BBC Music Magazine
November 2024
Opera Choice

Presto Recordings of the Year
Finalists 2024

Marianne Crebassa (mezzo-soprano), Beate Mordal (soprano), Cameron Shahbazi (countertenor), John Brancy (baritone), Anna Prohaska (soprano)

Mahler Chamber Orchestra, George Benjamin

An ordinary day. A terrible event. The death of her infant child sets in motion one woman’s search for a life-restoring miracle. All she needs to do – in the course of a single day – is find one genuinely happy human being. But when every encounter ends in disappointment, she turns finally to the mysterious owner of a magnificent garden… Recorded during the first performances, as part of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, at the Theatre du Jeu de Paume, Aix-en-Provence, France, from 5th July 2023.

"Less is more in Picture a day like this with a cast of five and just 22 instrumentalists from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. With every word of the text set to be heard, Marianne Crebassa is compelling as the Woman through a demanding range of moods and vocal modes." - BBC Music Magazine, November 2024