Presto Recordings of the Year, Puccini (composer)

It is the attention Pappano pays to crafting the contrasts between passages of intense sensuality and of mechanistic brutality, casting new light on a familiar score in the process, which really... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2023, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Listen to Freddie De Tommaso at full throttle and you’ll need to lie down in a darkened room. Passione is singing in the tradition of De Tommaso’s hero Franco Corelli: stylish and heartfelt,... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2021, 5 out of 5 stars More…

There’s something of the young Roberto Alagna about Bernheim’s tenor, a bright, open sound, unforced and with a sunny smile in his voice. — Gramophone Magazine, May 2022 More…

After music college, Jonathan Tetelman abandoned singing and became a DJ...His is the sort of ardent, soul-baring voice you would want to be serenaded by when reclining on a chaise longue somewhere... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2022, 5 out of 5 stars More…

He adopts a nuanced approach to characterisation, bringing a vocally distinctive tone to each role. His Cavaradossi is as languid and heroic as you could wish for; his Luigi edgy and sombre;... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2023, 5 out of 5 stars More…

iHe starts with Tosca and proves a natural Puccinian, producing a steady stream of spun tone in ‘Recondita armonia’…Better yet is Cavaradossi’s ‘E lucevan le stelle’, as De Tommaso reveals himself... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2022, 4 out of 5 stars More…

She has a slender tone, definitely more lyric than spinto, and is often so deeply invested in her role that it’s not always a very ‘pretty’ sound. Yet it’s exactly these qualities that are her... — Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2020 More…

They begin with Puccini – a passionate Rodolfo and a quicktempered Marcello – and end with a chilling Otello, Tézier’s Iago dripping poison into Kaufmann’s ear in the Act II duet, with Antonio... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2022, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Even at the age of 25 [Puccini] was already a composer of considerable skill, able to come up with musical ideas of exceptional quality. As the abandoned Anna, Ermonela Jaho is right inside the... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2019, 5 out of 5 stars More…

[in Suor Angelica] Grigorian holds the stage almost throughout; a performance of heartrending vocal beauty and equally potent vocal characterisation...You might feel Loy pushes it too far but... — Gramophone Magazine, October 2023 More…