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Published by Presto Music
Conversations from the world of classical music hosted by Presto Music's Paul Thomas, David Smith, Rob Cowan, Matt Ash and more. Guests have included artists such as Jess Gillam, Anna Lapwood and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and respected writers and critics like Rob Cowan, David Hurwitz and Andrew Mellor. Visit us at www.prestomusic.com
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Two historic box sets were recently released on the Eloquence label, dedicated to recordings the Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti made in London in the late 1950s and 1960s for the Mercury lable. Primarily focussed on his tenure with the London Symphony Orchestra, volume 2 also features the Bath Festival Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and New Philharmonia Orchestra. To discuss Doráti's time in London, I was delighted to be joined once again by Thomas Fine, son of Robert and Wilma Cozart Fine, the husband-and-wife production team who originally recorded these sessions. Thomas is the executive producer of these new editions, and personally remastered them for Eloquence. Together, we pick through many of the highlights included in the sets and learn how Thomas's mother became Doráti's trusted assistant—all thanks to a fateful sandwich! If you are enjoying the Presto Music Podcast please like and subscribe to it on your preferred platform, and maybe even give us a short review. And we would love to hear your feedback and suggestions for future topics, and also guests who you would like us to talk to. Please email us at info@prestomusic.com Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Matthew Ash enjoyed a wide-ranging and free-wheeling conversation with pianist James Rhodes, coinciding with the release of new album, MANíA. In a coming together of two people passionate about piano music, they discuss everything from romance in Bach to a shared dislike of music as wallpaper. Think of it as eavesdropping on a conversation, and just be aware there are a few expletives here and there. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Matthew Ash chats with Rufus Wainwright about the premiere recording of his Dream Requiem, the recordings of Verdi's Requiem that captured his attention from an early age, and some of the other inspirations behind his diverse musical explorations. He even mentions his dog, called Puccini. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Amid the plethora of Bruckner recordings released to mark the composer’s bicentenary this year, Manfred Honeck’s account of Symphony No. 7 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (coupled with a new commission by Mason Bates) stands out for what BBC Music Magazine described as the ‘high levels of synergy and mutual comprehension’ between conductor and orchestra as well as the sheer beauty of sound from each section. Our guest contributor Rob Cowan spoke to Maestro Honeck last month about his long-standing relationship with Bruckner’s music, how his previous life as a viola-player informed his approach to the string sound, the influence of the countryside and religion on Bruckner’s musical imagination and much more… Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Pianist Rebeca Omordia recently released her second album of African piano music, African Pianism Volume 2, bringing the classical music of native composers the attention it deserves. I had the pleasure of chatting with her to find out more about the music, its background, the qualities that make it uniquely African, and common ground with Western, and particularly English, music. I also enjoyed hearing more about this award-winning pianist’s career and her fruitful relationship with SOMM Recordings. A new release with soprano Omo Bello, due on 18th October 2024, moves the focus to African Art Song. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the London Symphony Orchestra's own label, Head of LSO Live Becky Lees, first violinist Maxine Kwok, and principal percussionist Neil Percy talk to James about how the label came to exist, the process of capturing live concerts for release, and their memories of some favourite recordings through the years. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Another second-album episode! A follow-up not to a trailblazingly exploratory recording (as when we spoke to Heloïse Werner last episode) but to a quietly uplifting one, filled with spirituality and peace. The Poor Clares of Arundel appeared on many people's musical radar back in 2020, when their album Light For The World was released into the midst of uncertain and difficult times. Inspired by the daily life of the community of the Poor Clares, and mixing contemporary compositions with ancient plainchant, it was a huge hit - offering reassurance and comfort to listeners in a situation that could hardly have been imagined when the recording was made. Earlier this year, the Poor Clares' second album was released - My Peace I Give You , drawing particularly on the Canticle of Creation written by St Francis of Assisi, the medieval saint whose lifestyle of deliberate poverty and rejection of worldly goods and activities was the direct inspiration for the formation of the order itself. We talk to Sister Aelred and Sister Graca of the Poor Clares about the unlikely formation of a relationship between a cloistered convent and a major record label, the role of music in the daily life of their community, and how the releasing of commercial recordings fits in with their calling to a life of seclusion and prayer. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Hot on the heels of 2022's Phases comes a second album from acclaimed young singer-composer Heloïse Werner, Close-Ups . Drawing together works by Bingen, Strozzi, the French Baroque composer Julie Pinel, and Errollyn Wallen, it also features compositions by Werner herself - including Les Leçons du Mardi , an acerbic, witty piece biting back against centuries of medical misogyny, and the title-track close-ups , a selection of wordless character-sketches that push the boundaries of song itself. We talk about how some of these works came to be, how Heloïse assembled her dream team of top-notch musicians and improvisers, what it's like to be a bilingual composer, and more. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
This year the Berliner Philharmoniker celebrates two anniversaries, with the online Digital Concert Hall turning 15, and the Berliner Philharmoniker label marking its first decade. Rob Cowan spoke to Olaf Maninger, who alongside a busy schedule as principal cellist with the orchestra, is General Manager of Berlin Phil Media GmbH, and has been one of the key figures driving these innovative projects. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Violinist Francesca Dego kicks off the Busoni centenary celebrations with her new album, pairing his concerto with that of Brahms - a juxtaposition that might seem strange, until you realise (as Francesca describes) the deep connections between the two works, so much so that Busoni's concerto could even be seen as a direct homage to Brahms's. As well as discussing Busoni himself - the prolific arranger, the unorthodox music theorist, the passionate advocate of performers taking liberties with music - we talk about Italian composers trying to be German (with varying degrees of success); beards (or the lack of them); the secret to marital bliss in musical couples (not related to facial hair); and the rather 'wand chooses the wizard' nature of a performer's bond with their instrument. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Pianist Martin James Bartlett first came to many people’s attention in 2014, when he won the BBC Young Musician Award. A Proms debut followed the next year, and a recording contract with Warner Classics not long after. To date, both of Martin’s albums on Warner have been centred around a unifying core concept - recital-recordings with a clear and thoughtful point to them. His latest, La Danse , released on January 26th, is no different - and to tie in with this exploration of French dance-music for the piano, we thought we’d take the opportunity to dive more deeply with Martin into the broader place of the dance in classical music. Along the way, in addition to touching on the ideas that have moulded his albums to date, we encounter some whimsical musicological speculations on Couperin; Bacchus, Ariadne and ‘the wine situation’ make an appearance; and Martin explains why he’s content to do the dancing with his fingers and leave the fancy footwork to other people! Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
As every opera-fan must surely be aware by now, December saw the centenary of Maria Callas’s birth, and Warner Classics marked the occasion by issuing the most comprehensive collection of her recordings ever released – clocking in at a whopping 131 CDs, La Divina offers the chance to experience Callas’s unique qualities in all 74 roles for which audio documents exist, and also includes a bonus CD of alternative takes from recording-sessions in the 1960s. In this latest episode of the Presto Podcast, our host Rob Cowan is joined by Warner Classics and Erato President Alain Lanceron to reflect on Callas’s vast and varied recorded legacy – discussing just what it was that made her singing so special, exploring how attitudes to her artistry have shifted over the decades, explaining how decisions were made as to what to include on this tribute edition, and selecting some personal highlights along the way… Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Although plenty of attention has been lavished on the four hundredth anniversary of the death of William Byrd, his contemporary Thomas Weelkes also died in 1623 - on the 30th of November - and has seen rather less in the way of commemoration. In addition to Weelkes being a composer of great gifts, his reputation also rests in part on his track record of poor and unruly behaviour throughout his career, especially during his time at Chichester Cathedral; posterity has enthusiastically elaborated on some of these tales, perhaps to the point of overshadowing Weelkes's music. Fortunately, amid all the Byrd-related festivities that this year has seen, there are still some stalwarts to fly the flag for Weelkes, and among them is Dr Katie Bank of the University of Birmingham, an expert on musical culture of the Tudor period. She takes us through the real Weelkes, the made-up Weelkes and everything in-between, in a wide-ranging discussion featuring madrigals and memorials, disciplinaries and dogs. https://www.katiebankmusic.com/ Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
The 'Schubert in English' series on Signum Classics sees its fourth instalment this year - following up Winter Journey , Swansong and The Fair Maid of the Mill with a wider-ranging collection of songs, sung by Roderick Williams and Rowan Pierce with Christopher Glynn at the piano. Front and centre, too, are the translations of Jeremy Sams, which at last enable English-speaking audiences (and indeed singers) to experience the full vernacular immediacy of the words. For this fourth volume, Roderick, Rowan and Christopher talk about the album, the significance of the translations, and the impact that they have on the music. Also among our topics of conversation were a look back at earlier eras of performing Lieder in translation, 'singer face', product-placement in Bach cantatas... and an unintentionally macaronic performance of Donizetti. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
As "the classiest brass ensemble in Britain" turns 30, Onyx Brass's trombonist Amos Miller looks back over three decades of brass quintet music-making, with an eye on exploring contemporary repertoire. We discuss the group's latest album, 'The sun is free to flow with the sea', and some of the works featured on it, as well as touching on questions of diversity in classical music - but we start off with a look at music education in today's world. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
A discussion of the OUP's recently-published collection of sacred and secular choral works by Black composers, with its editor Dr Marques Garrett - taking in Vicente Lusitano, Undine Smith Moore, R Nathaniel Dett (Dr Garrett's own particular labour of love) and more. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Arthur Bliss was one of the most important British musicians of his age. Having served with distinction in the Great War, in which he was both injured and gassed, he subsequently became the most performed British composer abroad. He served as Director of Music at the BBC from 1942-44, and was appointed Master of the Queen’s Music in 1953. Bliss was a private figure who stated that the only way to get to know him was through his music. Author Paul Spicer took this as his starting point for a pioneering biography which underlines the importance of a reappraisal of the composer’s music. We had the pleasure of hosting Paul at our store in Leamington Spa, where, in conversation with Andrew Burn, chairman of The Bliss Trust, he not only explained the circumstances behind his writing of the book and how it affected his appreciation of Bliss’s music, but also provided many fascinating insights into the composer’s life, illustrated with excerpts from several of his pieces along the way. We made an audio recording of their engrossing discussion, which with their permission we are delighted to present here. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
The great Russian Romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff declared that his music was "the product of his temperament, therefore Russian", but he spent the final 26 years of life in exile after fleeing Russia in 1917. While in exile he composed his late masterpieces including the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Symphonic Dances, while also preserving his legendary piano playing for posterity through a series of recordings. To discuss this fascinating period of Rachmaninoff's life it was a great pleasure to be joined by critic and author Fiona Maddocks, who has explored this period of the composer's life in her highly enjoyable new book 'Goodbye Russia'. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
Earlier this year we saw the release of not one, but two box sets dedicated to recordings by the Minnesota Orchestra under their Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti, recordings made by the Mercury Record Company in the 1950's. To discuss the artistic and sonic legacy of these Mono and Stereo box sets I was privileged to be joined not only by record critic Rob Cowan but also by Thomas Fine, the son of the husband and wife team of Robert and Wilma Cozart Fine who produced these recordings and exective producer of these new editions. It's a fascinating chat about not only about the oustanding music-making contained within the sets and Doráti himself, but also about the recording process, and the great leap forwards in recording technology that took place in this period. Presto Music All things musical... on your doorstep! Visit our website: www.prestomusic.com Follow us on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram Love us? Review us on Trustpilot , Facebook or Google
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Observed November 3, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
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