SPECIAL AWARDS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Menahem Pressler
A sought-after soloist with legendary conductors, Menahem Pressler made a historic contribution to chamber music in 1955 by giving birth to the one of the longest living and best loved of all ensembles, the Beaux-Arts Trio. Today, he still perpetuates his art, generously combining enthusiasm and excellence.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Esa Pekka Salonen
Extraordinarily talented as a conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen is emerging ever more clearly as one of the most important composers of our time. His music is astoundingly varied and connects to the audience through a captivating flow of energy.
YOUNG ARTIST OF THE YEAR: David Kadouch
David Kadouch is one of those rare young pianists who combines technically superior playing with a highly distinctive musical personality. He is on his way to becoming a great musician of the 21st century.
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: The Sibelius Edition – BIS
Planned and produced with supreme care and expertise, the 65 CDs of the BIS Sibelius Edition are a landmark in the Finnish composer’s discography. The Edition delivers all the music Sibelius wrote in every known version, maintaining the highest standards of interpretation and sound reproduction.
LABEL OF THE YEAR: Chandos
The right artists for the right recordings in the best possible sound: Chandos’s record over the past 32 years has been truly formidable, demonstrating that a record label can make as solid a contribution to musical culture as any other institution.
CLASSICAL WEBSITE AWARD: Digital Concert Hall / Berlin Philharmonic
Classical music has always thrived on innovation. With its Digital Concert Hall and newest digital technology, the Berlin Philharmonic exactly matches the needs of our time for a worldwide presentation of local concerts.
CD & DVD CATEGORIES
EARLY MUSIC
Dinastia Borgia
Montserrat Figueras, Lior Elmaleh, Driss El Maloumi, Pascal Bertin, Lluís Vilamajó, Marc Mauillon, Furio Zanasi, Daniele Carnovich, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall
Alia Vox AVSA9875A+C
A sonorous voyage in which there are no limits to the delights offered for the ear and the eye of these at times poignant phonograms, documents and writings. The rigour of Savall, his musicians, researchers, and singers in this recording has achieved perfection. This recording is a cultural and historical treasure.
BAROQUE
Via Crucis
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Tarquino Merula, Benedetto Ferrari, Luigi Rossi, Claudio Monteverdi, Lorenzo Allegri
Nuria Rial, Philippe Jaroussky, Ensemble L’Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar
Virgin Classics 5099969457708
This is a highly creative, exciting and pure Via Crucis, sensitively served by an ensemble of devoted at highly competent artists
VOCAL RECITAL
Gustav Mahler: Lieder
Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber
RCA 886975677320
Christian Gerhaher is one of the foremost Lied singers of our time. He explores Mahler’s musical world with dedication and profound knowledge and invites the listener to deeply share his experience.
CHORAL
Igor Stravinsky: Les Noces, Œdipus Rex
Mlada Khudoley, Olga Savova, Alexander Timchenko, Andrei Serov, Alexander Mogilevsky, Svetlana Smolina, Yulia Zaichkina, Maxim Mogilevsky, Gérard Depardieu, Sergei Semishku, Evgeny Nikitin, Ekaterina Sememchuk, Mikhail Petrenko, Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus, Valery Gergiev
Mariinsky MAR0510
These performances produce an enormous impression, Oedipus Rex bewitches the power of its influence and insuperable sensation of fatal tragedy, whereas Les Noces incarnates true Russian ritual, without interrupting the connection of Russian folklore with the aesthetics of modern society.
OPERA
RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Die Zauberflöte, K620
Daniel Behle, Marlis Petersen, Daniel Schmutzhard, Sunhae Im, Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, Marcos Fink, Kurt Azesberger, Inga Kalna, Anna Grevelius, Isabelle Druet, Konstantin Wolff, Joachim Buhrmann, Magnus Staveland, Alois Mühlbacher, Christoph Schlögl, Philipp Pötzlberger, René Möller, Clemens-Maria Nuszbaumer, Christian Koch, RIAS Kammerchor & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
Harmonia Mundi HMC902068/70
This historically informed performance moves far from any routine and constantly surprises, with its inventiveness and its originality. René Jacobs new approach guarantees an immense pleasure of listening.
SOLO INSTRUMENT
Complete Piano Works Vol. 5
Claude Debussy: Khamma, Jeux, La boîte à joujoux
Jean Efflam Bavouzet
Chandos CHAN 10545
The eloquence of Bavouzet’s playing is supreme and the sound recording entirely matches the artistic level of the performance. It is hard indeed to find better readings of these three works.
CHAMBER MUSIC
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 3 & 9 (Kreutzer)
Viktoria Mullova, Kristian Bezuidenhout
Onyx 4050
Confirming her strong affinity for period instruments, Viktoria Mullova, partnered here by Kristian Bezuidenhout, investigate two Beethoven Sonatas with stylish ideas, high intensity, freshness and spontaneity.
CONCERTOS
Robert Schumann: Complete works for violin and orchestra
Lena Neudauer, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Pablo Gonzalez
Hänssler Classic 93 258
Deeply aware of the expressive refinement of Schumann’s late works, Lena Neudauer offers highly colorful playing, combining introspective depth and genuine passion.
SYMPHONIC
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Naxos 8.572392
A totally convincing performance, intensely eloquent with overwhelming climaxes. The playing of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra – which has been transformed under Petrenko’s leadership – is superb.
CONTEMPORARY
Friedrich Cerha: Spiegel, Momentum, Momente
SWR-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, SylvainCambreling
ORF-Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Dennis Russell Davies, Friedrich Cerha
Kairos KAI0013002
Essential works by the Austrian composer Cerha who combined in a totally original way the expressive trends of the post-1945 avant-garde. These scores are masterfully played by expert conductors and musicians.
FIRST RECORDING
Antonio Vivaldi: Armida al campo d’Egitto
Furio Zanasi, Marina Comparato, Romina Basso, Martín Oro, Sara Mingardo, Monica Bacelli, Raffaella Milanesi, Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
Naïve OP30492
Alessandrini not only assembled a superb cast for this forgotten opera, but reconstructed the missing second act to make the work’s dramaturgy come to life. This recording makes one long to see this opera on stage.
HISTORICAL
Jean Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1-7 (complete)
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Melodiya 1001669
The cycle of the Sibelius symphonies conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky appears for the first time on CD. It is a truly ravishing performance, highly personal in conception and overwhelming in its musical cogency.
DVD PERFORMANCE
Richard Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Juha Uusitalo, Franz-Josef Kapellmann John Daszak Gerhard Siegel Matti Salminen, Anna Larsson Peter Seiffert, Petra Maria Schnitzer Jennifer Wilson, Lance Ryan, Ralf Lukas, …, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Zubin Mehta; Staged by La Fura dels Baus
C Major 703 808
The coherence of Padrissa and La Fura’s overall conception goes hand and hand with an excellent cast and a fabulous orchestra, which has rapidly acquired a genuinely Wagnerian sound, with Zubin Mehta at the helm for an unforgettable performance.
DVD DOCUMENTARIES
Piotr I. Tchaikovsky: Two films (Tchaikovsky’s Women, Fate)
Written & directed by Christopher Nupen
Allegro Films A 10CN D
Christopher Nupen – with the superb musical support of Vladimir Ashkenazy – rightly presents Tchaikovsky as an outsider in the Russian society. One simply must see this film to understand the sources of inspiration for the composer’s music.
