Italian island of Ischia in 1956, then this must be it. And the performances... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, May 2015, First Choice
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Sunday Times, 2015, Albums of the Year
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2015, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2015
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Grieg: Piano Concerto & Incidental Music to 'Peer Gynt'
RecommendedJean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano), Lise Davidsen (soprano), Ann-Helen Moen (soprano), Victoria Nava (soprano), Johannes Weisser (baritone), Håkon Høgemo (Hardanger Fiddle)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choirs, Edward Gardner
Gardner and the splendid team tackle the whole work with all the verve and drama one could possible want…But perhaps most illuminating is the contribution of Håkon Høgemo on the Hardanger fiddle,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th January 2018
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Gramophone Awards, 2018, Shortlisted - Concerto
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2018
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Special offer. Huw Watkins: Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto and Symphony
Adam Walker (flute), Alina Ibragimova (violin)
Hallé, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth, Edward Gardner
Cast in the conventional three movements, [the Flute Concerto] dances through a musical landscape full of light and shade. Its invigorating sense of pace and momentum is beautifully caught by... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2018, Editor's Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, September 2018
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The Times Records of the Year, 2018
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Tippett: Piano Concerto & Symphony No. 2
RecommendedSteven Osborne (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
this completely symbiotic live account with Edward Gardner’s LPO has both repose and electricity to surpass all others...More, much more please – an indispensable disc! —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 13th December 2024
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Finalists, Concerto
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Janáček: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1
RecommendedJean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
we have a fine interpreter of Janáček and a distinguished orchestra...Orchestral ensemble is good though not always the intonation. still, the remaining movements are more compelling, with vivid... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th September 2014
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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Special offer. Richard Strauss: Elektra
RecommendedIréne Theorin (Elektra), Jennifer Holloway (Chrysothemis), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Klytemnestra), Nikolai Schukoff (Aegisth), Iain Paterson (Orest), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choirs, Edward Gardner
Gardner’s conducting gives maximum scope to the phenomenal range of light and shade conjured by Strauss’s orchestration, all delivered superbly by the Bergen Philharmonic. While there’s no shortage... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 27th February 2026
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2026, Opera Choice
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Gardner makes the most of the taut rhythmic energy in the music...all the colours of this showpiece [the Concerto for Orchestra] are brightly painted, with a virtuosity which is never empty,... —
Awards:
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Sunday Times, 2010, Albums of the Year
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2010, Editor's Choice
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