New and Future Releases

A new version which stands comparison with the best. Frang’s initial entry is immediately soulful and introspective, intently tuning in to Robin Ticciati’s compelling account of the long orchestral... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2024, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Bates's concerto is an ideal microcosm of the ideas at play in the album as a whole, variously hinting at the genres of jazz, film music and minimalism that Trifonov has performed earlier, whilst... — James Longstaffe, Presto Music, 11th October 2024 More…

this is an entirely excellent cast, both vocally and dramatically...But it’s also Wilson’s keen sense of style, and equally that of his orchestra the Sinfonia of London, that bring home the... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2024, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Purists may of course object, but I think the decision to go hunting for concertos from the violin and oboe repertoire is amply justified. Baroque Concertos is a wide-ranging collection that... — David Smith, Presto Music, 18th October 2024 More…

As on the Presto Award-winning Libertà! back in 2019, Pichon presents compelling evidence that the seeds of Mozart’s mature masterpieces were sown in the composer’s extreme youth, and the results... — Katherine Cooper, Presto Music, 4th October 2024 More…

With the right kind of instruments to hand, Heras-Casado understands well the nature of Bruckner’s orchestrations. — Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2024 More…

It’s a surprisingly chamber-oriented album, with even the two cello concertos inhabiting an astonishingly delicate, translucent sound-world. The first concerto makes a striking impression with... — David Smith, Presto Music, 1st November 2024 More…

Hindoyan gives his compatriot Gustavo Dudamel a run for his money in terms of the energy and ear for detail which he brings to this music, and the Liverpool players sound like they’re having... — Katherine Cooper, Presto Music, 25th October 2024 More…

The first thing one notices in this wide-ranging recital from rising baritone Huw Montague Rendall is his seriousness of purpose...There’s also top-rank work from the orchestra and conductor;... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2024, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Levit’s utterly compelling accounts of the late sets are the more impressive element in this collection. He does not put a foot wrong in any of them; each piece is perfectly shaped, its subtly... — The Guardian, 10th October 2024, 5 out of 5 stars (Solo Works) / 3 out of 5 stars (Concertos) More…

a fine demonstration of Leonskaja’s commitment to music whose fascination – and provocation – remains endless. — Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2024 More…

Alice Farnham, the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers do affectionate homage to this interesting music, to Imogen Holst’s special legacy, her creative individuality and her significant, often... — Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2024 More…

In what would turn out to be his final recording, this album from the late Maurizio Pollini (who died earlier this year) gains an extra layer of poignancy from the fact that it involves a collaboration... — James Longstaffe, Presto Music, 2nd November 2024 More…

it’s always when Beethoven is at his most virile when Hamelin most excels, especially with sweeping runs up the keyboard or busy fugal complications — anything that needs flying fingers...there... — The Times, 23rd October 2024, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Liu is a precise player, and understatement is a central quality of his interpretation. His articulation is exacting, and his dynamic shadings are subtle, with a particularly well controlled... — Matthew Ash, Presto Music, 8th November 2024 More…

A dream team in the making, I suspect. Capuçon and Pappano may be collaborating here for the first time but it’s a meeting of musical minds and sensibilities for sure. — Gramophone Magazine, November 2024 More…

Järvi’s Ninth seems to penetrate new realms of consciousness in a reading as intellectually searing and musically uncompromising as any I’ve heard, Karajan, Wand and Giulini included…A sober,... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2024, 5 out of 5 stars More…

He uses the capabilities of the modern Steinway judiciously, maintaining some of the qualities of the spinet and harpsichord of Purcell’s time whilst using but not over-using the vast tonal... — Matthew Ash, Presto Music, 30th August 2024 More…

There is, of course, a very real sense of ownership when the Czech Philharmonic play these pieces…And Bychkov’s skill – and indeed generosity – is to trust in his orchestra’s inheritance of... — Gramophone Magazine, October 2024 More…

Pappano makes the most of his extensive experience in the opera house to bring a compelling sense of purpose and dramatic thrust to this new recording, which positively fizzes and crackles with... — James Longstaffe, Presto Music, 2nd November 2024 More…

The stand-out performances come courtesy of the two sopranos. As Josue (the gentlest and most faithful of the exhausted Israelites), Bruno de Sá provides some of the most luminously beautiful... — Katherine Cooper, Presto Music, 22nd November 2024 More…

The keynote here again is sheer sonic splendour, captured by a detailed sound recording that’s almost overwhelming at times (but in the best sense), with a particularly powerful bass register. — Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2024 More…

This is effectively a debut recital recording for the soprano Nardus Williams, and she is outstanding… her voice giving the impression that it’s about to come unmoored and yet remaining absolutely,... — The Guardian, 5 out of 5 stars More…

How can one ensemble be so good at so many things?...There’s no trace of kitsch. They bring to this music the same virtues as their more canonical pursuits: unified and natural phrasing, and... — The New York Times, 26th September 2024 More…

it’s the strikingly dramatic four Ballads, from 1968, and especially the 1939 Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon, based on an episode from the Mabinogion, and in which Sibelius seems... — The Guardian, 17th October 2024, 4 out of 5 stars More…

For listeners whose musical lives have been inexorably shaped by MTT the conductor (and I count myself as one of those), perhaps it’s high time we should be giving MTT the composer the respect... — Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2024 More…

No detail escapes her. Confiding, conversational, anguished, enraptured, she inhabits the piece whose instrumental filigree is perfectly judged by the conductorless Ensemble 360. From the delicate,... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2024, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…