A dispatch from the field this evening - I'm at the BBC Music Magazine Awards ceremony in Kings Place, where the winners of this year's awards have just been announced.
Record of the Year has gone to Leif Ove Andsnes for his performances of Beethoven's second and fourth piano concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (part of a complete cycle of all five, plus the Choral Fantasia)...
Among the other winners are the late Claudio Abbado's poignant last recording, a luminous account of Bruckner's unfinished Ninth Symphony (Orchestral Category), and Benjamin Grosvenor's lively solo album Dances (Instrumental)...
...and Newcomer of the Year goes to harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani - not an unfamiliar name to us at Presto, and with several big successes to his name already (such as his Rameau disc, which he discussed with David a few months ago) - for his CPE Bach sonatas.
Full details of all the winners are below.
Recording of the Year (and Concerto Category-Winner)
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4
Leif Ove Andsnes, Mahler Chamber Orchestra
'In an age when the word ‘journey’ is horribly overused, Leif Ove Andsnes reminds us what a true heart-and-mind musical journey really is. From its wonderfully expectant, half-improvisatory opening, the Fourth Concerto sounds as though it is being rediscovered, and each fresh discovery leads on to something equally new. Even the slighter Second Concerto surprises and delights.'
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Category-Winners
Orchestral
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Claudio Abbado
'It’s hard to forget that the concert recorded here turned out to be Claudio Abbado’s last. Yet this is not simply a poignant memorial to the late conductor, but one of the finest Bruckner Nines on disc: the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Abbado bring natural feeling, textural clarity and spiritual intensity to this unfinished masterpiece.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Choral
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Sarah Connolly, Stuart Skelton, David Soar, BBC SO & Chorus/Andrew Davis
'This Dream of Gerontius has all the right ingredients: a superlative trio of soloists, orchestral playing and choral singing of the highest calibre, an expert Elgarian at the helm, and excellent surround sound. It’s an overwhelming performance; Elgar’s comment that Gerontius ‘is the best of me’ has never seemed more apt.'
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Chamber
Beethoven: Piano Trios Op. 70 No. 2; Op. 97
Alexander Melnikov, Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras
'The Op. 70 No. 2 ‘trio without a name’ has too often lurked in the shadows: here the formidable Faust, Queyras and Melnikov on fortepiano make an indelibly convincing case for it, revealing a work of Apollonian grace and subversive wit. As for their Archduke, has it ever received a performance of such inspired subtlety?'
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Instrumental
Opera
Vocal
Stella di Napoli
Joyce di Donato, Orchestre et Choeur de L’Opera de Lyon/Riccardo Minasi
'Joyce DiDonato’s love letter to Neapolitan ‘bel canto’ is all about the voice, and as her own ‘star’ shines brightly, what a voice it proves to be. Vocal pyrotechnics hold no terrors, and her creamy mezzo leaves no nuance unturned. Sensitively accompanied by Riccardo Minasi and his Lyon forces, it’s a case of ‘hear Naples.... and live!’.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
DVD
Newcomer
CPE Bach: Württemberg Sonatas, Wq49
Mahan Esfahani
'Esfahani's first solo disc provides a welcome introduction to an artist matching, in expression, CPE Bach himself. The future of the harpischord is in safe hands'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Premiere
Unsuk Chin: Three Concertos
Sunwook Kim, Alban Gerhardt, Wu Wei/Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra/Myung Whun-Chung
''These three concertos showcase both the striking originality of Chin's imagination, and the scintillating variety and quality of her scoring. Each is realised with visionary skill by three exceptional soloists, Myung-Whun Chung and the Seoul Philharmonic.'
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
