Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - April 2017
With so many worthy contenders for attention in amongst the several hundred new releases which hit our site each month, we often have a tough time settling on which recording to review in full as our main Disc of the Week - our No. 1 criterion is that it has to be something which we truly feel passionate about, but in the interests of mixing things up a little in terms of genres and periods there are often numerous stand-out recordings which end up dominating our office play-lists for weeks at a time without receiving the editorial coverage they deserve. To go a little way towards rectifying this, we've decided to introduce a monthly round-up of the best of the rest, picking out ten 'near-misses' and giving a brief summary of what we think makes them special.
Displaying no signs of vocal wear and tear after his recent taxing Wagner assignments, the German baritone brings consummate delicacy and tenderness and a lovely sepia palette to the songs (mainly nocturnal in mood) which Schumann composed during the year of his marriage and those written towards the end of his creative life.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
In his first solo recording (made entirely without edits) since his Gramophone Award-winning disc of Mompou in 2013, the Russian pianist brings both thrilling muscularity and introspective lyricism to selected intermezzi and capriccios and the Klavierstücke Op. 118.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Strauss has always been at the core of the Bavarian orchestra's repertoire, and his heroes swagger and strive with such engaging exuberance on this recording, made last September on the orchestra's home territory under their new(ish) chief conductor. Leader Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici offers particularly eloquent characterisation in the great violin solos.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Wagner: Lohengrin
Klaus Florian Vogt, Camilla Nylund, Katarina Dalayman, Evgeny Nikitin, Falk Struckmann; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mark Elder
The light-voiced Vogt sounds genuinely other-worldly in the title role of the swan-knight (whetting my appetite for his Covent Garden debut in the role in 2018); Katarina Dalayman is a real powerhouse of an Ortrud, and Camilla Nylund a womanly Elsa. The Concertgebouw brass really rattle the rafters in the big third-act fanfares.
Available Formats: 3 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The clear-voiced British soprano captures the wit and whimsy of the Australian-born maverick to perfection, despatching the folk-song settings with unaffected simplicity before joining her accompanist at the keyboard for the piano duet version of Grainger's best-known arrangement, Country Gardens.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
I must confess that I han't fully appreciated just how much the sonorities of early twentieth-century instruments differ from their modern counterparts until I gave this recording a whirl; the veiled, soft-grained sonorities bring out all the hazy sensuality of Ravel's score.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This irresistible collection of marches, waltzes and galops has quickly established itself as Office Pick-Me-Up of the Month; Jarvi describes this music in his booklet-note as 'the American counterpart of a great Viennese tradition', and it shows in affectionate performances which swing and lilt with Straussian abandon.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Medtner & Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos
Marc-André Hamelin (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Hamelin and Jurowski offer imposing but unsentimentalised Rachmaninov and persuasive advocacy for Medtner's Second Concerto, which appears to best advantage in this lean, rhythmically vital performance thanks to the unflagging momentum generated by soloist and conductor alike.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
A wonderful (if bitter-sweet) memorial to the magnificent South African heldentenor, who died last September aged just 49; live excerpts from the punishing Strauss and Wagner roles which he sang with such seemingly effortless power and stamina showcase his golden tone and naturally communicative style as a vocal actor.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Lully's tragédie lyrique crackles with dramatic energy in this taut, pacy account from Niquet and a largely Francophone cast, who sing with full-blooded commitment; Marie Kalinine is a voluptuous Mèduse, Katherine Watson sings with real pathos as the ill-fated Mérope, and high tenor Mathias Vidal swashbuckles with style as the eponymous hero.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
