The verdicts were announced back in January, but as the winners gather in Leipzig this evening to celebrate their victories with a lavish ceremony we thought it was high time to pay tribute here!
All winning recordings which are currently available from us are listed below. Our congratulations, too, to BIS Records (Label of the Year), Klaus Heymann (founder of the Naxos Group, who takes a Special Achievement Award for 'his strong vision, his incredible efficiency and his profound love for music'), Finnish bass Matti Salminen (Lifetime Achievement Award), German violist Tabea Zimmermann (Artist of the Year), and Sophie Pacini (Young Artist of the Year - Instrumental; you can read my interview with her about her recent recording of Beethoven and Liszt on Warner Classics and her career to date here).
Early Music
Roland de Lassus: Canticum Canticorum
Choeur de chambre de Namur Clemati, Leonardo García Alarcón
'The Namur Chamber Choir match the variety of Lassus’s scorings by teaming up with the instrumental ensemble Clematis…this results in an intimate sound with plenty of bloom when called for.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Baroque Instrumental
L’Ange et le Diable
Chouchane Siranossian (violin) & Jos van Immerseel (harpsichord)
'If I had to characterise Chouchane Siranossian [in terms of the disc’s title], I would plump for angelic for the simple beauty of her playing, which belies the toughness of the music by being well-tuned and sweetly turned at every step, with a richly ear-pleasing sound and little sign of technical struggle.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Baroque Vocal - Joint Winners
Serpent & Fire
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini
'Much of this little explored music is fascinating and Prohaska sings it with fierce intelligence, while the vibrant playing of the Il Giardino Armonico under Giovanni Antonini is really special...An album fit for a queen.' (Sunday Times)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
JS Bach: St John Passion
Werner Güra (Evangelist), Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, René Jacobs
'Every phrase of this riveting Passion sounds as if it has been thought through from scratch, whether in the elaborate way in which Mr. Jacobs varies the number of singers in his choirs, or in the ebb and flow of his tempos.' (The New York Times)
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Vocal Recital
Schubertiade
Julian Prégardien (tenor & recitation), Marc Hantaï (transverse flute), Philippe Pierlot (baryton) & Xavier Diaz-Latorre (guitar)
'They’ve matched their sounds absolutely magically and they transport us from a completely different place from where we expect to be when we put our disc of Schubert Lieder into the player, so all credit to them for making something so persuasive.' (CD Review)
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Choral
Lyapunov: Piano Works, Vol. 2
Florian Noack (piano)
'For me it’s an amalgam of the Russian nationalism of his mentor Balakirev and the virtuosity of Liszt. Undoubtedly much of it is technically challenging, yet its intense lyricism and rhapsodic narrative is positively compelling.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Formats: SACD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Chamber Music
Duo Sessions
Julia Fischer (violin), Daniel Müller-Schott (cello)
'They share an easy rapport, they revel in the gypsy influences that pervade, especially, Kodaly’s work...This is gritty music played with a probing intensity and a spectrum of colour, the players equal to all the challenges the composers throw at them.' (The Sunday Times)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Concertos
Mendelssohn & Schumann: Violin Concertos
Carolin Widmann (violin/director), Chamber Orchestra of Europe
'The Concerto finds Schumann staring into the abyss, but its slow movement, in particular, has an otherworldly atmosphere that is profoundly affecting. Carolin Widmann and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe give a deeply-felt account of it.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Symphonic
Claudio Abbado: The Last Concert
Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
'[The Berliners are given] a chance to show in Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream music a lightness and delicacy learnt from Abbado, and in the Symphonie fantastique a relish both for its vulgar moments and for the spacious, transcendental calm of the 'Scene aux champs'…a recording to treasure.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Blu-ray, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Contemporary
Oriental Trumpet Concertos
Gabir Boldoczki (trumpet), Sinfonietta Cracovia, Jurek Dybal
'He plays throughout not only with technical mastery, but also with an unaffected musicianship, which makes the performances all the more pleasing.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Best Collection
Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto and Symphony No. 4
Gautier Capuçon (cello), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alexandre Liebreich
'Capuçon takes a lyrical approach to [the Concerto], and with his gorgeous tone his cello resonates superbly...Liebreich’s account (of the Symphony) is one of power and ardour, with splendid playing in all departments.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Format: CD
Historical
Portrait Maureen Forrester: 1955-1963
Maureen Forrester (contralto)
'There’s much here to enchant...This is an outstanding production, and certainly fills a lacuna in the artist’s discography. All the recordings have been well-preserved and the sound throughout is consistent, vibrant and immediate.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Video Performance
Berg: Wozzeck (DVD)
Christian Gerhaher (Wozzeck), Gun-Brit Barkmin (Marie), Brandon Jovanovich (Drum Major), Chor der Oper Zurich, Philharmonia Zurich, Fabio Luisi, Andreas Homoki (director)
'While the Lieder-like beauty of Gerhaher’s singing Is matchless – he can act too – this is no star vehicle. It is ensemble work of the highest order…the relationships are brilliantly drawn...[The interludes] as directed by Luisi are almost indecently lovely.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Format: DVD Video
Berg: Wozzeck (Blu-ray)
Christian Gerhaher (Wozzeck), Gun-Brit Barkmin (Marie), Brandon Jovanovich (Drum Major), Chor der Oper Zurich, Philharmonia Zurich, Fabio Luisi, Andreas Homoki (director)
'While the Lieder-like beauty of Gerhaher’s singing Is matchless – he can act too – this is no star vehicle. It is ensemble work of the highest order…the relationships are brilliantly drawn...[The interludes] as directed by Luisi are almost indecently lovely.' (BBC Music Magazine).'
Available Format: Blu-ray
