The annual Gramophone Classical Music Awards are perhaps the most prestigious and eagerly anticipated awards in the business: often referred to as the 'Oscars of classical music', they celebrate the recent recording work of some of today's greatest musicians. As the newly-revealed shortlist for 2014 indicates, there are going to be some particularly difficult decisions coming up this year: with 72 discs in 12 categories, the list sees relative newcomers such as Igor Levit and Arcadi Volodos pitted against veterans like Mitsuko Uchida and András Schiff for the Instrumental Award (exclusively the province of pianists this year!), whilst the Gewandhausorchester, London Symphony Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Orchestra are among those battling it out in the Orchestral category.
On 20th August, the top three discs in each category will be announced; the final verdicts will then be revealed online on 27th August and celebrated on 17th September in an evening ceremony at St John's Smith Square, which will be co-hosted by Presto and feature live performances from some of the winners.
You can read full reviews of all the shortlisted titles in a special free-to-view digital magazine which Gramophone have produced in association with Presto - have a browse here!
Baroque Instrumental
Mahan Esfahani
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Amandine Beyer (violin) Gli Incogniti
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Zefiro Baroque Orchestra, Alfredo Bernardini
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Baroque Vocal
RIAS Kammerchor & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Hans-Christoph Rademann
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Academy of Ancient Music, Richard Egarr
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Cologne Chamber Choir, Collegium Cartusianum, Peter Neumann
Available Formats: 2 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Anna Stéphany, David Daniels et al; Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Sixteen, Eamonn Dougan
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Chamber
Steven Isserlis & Robert Levin
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexander Melnikov
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Pavel Haas Quartet
Available Formats: 2 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The London Haydn Quartet
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Choral
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique & Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Roderick Williams, Hallé, Sir Mark Elder
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Collegium Vocale Gent, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Philippe Herreweghe
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Stuttgart Southwest Radio Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Contemporary
Los Angeles Philharmonic & Los Angeles Master Chorale, Gustavo Dudamel
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Ryan Wigglesworth
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Barbara Hannigan, Bejun Mehta, Christopher Purves, Royal Opera House, George Benjamin
Available Format: DVD Video
Roderick Williams, BBC Singers & Nash Ensemble, Nicholas Kok
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
MusicNOW Ensemble et al, Pierre Boulez, Oliver Knussen
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Concerto
Isabelle Faust, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Ingrid Fliter, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jun Märkl
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Sharon Bezaly, Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Neeme Järvi
Available Format: SACD
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Augustin Hadelich, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Available Format: CD
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Early Music
The Orlando Consort
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
La Compagnia del Madrigale
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Gallicantus, Gabriel Crouch
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Contrapunctus, Owen Rees
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips
Available Formats: Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Stile Antico
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Instrumental
András Schiff
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Igor Levit
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Marc-André Hamelin
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Danny Driver
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Mitsuko Uchida
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Arcadi Volodos
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Opera
Bryan Hymel, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Anna Caterina Antonacci; Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir David McVicar
Available Format: 2 DVD Videos
Miah Persson, Rolando Villazón; Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Evgeny Nikitin, Ingela Brimberg, Sally Matthews; Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Marc Minkowski
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Lance Ryan, Iréne Theorin, Mikhail Petrenko; Teatro alla Scala, Daniel Barenboim, Guy Cassiers
Available Format: 2 DVD Videos
Orchestral
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Available Formats: 6 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Gewandhausorchester, Riccardo Chailly
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
London Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Heinz Holliger
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Recital
Simone Kermes, Concerto Köln, Christoph-Mathias Mueller
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Bejun Mehta, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Roberta Invernizzi, I Turchini, Antonio Florio
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Philippe Jaroussky, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Maria Keohane, European Union Baroque Orchestra,Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Solo vocal
Evelina Dobraceva, Ekaterina Siurina, Andrei Bondarenko et al; Iain Burnside
Available Formats: 3 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Gerald Finley, Julius Drake
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Jonas Kaufmann, Helmut Deutsch
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Wolfgang Holzmair, Imogen Cooper
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
