Presto Music Classical Podcast

Presto Music

Conversations from the world of classical music hosted by Presto Music's Paul Thomas, David Smith and Rob Cowan. 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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Top 10 Presto Music Classical Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Presto Music Classical Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Presto Music Classical Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Presto Music Classical Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Music from the Golden Age of Hollywood with John Wilson

Presto Music Classical Podcast

09/15/22 • 45 min

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.

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Outside the Box with Tom McKinney

Presto Music Classical Podcast

09/10/20 • 67 min

Paul Thomas is joined by guitarist, broadcaster and concert organiser Tom McKinney for a wide-ranging conversation about contemporary music. As well as discussing some recent new releases the discussion touches upon performances in unconventional venues and the art of commissioning new works.
www.prestomusic.com
The music discussed in the show:
Haydn: String Quartets Op. 76 Nos. 1 - 3
Chiaroscuro Quartet
BIS - BIS2348
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8777472--haydn-string-quartets-op-76-nos-1-3
Vienne 1900 – Music by Mahler, Zemlinsky, Berg & Schoenberg
Eric Le Sage (piano), Zvi Plesser (cello), Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Paul Meyer (clarinet), Emmanuel Pahud (flute)
ALPHA - ALPHA588
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8789365--vienne-1900
Here We Are
Héloïse Werner (soprano); The Hermes Experiment
Delphian - DCD34244
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8794320--here-we-are
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time & Catlin Smith: Among the Tarnished Stars
Anton Lukoszevieze (piano), Mira Benjamin (violin), Heather Roche (clarinet) & Philip Thomas (piano)
Another Timbre - AT143
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8623053--messiaen-quartet-for-the-end-of-time-catlin-smith-among-the-tarnished-stars
Morton Feldman Piano
Philip Thomas (piano)
Another Timbre – AT144
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8676745--morton-feldman-piano
Spilled Out From Tangles
Juliet Fraser (soprano)
Huddersfield Contemporary Records - HCR23CD
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8768008--spilled-out-from-tangles
Messiaen: Catalogue d'oiseaux Books 1-7
Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano)
PENTATONE - PTC5186670
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8404435--messiaen-catalogue-doiseaux-books-1-7

Golden Oldies - The Brodsky Quartet at 50

Presto Music Classical Podcast

03/22/23 • 56 min

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...

Pierrot Lunaire with Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Presto Music Classical Podcast

04/28/21 • 17 min

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]

A Scandinavian Sojourn with Andrew Mellor

Presto Music Classical Podcast

08/20/20 • 44 min

Andrew Mellor has established himself as something of a British cultural attaché to Scandinavia since moving to Copenhagen in 2015. Well known for his contributions to BBC Radio 3's Record Review and the BBC Proms, he takes Paul on a guided tour of Denmark, Faroe, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, discussing some of the fascinating music that has been inspiring him recently.
www.prestomusic.com
Music discussed:
Nielsen: Symphony No. 3, Op. 27 (FS60) 'Sinfonia espansiva'
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Myung-Whun Chung
BIS - BISCD321
Sørensen, B: La mattina
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano); Norwegian Chamber Orchestra; Per Kristian Skalstad
Dacapo - 8.226095
Confessions
Nico Muhly & Teitur with Holland Baroque
Nonesuch - 7559794430
Þorvaldsdóttir: Dreaming
Recurrence - ISO Project, Vol. 1
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason
Dorian Sono Luminus - DSL92213
Grieg - Choral Music
Det Norske Solistkor (The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir), Grete Pedersen
BIS - BISSACD1661
Gunnar Idenstam: Songs For Jukkasjärvi
Simon Marainen (yoik/vocals), Brita Stina Sjaggo (vocals), Sandra Marteleur (violin), Thorbjörn Jakobsson (saxophones), Jonas Sjöblom (percussion), Gunnar Idenstam (organ & pre-recorded sounds)
BIS - BISSACD1868
Outi Tarkiainen: The Earth, Spring's Daughter & Saivo
Virpi Räisänen (mezzo-soprano), Jukka Perko (soprano saxophone), Lapland Chamber Orchestra, John Storgårds
Ondine - ODE13532
The Voice of Sibelius
Tom Nyman (tenor) & Tommi Hakala (baritone) YL Male Voice Choir & Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Hyökki (a cappella works) & Osmo Vänskä (accompanied works)
BIS - BISCD1433

Beethoven in Nine Pieces with Laura Tunbridge

Presto Music Classical Podcast

10/28/20 • 30 min

This week I am joined by Professor Laura Tunbridge, whose book Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces (published earlier this year by Viking Books) offers new perspectives on the man, the music and early nineteenth-century Vienna in this, the year of his 250th anniversary. Laura guides us through the nine works that she chose for the book, offering new perspectives on some of the choices made by this complicated genius.

www.prestomusic.com/classical
You can buy Laura's book here:
Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces
Laura Tunbridge
https://www.prestomusic.com/books/products/8719490--beethoven-a-life-in-nine-pieces
The recordings in this episode:
Beethoven: Septet, Op. 20 & Clarinet Trio, Op. 11
Berkeley Ensemble
Resonus Classics - RES10255
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8719600--beethoven-septet-op-20-clarinet-trio-op-11
Beethoven: Spring & Kreutzer Sonatas
Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) & Lambert Orkis (piano)
DG - 4791679
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8031599--beethoven-spring-kreutzer-sonatas
Beethoven – Complete Symphonies & Concertos
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Warner Classics – 2564637792
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7951068--harnoncourt-beethoven
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 & Choral Fantasy
Christiane Karg (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (mezzo), Werner Güra (tenor), Florian Boesch (baritone), Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)
Freiburger Barockorchester, Zürcher Sing-Akademie, Pablo Heras-Casado
Harmonia Mundi - HMM90243132
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8784812--beethoven-symphony-no-9-choral-fantasy
Beethoven: Lieder
Matthias Goerne (baritone), Jan Lisiecki (piano)
DG – 4838351
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8736187--beethoven-lieder
Jonas Kaufmann (Florestan), Nina Stemme (Leonore), Falk Struckmann (Pizarro),
Lucerne Festival Orchestra & Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Claudio Abbado
Decca – 4782551
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7997601--beethoven-fidelio-op-72
Beethoven - The late Piano Sonatas
Maurizio Pollini
DG – 4497402
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7930708--beethoven-the-late-piano-sonatas
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo), James Gilchrist (tenor), Matthew Rose (bass). Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique & Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
SDG - SDG718
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8034633--beethoven-missa-solemnis-in-d-major-op-123
Beethoven - Late String Quartets
Takács Quartet
Decca - 4708492
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7933919--beethoven-late-string-quartets

Rebeca Omordia talks African Pianism

Presto Music Classical Podcast

09/30/24 • 23 min

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.

Mysticism, Modernism and Music - Scriabin with Marina Frolova-Walker

Presto Music Classical Podcast

10/05/22 • 57 min

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.

Eine kleine Havanamusik with Sarah Willis

Presto Music Classical Podcast

09/05/22 • 26 min

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.

Music for Albion - Vaughan Williams at 150 with John Francis

Presto Music Classical Podcast

10/14/22 • 46 min

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.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Presto Music Classical Podcast have?

Presto Music Classical Podcast currently has 54 episodes available.

What topics does Presto Music Classical Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Classical, Music, Opera, Podcasts, Classical Music, Music Interviews and Music Commentary.

What is the most popular episode on Presto Music Classical Podcast?

The episode title 'Mysticism, Modernism and Music - Scriabin with Marina Frolova-Walker' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Presto Music Classical Podcast?

The average episode length on Presto Music Classical Podcast is 46 minutes.

How often are episodes of Presto Music Classical Podcast released?

Episodes of Presto Music Classical Podcast are typically released every 20 days, 17 hours.

When was the first episode of Presto Music Classical Podcast?

The first episode of Presto Music Classical Podcast was released on Jun 30, 2020.

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Presto Music Classical Podcast

Presto Music

Top 10 Presto Music Classical Podcast Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Presto Music Classical Podcast have?

What topics does Presto Music Classical Podcast cover?

What is the most popular episode on Presto Music Classical Podcast?

What is the average episode length on Presto Music Classical Podcast?

How often are episodes of Presto Music Classical Podcast released?

When was the first episode of Presto Music Classical Podcast?

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