Latest News: Classical
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Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - April 2021 7th April 2021Chris introduces this month's Choices, headed by Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne's 'peerless' album of French piano duets (including Fauré's Dolly Suite and Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye) on Hyperion.
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Obituary,
Simon Bainbridge (1952-2021) 7th April 2021The British composer, whose major works included Spirogyra, Diptych and settings of Primo Levi, has died aged 68.
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Interview,
Martin Suckling on This Departing Landscape 5th April 2021The Scottish composer talks about his new album of orchestral and concertante works, drawing on inspirations ranging from childhood friendships to contemporary ceramic art and the philosophical musings of Morton Feldman.
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Obituary,
Jane Manning (1938-2021) 3rd April 2021The British soprano and contemporary music champion, who premiered works by composers including Harrison Birtwistle, Judith Weir, Oliver Knussen and John Cage, has died aged 82.
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Recording of the Week,
Lise Davidsen in Beethoven, Wagner and Verdi 2nd April 2021The powerhouse Norwegian soprano is in expansive, radiant voice for Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder and arias from Fidelio, Otello, La forza del destino, Medea, and Cavalleria rusticana with Sir Mark Elder and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 2nd April 2021 2nd April 2021Bach transcriptions from Francesco Piemontesi, Hindemith from Les Vents Français, Byrd from Fretwork and Alamire, and an impressive debut disc from Franco-Armenian mezzo Varduhi Abrahamyan.
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Presto Chart,
The Presto Chart - March 2021 1st April 2021Our 25 best-selling titles across all formats for March, with French duets from Steven Osborne and Paul Lewis on Hyperion in first place...
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Interview,
Ksenija Sidorova on Piazzólla's legacy 1st April 2021The Latvian accordionist talks about her new album paying tribute to the great Astor Piazzólla, and tracing the modern legacy of his advocacy for the instrument.
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Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - March 2021 31st March 2021A touching and often witty recital of lockdown commissions from Helen Charlston and Michael Craddock, electrifying Ives from Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and a revelatory recital of Florence Price's piano music from Samantha Ege.
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Box Set Selections,
Boxed Set Selections - March 2021 30th March 2021A celebration of Claudio Abbado's years with the London Symphony Orchestra, two collections commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Stravinsky's death, and the complete Arthur Grumiaux recordings on Philips.
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New Release Round-up,
Music for Holy Week 2021 29th March 2021A brief round-up of recent releases focusing on Passiontide and Easter.
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Recording of the Week,
A Mozart postscript from Rachel Podger 26th March 2021Rachel Podger and Christopher Glynn bring to life a selection of musicologist Timothy Jones’s thoughtful completions of fragmentary Mozart works, offering a variety of plausible perspectives on what might have been.
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New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 26th March 2021 26th March 2021Beethoven, Wagner and Verdi from Lise Davidsen, Bach from Phantasm and Collegium Vocale Gent, and Gounod's Faust from Covent Garden, starring Michael Fabiano and Erwin Schrott.
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Interview,
Peter Cigleris on British Clarinet Concertos 25th March 2021Clarinettist Peter Cigleris talks about his new album on Signum, which sees him revive not one but four forgotten clarinet concertos from early twentieth-century Britain.
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BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - April 2021 Choices 24th March 2021Chris introduces this month's selection, headed by a powerful recital of songs by Black composers from baritone Will Liverman and pianist Paul Sánchez on Cedille.
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Interview,
Peter Whelan on The Trials of Tenducci 23rd March 2021The conductor talks to Katherine about his new recording with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, which explores the musical life of mid-eighteenth-century Dublin and the legacy of one of its brightest imported stars - the scandal-hit castrato Giusto Fernando Tenducci.
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Obituary,
Yevgeny Nesterenko (1938-2021) 22nd March 2021The Russian bass, who was closely associated with the Bolshoi throughout his long career and was particularly acclaimed in Russian repertoire, has died aged 83.
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Presto Music Classical Podcast,
Episode 14: The Music of Malcolm Arnold with Piers Burton-Page 21st March 2021Author and President of the Malcolm Arnold Society, Piers Burton-Page, gives an overview of the life and work of this important voice in twentieth-century British music.
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Recording of the Week,
Strauss Lieder from Sandrine Piau and Daniel Behle 19th March 2021The French soprano brings an uncommon freshness and flexibility to the Four Last Songs with the Orchestre Victor Hugo Franche-Comté, whilst Behle and his regular recital-partner Oliver Schnyder revel in the composer's coruscating attack on publishers in the rarely-recorded Der Krämerspiegel.
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New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 19th March 2021 19th March 2021Rachmaninov from Rattle and the LSO, English song from alumni of King's College Cambridge, Rameau from György Vashegyi, and a Proustian recital from Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Tanguy de Williencourt.