Classical Reviews
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Antonio Pappano and the LSO perform Holst's The Planets
27th Mar 2026
The London Symphony Orchestra and their Chief Conductor perform a powerful yet mystical account of Gustav Holst's survey of the solar system, alongside a majestic reading of Arnold Bax's Cornish tone poem, Tintagel.
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Bach's St John Passion from Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion
20th Mar 2026
Raphaël Pichon follows up his benchmark recording of the St Matthew Passion with a much-anticipated account of the St John - with the raw immediacy of the narrative tempered by moments of tenderness.
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JS Bach: Johannes-Passion
Julian Prégardien (Evangelist), Huw Montague Rendall (Jesus), Ying Fang (soprano), Lucile Richardot (mezzo-soprano), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Christian Immler (bass-baritone), Etienne Bazola (baritone), Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
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Early Puccini from Sinfonia of London and John Wilson
13th Mar 2026
With the emphasis on clean lines and rhythmic drive, this collection of student symphonic works, upscaled chamber music and orchestral excerpts from the first three operas presents a fully-rounded Portrait of the Composer As A Young Man.
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Walton from the CBSO and Kazuki Yamada
6th Mar 2026
Kazuki Yamada leads the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in rhythmically taut accounts of Walton's symphonies, demonstrating his firm understanding and love of the music, and the deep bond he has built with the masterful players of one of the UK's finest orchestras, captured live in superb sound by Deutsche Grammophon.
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Strauss's Elektra from Edward Gardner in Bergen
27th Feb 2026
The Norwegian orchestra capture all the savagery and strange sensuality of Strauss's dysfunctional family drama in glorious technicolour on this live recording from 2023, with Iréne Theorin in the title-role and Iain Paterson as her avenging brother.
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Symphonic works by Elsa Barraine
20th Feb 2026
Two symphonies and a pair of pictorial tone-poems show the long-neglected twentieth-century French composer at her finest, with a musical language drawing on both watercolour Impressionism and bold modernism.
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The Calidore String Quartet weave an American Tapestry
13th Feb 2026
The New York-based quartet present music by three of their compatriots (plus one Viennese émigré), in a thoughtful album showcasing the diversity and richness of twentieth-century American music.
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American Tapestry
Calidore String Quartet
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Goldberg Variations from Yunchan Lim
6th Feb 2026
Yunchan Lim brings an expressively muscular yet idiomatic approach in this live recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, making this new album a treasurable addition to a catalogue which includes many celebrated recordings.
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Overtures from the British Isles Vol. 3
30th Jan 2026
Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic lead a whistle-stop tour through the highways and byways of British music around the time of World War Two, taking in works by composers including Havergal Brian, Daniel Jones, Richard Arnell and Robin Orr.
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Renaud Capuçon celebrates his fiftieth birthday with Bach
23rd Jan 2026
The violinist marks a milestone with a classy album of Bach's sonatas and partitas, swapping awestruck veneration for simple personal enjoyment.
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J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas
Renaud Capuçon (violin)
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A Winterreise with a difference from Allan Clayton
16th Jan 2026
The British tenor joins forces with Aurora Orchestra under its founder Nicholas Collon for Hans Zender's 'composed interpretation' of Schubert's bleak song-cycle, premiered in 1993 and bringing the piece's chilly soundscapes to life with an ensemble which includes accordion, guitar, a battery of percussion and a wind-machine.
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Mendelssohn and Enescu Octets from the Ébène and Belcea Quartets
9th Jan 2026
String octets from Mendelssohn and Enescu - both in their teens at the time of composition - show the two composers’ genius already in full flower. The Ébène and Belcea quartets give it their all and the results are spectacular.
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Enescu & Mendelssohn: Octets
Quatuor Ébène, Belcea Quartet
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Sterndale Bennett Concertos from Simon Callaghan
2nd Jan 2026
Simon Callaghan joins the Northern Sinfonia and Martin Yates to champion the music of a nineteenth-century English composer who was admired by Schumann and Mendelssohn, but whose music is played and discussed less than it deserves.
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Presto Personal Favourites from 2025
26th Dec 2025
The members of our editorial team reflect on some favourite albums that got away this year, including music by Sebastian Fagerlund, Mahler, Wilhelm Grosz and Robert Gund, Schoenberg, and anonymous composers from fifteenth-century Poland.
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Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann from Covent Garden
19th Dec 2025
Stuffed with references to films including Moulin Rouge, Casino Royale and Mary Poppins, Damiano Michieletto’s surreal, absinthe-drenched production of Offenbach's final opera is the perfect dark Christmas treat, with Juan Diego Flórez heading a superb cast as the eponymous poet and barfly.
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Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann (Blu-ray)
Juan Diego Flórez (Hoffmann), Ermonela Jaho (Antonia), Alex Esposito (Lindorf/Coppélius/Miracle/Dapertutto), Julie Boulianne (Nicklausse), Olga Pudova (Olympia), Marina Costa-Jackson (Giulietta), Christine Rice (Muse) Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Antonello Manacorda, Damiano Michieletto
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Orchestral Works by Max Reger from Jaime Martín and the Gävle Symphony Orchestra
12th Dec 2025
Released back in August, this album (one of our Top 10 Classical Recordings of 2025) presents a marvellously evocative and captivating account of two orchestral works by Max Reger: the Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin, Op. 128, and the Romantic Suite, Op. 125.
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A Franco-Italian double Baroque Christmas
5th Dec 2025
Festive works by Alessandro Scarlatti and Marc-Antoine Charpentier offer tastes of two different Baroque Christmas flavours, with Giulio Prandi's Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri joined by a brief but glorious stellar turn from Carlotta Colombo and Christophe Rousset marshalling the Monteverdi Singers and English Baroque Soloists.
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A Cuban Christmas from The Sarahbanda
28th Nov 2025
Horn-player Sarah Willis and her Havana-based dance-band add spice and salsa to a host of seasonal favourites including an exuberant reimagining of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, with guest vocals from Carlos Calunga (of Buena Vista Social Club fame).
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Víkingur Ólafsson shares a new perspective on Op. 109
21st Nov 2025
Víkingur Ólafsson’s new album is built around Beethoven’s Op. 109 piano sonata, with the much-loved Icelandic pianist bringing fresh perspective to a cornerstone of the repertoire, elucidating connections with the music of Bach and Schubert, and reinforcing the fact that the composer was more than the romanticised revolutionary of popular legend.
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Vasily Petrenko and the RPO hear the chimes at midnight
14th Nov 2025
An unlikely-looking diptych of Rachmaninoff's The Bells and Elgar's Falstaff puts the RPO and chorus through their paces; Vasily Petrenko brings to the surface the common ground the two works share.
