SOMM
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Boult’s Elgar: The Forgotten Recordings
Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Chorus, Sir Adrian Boult
Boult find[s] at times an almost ethereal lightness. The Choral Songs are still rarities, studio performances from the BBC Chorus in 1967, and Boult's memories of his encounters with Elgar are... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2025, Archive Issue of the Month
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Donohoe slips seamlessly into an ensemble that brings together longstanding friendships and shared performance history. His own quietly stated musical authority and flair is formidable and augmented... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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Elgar: From the Archives, Vol. 1
Marjorie Hayward (violin), Una Bourne (piano)
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, The London String Quartet, New Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Edward Elgar, Henry Wood
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In 'Flow, my tears' (1600) the rich voice of Kieran White clearly finds its expressive centre...The lute playing throughout (including in the solo Fancies) is superb. —
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Stravinsky: Music for Solo Piano and Piano and Orchestra
Peter Donohoe (piano)
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, David Atherton
All are superbly crisp and clean, and David Atherton has his Hong Kong orchestra on its toes. Both the Concerto and the Capriccio demonstrate extra energy just when interest might be in danger... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, December 2017
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George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra: The Forgotten Recordings
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
Szell later re-recorded almost all the repertoire, but it’s fascinating to hear the partnership when their much-vaunted precision was well in progress, if not immaculate...Best of all are Schumann’s... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2021, Historical Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2021, Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Historical
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Elgar: The Longed-for Light
RecommendedElgar's Music in Wartime
Simon Callow (speaker), Simon Callow (speaker) & Susan Gritton (soprano)
BBC Concert Orchestra, John Wilson
Here's a supremely enjoyable Elgar survey centred around a clutch of works composed during the Great War...Throughout, the BBC Concerto Orchestra respond with bright-eyed conviction and commendable... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th November 2012
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2013, Editor's Choice
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Arnold Bax: Spring Fire - Complete Music For Cello & Piano
Alexander Baillie (cello), John Thwaites (piano)
Baillie and Thwaites's commitment and love of this repertoire still shine through, helped by a recording lively and immediate enough for the performers to sound only a few inches away. —
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In the first movement, I love the way Madeleine Mitchell and her colleagues let the music unfold in a natural manner, as though they were treading the very contours of Howell’s beloved landscape... —
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Kenneth Leighton: Every Living Creature
Londinium, Finchley Children’s Music Group, Andrew Griffiths
…This recording is a triumph for all involved, not least director Andrew Griffiths, who was no doubt the main force behind this project, and not forgetting composer Kenneth Leighton, whose music... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2023
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