Podcasts by Category

Presto Music Classical Podcast

Presto Music Classical Podcast

Presto Music

Conversations from the world of classical music hosted by Presto Music's Paul Thomas. 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

48 - Doubling Brahms - Busoni and his violin concerto with Francesca Dego
0:00 / 0:00
1x
  • 48 - Doubling Brahms - Busoni and his violin concerto with Francesca Dego

    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 onFacebook,TwitterorInstagram
    Love us? Review us onTrustpilot,FacebookorGoogle



    Thu, 22 Feb 2024
  • 47 - An Invitation to the Dance - Storming the ‘barricades mystérieuses’ with Martin James Bartlett

    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 onFacebook,TwitterorInstagram
    Love us? Review us onTrustpilot,FacebookorGoogle



    Thu, 25 Jan 2024
  • 46 - La Divina - Rob Cowan and Alain Lanceron on the centenary of Maria Callas's birth

    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 onFacebook,TwitterorInstagram
    Love us? Review us onTrustpilot,FacebookorGoogle



    Fri, 29 Dec 2023
  • 45 - Tudor Wild Child - Thomas Weelkes with Dr Katie Bank

    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 onFacebook,TwitterorInstagram
    Love us? Review us onTrustpilot,FacebookorGoogle



    Wed, 29 Nov 2023
  • 44 - Take me to your Lieder - Schubert in English with Roderick Williams, Rowan Pierce and Christopher Glynn

    The 'Schubert in English' series on Signum Classics sees its fourth instalment this year - following up Winter Journey, Swansongand The Fair Maid of the Millwith 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 onFacebook,TwitterorInstagram
    Love us? Review us onTrustpilot,FacebookorGoogle



    Thu, 16 Nov 2023
Show More Episodes