Presto recordings of the year
Finalist 2025

Gramophone Magazine
December 2025
Editor's choice

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)

Hallé Orchestra, Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Kahchun Wong

This release captures the January 2025 concert from Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. Rapturously received by the capacity audience and acclaimed by the critics, the Hallé’s performance of this monumental work marks a significant milestone in Kahchun Wong’s tenure as Principal Conductor. Thought of as being the composer’s most ambitious search for the meaning of life, the Second Symphony is conceived and delivered on an epic scale, featuring soloists, choir and an enlarged orchestra. The music offers a directness of expression which transports the listener through a series of climaxes and reflections, culminating in a Last Judgement in which the composer said, ‘an overwhelming love illuminates our being’. The release is accompanied by a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong, reflecting on what the music of Mahler means to him, and a programme note by Mahler expert, composer David Matthews.

"The reading keeps us guessing, generally spacious, occasionally the reverse, flexibly inflected except when it isn't...I was moved. Over to you." - Gramophone Magazine, December 2025