Challenge Classics
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CPE Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord
Ryo Terakado (violin), Fabio Bonizzoni (early keyboard instruments)
Long overshadowed in the modern imagination by his father Johann Sebastian, CPE Bach's own genius shines through in this superlative album from two masterful performers. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2025, Editor's Choice
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The Times, Best Classical Albums of 2025
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Die schöne Müllerin / Schwanengesang / Winterreise
Michael Gees, Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Andreas Staier (early keyboard instruments)
My desert-island choice for a highly cultivated yet quite personal tenor-voice foray into Schubert’s world. —
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2021, Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
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Prégardien brings ever new revelation to the songs, and though his pianist, Michael Gees, plays a modern piano, both vocal and keyboard parts are ornamented in the performing practice of Schubert's... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2008, Editor's Choice
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Building a Library, June 2018, Also Recommended
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Schubert - Schwanengesang & Songs After Seidl
RecommendedChristoph Prégardien (tenor) & Andreas Staier (fortepiano)
…an outstanding performance. …deeply engaged robustly expressive singing whose rhythmic rigour and details of phrasing and articulation reveal an exciting commitment to this great cycle. …with... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, April 2009, Editor's Choice
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Building A Library, February 2019, Also Recommended
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This is the voice of an older Pregardien: he has the grey hair for which Schubert's lonely wanderer longs. But the voice is in superb form, sensing out the underlying pulse and the minutest... —
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BBC Music Magazine, September 2013, Choral & Song Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2013, Editor's Choice
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a kindly gentleness of touch and a sensitive shaping of dynamic, helped by a recording that gives the piano just the right amount of space, generates a warmth and humanity that seeks only the... —
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J S Bach - Complete Cantatas Volume 22
RecommendedSandrine Piau, Johannette Zomer (soprano), Bogna Bartosz, Nathalie Stutzman (alto), James Gilchrist, Christoph Prégardien, Jörg Dürmüller (tenor) & Klaus Mertens (bass)
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Ton Koopman
Koopman's irrepressible enthusiasm and impish wit remain undiminished as he ends his immense 12 year project recording all Bach's cantatas. Assured vocal soloists, fluent choir and impeccable... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2008, Choral Award Winner
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Audio formats guide -
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In Heaven
Songs for a Trip to Space
Olivia Vermeulen (mezzo), Jan Philip Schulze (piano/synthesizer)
An extraordinary sonic journey. This duo consistently delivers inventive concepts yet their deeper artistic purpose never eclipses their light touch. Schulze's virtuosic playing matches Vermeulen's... —
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BBC Music Magazine, February 2026, Vocal Choice
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Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 12, Rondo for Piano in D Major, K. 485
Dejan Lazic (piano), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend
the combination of artistry and intelligence customarily exhibited by Lazić is its own reward, and the latest in this gradually unfurling series of Mozart recordings is sure to appeal far beyond... —
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