Carolyn Sampson Essentials

Carolyn Sampson, Gramophone’s 2024 Artist of the Year, is a rare talent. The British soprano is possessed not only of one of classical music’s most versatile voices, but equipped, too, with an innate musicality and dramatic instinct. In 18th-century repertoire, from Bach and Rameau to Mozart and Haydn, she has few equals. And yet, particularly in recordings with her long-time pianist Joseph Middleton, she has proven an equally beguiling interpreter of late 19th- and early 20th-century song, including by Debussy, Walton, Wolf and Poulenc. Here, in a rich selection of tracks, you can explore every facet of Sampson’s peerless artistry.