Presto Music Classical Podcast

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 [email protected] MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove 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 MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Some "concept" albums can seem a little contrived – with themes not so much neatly interwoven as crudely welded onto one another. Not so Emmanuel Despax's new album Après un rêve, which draws together its three main ideas so naturally that it seems as if the album must have sprung from Despax's mind fully formed.A poetic legacy from his music-loving grandfather meets Emmanuel's own interest in the refined music of the French belle époque (from about the mid-1870s until 1914, when Europe changed forever), all seen through the lens of evening and night-time – or perhaps, as Emmanuel suggests, seen through the bottom of a glass of fine wine.We talk about the music, the poetry, the chicken-and-egg question of which came first, and how Emmanuel prepares these pieces for performance – but we start with a little leçon in pronunciation...Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Over the nearly twenty years since its formation, Vox Luminis has appeared in our metaphorical pages plenty of times – the Belgian early music ensemble consistently combines original and exploratory programming with impeccable musicianship. Every album Lionel Meunier and his musicians release can be relied on to be not just a feast for the ears but also an interesting and well-thought-out dive into musical history, drawing connections and parallels and linking everything together seamlessly.The title of their latest album, Ein Deutsches Barockrequiem, provides a heavy hint as to the theme of the repertoire being performed – comprising earlier settings of the same Biblical texts that Brahms would later select for the movements of his German Requiem. I caught up with Lionel to talk about the process of tracking down these motets, and what threads might link together Brahms himself with the composers featured here – as well as a surprising connection with one of today's finest bel canto tenors.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Robert Levin set out to record a complete set of Mozart's works for keyboard and orchestra. After several highly successful and critically-acclaimed volumes over the following decade,  fate eventually intervened to force the project into the deep freeze, and on that unsatisfying note the story might have ended.Happily, though, circumstances have now opened up the opportunity to pick things up again. The concluding five volumes are now very much in motion, with the first released recently in March,  and it's full steam ahead for the remainder of this much-loved and much-needed cycle. I caught up with Robert to talk about this project, and his work as a reconstructor and completer of the surprisingly large number of Mozart works that have only come down to us as fragments.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

2023 sees the quadricentennials of the deaths of both William Byrd - sacred polyphonist, virginalist and recusant Catholic - and Thomas Weelkes, remembered especially for his madrigals, his verse services and his repeated tellings-off by his bosses at Chichester Cathedral for what might delicately be termed rowdiness. Among various groups with albums in honour of these two composers are The King's Singers and Fretwork, who come together on the recently-released *Tom & Will* to perform some of the lighter and more secular works from these two composers, along with two new commissions. I had a very enjoyable chat with representatives of both groups - Patrick Dunachie batting for The King's Singers, and Richard Boothby for Fretwork.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Founded by four ambitious teenagers in Middlesbrough in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet’s extraordinary fifty-year career has encompassed collaborations with musicians including Sting, Björk and Sir Paul McCartney as well as a whole host of superb recordings of core repertoire from Mozart to Bartók.It was a great pleasure to be joined by cellist and founder-member Jacqueline Thomas and her husband Paul Cassidy (who became the quartet’s viola-player in the early 1980s) for a whistle-stop tour through the group’s first five decades, not least because the pair had such a profound direct influence on my own development as a young musician growing up in Middlesbrough during the 1990s – in between touring with Elvis Costello and recording a landmark cycle of the Shostakovich quartets, they regularly carved out time to return to the area to coach aspiring chamber-groups and perform concertos with local amateur orchestras, experiences which will stay with me for life.  Join us for a trip down memory-lane, taking in their early days feverishly transcribing Janáček and Shostakovich direct from radio-broadcasts, game-changing encounters with Japanese designer Issey Miyake, Costello and *Line of Duty* star Adrian Dunbar, and the process of documenting the quartet's history in their recently-published twin autobiographies...Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

One of the most keenly anticipated music biographies in 2023 has been 'Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World' a wonderfully vivid account of the lives, times and music of 4 extraordinarily talented composers from the late 19th and 20th Centuries. Guiding me through the fascinating world of Dame Ethel Smyth, Rebecca Clarke, Dorothy Howell and Doreen Carwithen, I was delighted to be joined by the books author, Dr Leah Broad.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Nobody has done more in recent years to promote the music of Ralph Vaughan-Williams in recent years than Albion Records, the record label of the Ralph Vaughan-Williams Society. So to celebrate the English composer's 150th birthday this year I asked John Francis, Vice-Chairman of the Ralph Vaughan-Williams Society to guide me through his life and music through recordings of lesser-known Vaughan-Willams works on the Albion Records label.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Celebrating his 150th anniversary this year is the Russian composer, poet and visionary Alexander Scriabin who, in his short life undertook a compositional journey that took him from a frustrated piano virtuoso who idolized Chopin to a radical modernist who prophesized that a concert of his mystical music in Tibet would bring about the end of the world. Helping me explore the life and work of this unique figure I'm delighted to be rejoined on the show by Cambridge Russian music Professor Marina Frolova-Walker.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Undoubtedly one of the great orchestral success stories in recent years has been that of Sinfonia of London, formed by conductor John Wilson in 2019. Their albums have consistently received a whole host of awards, demonstrating the orchestra’s great virtuosity and versatility.Their latest recording sees them delving into one of my favourite genres, with a selection of music from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to chat to John not only about the album itself, but also about the history of Sinfonia of London, his thoughts on some favourite recordings with the orchestra so far, plus a look ahead to future releases, including an exclusive preview of their forthcoming album of music by Rachmaninoff.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

As both a world-class performer and an advocate for her instrument, Sarah Willis is an inspiration to a generation of horn players, so I was somewhat star-struck to talk to her for this week's episode. Despite the unceasing travel difficulties and upheaval of the past two years, Sarah has been continuing to spend time in Cuba working with Cuban instrumentalists and composers. The fruits of this can be heard on her two *Mozart y Mambo* albums from July 2020 and September 2022, where she sets Mozart's magnificent horn concertos alongside traditional and contemporary Cuban dances. We dig into what makes this music tick, and how a cross-cultural collaboration can combine faithfulness to its ingredients with a knowing and sometimes irreverent angle on the canon.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

One of the most outstanding releases so far this year has been a remarkable collection of live recordings by the great Czech conductor Karel Ančerl, and I was delighted to be joined not only by regular guest Rob Cowan to discuss the set, but also by Matouš Vlčinský, who produced the set for Supraphon Records. The recordings, made between 1950 and 1968 show Ančerl's mastery in a wide variety of repertoire, and the numerous recordings of Czech music also gave us the opportunity to explore Bohemian musical culture.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

The relationship between musicians' lives and the music they create is one the most discussed and debated aspects of music, and examinations of the lives of great musicians is almost as old as their music itself.  Three authors who produced highly praised music biographies in 2020 were Philip Clark, on the Jazz great Dave Brubeck, Oliver Craske on the Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar and Oliver Soden on the British composer Michael Tippett, and on this week's show I was delighted to welcome all three for a round table discussion on the art of music biography.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

For this episode, we turn our attention to the violin, and the changing styles of playing that have been documented over the past hundred years since the advent of sound recording. I was delighted to be joined by Charlotte Gardner, a freelance writer, journalist, and critic who specialises in string playing for The Gramophone and The Strad magazines, as well as contributing programme notes for the BBC orchestras and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. By focussing on a handful of hardy perennials like Bach's Sonatas and Partitas, and violin concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, we take a deep dive into some of the most characterful players down the years.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

As you may well have seen on our site and social media channels lately, Presto Music is currently celebrating a double anniversary, as 2021 marks not only the  20th anniversary of the website launching, but also 35 years since the first Presto shop opened in Leamington Spa. So it seemed fitting that we invite the boss, Chris O'Reilly,  onto the show to tell us how he came to find himself working for Presto Music in 2001, how he helped it  develop into one of the leading indepenent music specialists, and explain the ethos of the business.  Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

My guests this week are the members of The Hermes Experiment, a contemporary music quartet made up of Heloise Werner (soprano and co-director), Oliver Pashley (clarinet), Anne Denholm (harp),  Marianne Schofield (doube bass), and the group's co-director Hanna Grzeskiewicz. Having just releases their second album,*Song*, for Delphian Records, the group tell me about the rewards and challenges of running an ensemble with such an idiosyncratic combination of instruments, and have already notched up over 60 commissions from a wide variety of composers. Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) was one of the towering musical giants of the 20th century, a man whose near mythical reputation is arguably better known than his actual recordings. This year has seen a number of reissues of his recordings, the most signifcant of which is Warner Classics's 55 disc boxset featuring many previously unpublished recordings. For this special episode of the podcast we invited critics Rob Cowan and David Hurwitz to discuss the relative merits of Furtwängler's art, and how these legendary recording hold up in the cold light of 2021.Rob Cowan is one of the UKs best loved authorities on classical music, having written for Gramophone managazine for many years, and also hosted long-running radio shows on Classic FM and BBC radio 3. Based in New York, David Hurwitz is the co-founder and executive editor of ClassicsToday.com, and in 2020 launched his very popular YouTube channel on which he regularly posts video reviews and discographical surveys. Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

This week's topic concerns musicology and musicologists... what is it, who are they, and what exactly do they get paid to do? So who better to ask than one of them, Daniel Elphick, a musicologist and researcher who has recently started his own YouTube which sets out to demistify things for the layman.  Daniel is currently working as a Teaching Fellow in Music at Royal Holloway, University of London (having also taught at Manchester, Goldsmiths, and Buckinghamshire New University), his research focusing on the history and analysis of Russian and East-European music since the 19th century, as well as music and politics more broadly. Dan’s first book, Music Behind the Iron Curtain was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019, and he is currently preparing a volume on socialist realism and music. 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 [email protected] MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

The fascinating life and music of Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) is the topic of this week's show, and we are delighted to welcome back Andrew Mellor to the Presto Music Podcast to take us through his humble childhood on the island of Funen through to the international acclaim he received as one of the most modernistic symphonic composers of his generation. Andrew has established himself as something of a British cultural attaché to Scandinavia since moving to Copenhagen in 2015, and is well known for his contributions to BBC Radio 3's Record Review and Gramophone Magazine, and currently finishing his first book about Nordic identity in music.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

This week's guest is one Britain's most talented young organists Anna Lapwood. Anna joins me to chat about two great organ traditions, the music of J.S. Bach and the world of French Symphonic Organ and also about how she's reinventing the Organ with both the repertoire she's chosen for her new CD and her projects in the Organ community.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Rainer Hersch is a comedian and musician who has performed on every major comedy stage in Britain and abroad.  He has appeared thirteen times at the Edinburgh Festival, had numerous comedy-concert series at the South Bank in London, featured in comedy clubs all across Europe and in TV shows around the world. Rainer and his classical ‘Orkestra’ communicates, connects and corrupts some of the great works of classical music. A popular highlight is when Rainer invites members of the audience to participate in a conducting competition with hilarious results! It was a delight to get the opportunity to talk with Rainer, and chat about some of his great forebears, such as Victor Borge, Anna Russell, Dudley Moore and PDQ Bach.You can listen to the podcast right here on this page, or click on the links in the player (via the symbol of the box with the arrow coming out of the top) to find it in Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and other popular podcast apps, where you will be able to subscribe and receive notifications when new episodes become available in the future.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 [email protected] MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

It's always a pleasure to catch up with friend-of-the-show Rob Cowan, especially when he comes armed with chunky historic boxsets from the golden age of conducting. This time we were listening to recently released collections of recordings by Artur Rodzinski in New York, Rafael Kubelik in Chicago, and Eugene Ormandy in Philadelphia. As ever it was a delight to share in Rob's vast knowledge of recordings and pick out highlights from the sets.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 [email protected] MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

This week in a special bonus episode of the Presto Music Podcast, Patricia Kopatchinskaja took time out from her busy schedule to record answers to some questions I had about her new Alpha recording of Schoenberg's *Pierrot Lunaire*,  which finds the acclaimed violinist singing, or rather Sprechstimming, the titular role. Patricia tells us why the piece holds such an important place in her heart, and how she approaches this demanding modernist statement.You can listen to the podcast right here on this page, or click on the links in the player (via the symbol of the box with the arrow coming out of the top) to find it in Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and other popular podcast apps, where you will be able to subscribe and receive notifications when new episodes become available in the future.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 [email protected] MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

This week I am joined by Professor Suzanne Aspden, an expert on both Handel, and the construction of identity through music, to trace the composer's journey from his youthful Italian Cantatas & Operas to his later English Oratorios, and the impact that his compositions have had on British culture and musical life from the Georgian era all the way to the present day.You can listen to the podcast right here on this page, or click on the links in the player (via the symbol of the box with the arrow coming out of the top) to find it in Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and other popular podcast apps, where you will be able to subscribe and receive notifications when new episodes become available in the future.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 [email protected] MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

This week Paul is joined by British clarinettist Julian Bliss for a brief history of the the instrument, touching upon its earliest appearances in Mozart, through Krommer and Brahms, and its important role in the development of jazz in the first half of the 20th century. The episode includes not one but two "sneak peeks" of forthcoming recordings from Julian, one of which was recorded in Julian's home studio during lockdown.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

We are delighted to be joined by Piers Burton-Page, author of Philharmonic Concerto: Life and Music of Malcolm Arnold, the first published biography of this complex character, and president of the Malcolm Arnold Society, to celebrate the life and work of one of the most distinctive British composers of the 20th century. Well-known for his Oscar winning score to David Lean's Bridge on the River Kwai, Piers has picked 9 nine pieces by Arnold to give an overview of a diverse compositional career that included symphonies, orchestral dances, concertos and chamber music, as well as film scores.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Bruckner and Mahler, those behemoths of the romantic symphony, have recently enjoyed lavish boxsets of their complete cycles, with the Münchner Philharmoniker and Valery Gergiev tackling Bruckner, and eight conductors with the Berliner Philharmoniker for Mahler. Peter Quantrill, who reviewed both of these sets in latest edition of Gramophone joins me this week to assess the relationship between these composers, as well as bringing his perspective on how performance practices, and his own personal relationship to these composers have changed over the years.Harriet Smith returns to the show to discuss some of her favourite pianists, drawing upon 85 years of piano recordings from the earliest recorded ivory tinklers to the most recent trailblazers. Harriet is well know to readers of Gramophone Magazine and BBC Radio 3's Record Review, and her deep knowledge and passion for piano music brings insights into the world of piano playing and pianists themselves to this weeks show.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

As Valentine's day is almost upon us, could there be a more apt topic than the art of Romantic Song? We welcome Natasha Loges on to the show, Head of Postgraduate Programmes and Reader in Musicology at the Royal College of Music, London, and author of several books on Brahms, including *Brahms and His Poets - A Handbook*,  and editor of *German Song Onstage: Lieder Performance in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries*.  In te programme we focus on the art of lieder as it moved from Vienna to Leipzig in the mid-19th century.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

Harriet Smith returns to the show to discuss some of her favourite pianists, drawing upon 85 years of piano recordings from the earliest recorded ivory tinklers to the most recent trailblazers. Harriet is well know to readers of Gramophone Magazine and BBC Radio 3's Record Review, and her deep knowledge and passion for piano music brings insights into the world of piano playing and pianists themselves to this weeks show.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

This week I held something of a cultural exchange programme with writer, vlogger, and musician David Hurwitz. Known to many from his reviews website *Classics Today*, the lockdown prompted David to start his very successful YouTube channel earlier this year, which has been gaining a global following ever since. On the show David chooses five of his favourite pieces of British music, I return the compliment with five American classics and we have a discussion peppered with David's inimitable no-nonsense approach and personal anecdotes. It's a highly entertaining show and a great way to end this first season of The Presto Music Podcast. Keep subscribed wherever you get your podcasts though, as we'll be back in the new year with more stimulating chat with the experts. Thankyou for listening to the first 10 episodes, and please do get in touch if there are any subjects or guests that you would like to suggest, at [email protected] can listen to the podcast right here on this page, or click on the links in the player (via the symbol of the box with the arrow coming out of the top) to find it in Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and other popular podcast apps, where you will be able to subscribe and receive notifications when new episodes become available in the future.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google

As we approach the holiday season, who better to take us on a guided tour through the history of the English choral tradition than Presto's own resident choral music expert, David Smith. David has been a church musician since the age of 8, and is currently a lay clerk at St. Philip's Cathedral Birmingham and a member of the vocal ensemble Ex Cathedra, as well as a writer for Early Music America.Presto MusicAll things musical... on your doorstep!Visit our website: www.prestomusic.comFollow us on Facebook, Twitter or InstagramLove us? Review us on Trustpilot, Facebook or Google