Erato
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Dynamic ranges are wide, with Ravel's crescendos not underplayed in any mistaken attempt at classicism, and rubatos are applied with tactful expressivity. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th October 2009
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Building a Library, March 2009, First Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2008, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Recording of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Winner - Chamber
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2009, Newcomer of the Year
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Building a Library, January 2019, Also Recommended
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Building a Library, March 2020, Recommended Recording
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Special offer. Mozart: String Quintets K515 & K516
RecommendedQuatuor Ebène, Antoine Tamestit (viola)
The performances on this new release are as accomplished as we would expect from players of this calibre. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, April 2023, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Chamber Music
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2023
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Building A Library, January 2024, Recommended Recording (String Quintet No. 3)
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Winners, Winner - Chamber
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Special offer. Baritenor
RecommendedMichael Spyres (baritenor), Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Marko Letonja
Spyres has a remarkable range and is a consummate vocal chameleon too...in a truly remarkable finale to his ‘Largo al factotum’, Rossini’s Figaro is indeed all things to all men vocally. What... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 24th September 2021
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BBC Music Magazine, November 2021, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2021, Recording of the Month
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Diapason d’Or, October 2021, Nouveauté
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Opera, December 2021, Disc of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2021
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Vocal
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Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2021
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Vocal
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Winner - Voice & Ensemble
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His technical strengths emerge clearly in the way in which he negotiates the switchback turns of Vivaldi’s ‘Cada pur sul capo’ (from Artabano), the cascading melodies of Porpora’s ‘Nocchier,... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2023
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2023, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Finalist - Voice & Ensemble
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Vocal Music
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2023
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Special offer. Debussy: Sonatas & Trios
RecommendedEmmanuel Pahud (flute), Renaud Capuçon (violin), Bertrand Chamayou (piano), Edgar Moreau (cello), Gerard Caussé (viola), Marie-Pierre Langlamet (harp)
A sense of joy in collegial music-making pervades these performances. Unlike many, violinist Renaud Capuçon and pianist Bertrand Chamayou and their colleagues do not avoid the vein of sensual... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2018, Winner - Chamber
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Building a Library, June 2018, Also recommended
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Record Review, 2nd December 2017, Recording of the Week
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Gramophone Awards, 2018, Shortlisted - Chamber
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Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2018, Winner - Chamber
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Special offer. Joyce DiDonato: Stella di Napoli
RecommendedBel Canto Arias
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon, Riccardo Minasi
everyone who cares about singing should promote it immediately to the top of their letters to Santa. Creamy, sumptuous, almost flawless - every adjective may be a cliché, but how else to describe... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 25th August 2014
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2015, Vocal Award Winner
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2014, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2014, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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Gramophone Awards, 2015, Finalist - Recital
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2014, Récital lyrique
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International Classical Music Awards, 2015, Winner - Vocal Recital
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Special offer. Handel: Agrippina
RecommendedJoyce DiDonato (Agrippina), Elsa Benoit (Poppea), Luca Pisaroni (Claudio), Franco Fagioli (Nerone), Jakub Józef Orliński (Ottone), Andrea Mastroni (Pallante), Carlo Vistoli (Narciso), Biagio Pizzuti (Lesbo), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Giunone)
Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
This Agrippina jostles for top place among the opera’s complete recordings. Joyce DiDonato is matchless in the title role, most other cast members likewise outstrip their rivals and their vocal... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 11th January 2020, Record of the Week
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Presto Recording of the Week, 31st January 2020
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2020, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2020, Opera Choice
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Female Singer of the Year (DiDonato)
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Conductor of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Winner - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Opera
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Grammy Awards, 63rd Awards (2021), Nominee - Best Opera Recording
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Special offer. In The Shadows
RecommendedMichael Spyres (baritenor), Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
this is another fine, fascinating album from an unusually interesting and intelligent artist, handsomely recorded. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 1st March 2024
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Nominated - Male Singer of the Year
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Winner - Solo Vocal Recording of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Finalist - Voice & Ensemble
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International Opera Awards, 2024, Winner - Recording (Solo Recital)
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winners 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Vocal Music
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We very quickly learn just how characterful Desandre can be with her amused, laughing reactions to women in battle in ‘Non posso far’, and the dark glitter of her voice in the melancholic ‘Lasciatemi... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Critics' Choice 2021
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2021, Editor's Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, October 2021
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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Record Review, Records of the Year 2021
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Opus Klassik, 2022, Female Singer of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Finalist - Voice & Ensemble
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Special offer. Purcell: Dido & Aeneas
RecommendedJoyce DiDonato (Dido), Michael Spyres (Aeneas), Fatma Said (Belinda), Beth Taylor (Sorceress), Hugh Cutting (Spirit), Laurence Kilsby (Sailor), Alena Dantcheva and Anna Piroli (Witches)
Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
DiDonato is magnificent as Dido, fully understanding how badly her story will end in her first aria as Purcell slides from minor to minor, then sumptuously sorrowful in 'When I am laid in Earth',... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th August 2025
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2025, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2025, Recording of the Month
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International Opera Awards, 2025, Shortlisted - Complete Recording
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Nominated - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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The Times, Best Classical Albums of 2025
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2026, Winner - Opera Recording
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