The winners will be revealed on Wednesday 15th October, when details of special prizes including the Lifetime Achievement Award and Recording of the Year will also be unveiled. Until 5th November, we're offering discounts of up to 25% off all of the titles in the running...
Chamber
Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos. 2 & 3
Krystian Zimerman (piano), Maria Nowak (violin), Katarzyna Budnik (viola), Yuya Okamoto (cello)
'In short, this is chamber music-making of the highest order.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'The three players have different temperaments – and it’s clear, as you listen, that they’ve not erased their personalities.'
Available Formats: Presto CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'If you don't know [D887] and fancy a new recording of the work, then the Takács as recorded last year rival the best. Thoroughly recommended.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Choral
JS Bach: Mass in B minor
Julie Roset (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano). Lucile Richardot (alto), Emiliano Gonzalez Toro (tenor), Christian Immler (bass); Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
'As the starting point, the music is taken entirely on its own terms – essentially Pichon’s personal vision...This B minor Mass is really up there with the very best.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
André Campra: Messe de Requiem & Les Maîtres de Notre-Dame de Paris
Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé
'This is a superb recording from one of today’s best ensembles to specialise in French Baroque music.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Haydn: Die Schöpfung
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Benjamin Bruns (tenor), Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Simon Rattle
''Rattle and his superb Bavarian forces catch all of the oratorio’s teeming pictorial detail...In sheer exhilaration, then, this Creation is a match for any.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Concerto
'Thrilling stuff, which will leave you breathless with admiration.'
Available Format: SACD
'Her understanding of Elgar's kaleidoscopic writing is instinctive at all levels...Every lover of Elgar’s masterpiece should try to hear this magnificent addition to the library.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Tippett: Piano Concerto & Symphony No. 2
Steven Osborne (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
'This completely symbiotic live account with Edward Gardner’s LPO has both repose and electricity to surpass all others...More, much more please – an indispensable disc!'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Contemporary
George Benjamin: Picture a Day Like This
Marianne Crebassa (Woman), Beate Mordal (Lover 1/Composer), Cameron Shahbazi (Lover 2/Composer's Assistant), John Brancy (Artisan/Collector), Anna Prohaska (Zabelle); Mahler Chamber Orchestra, George Benjamin
'There’s the sense that every phrase has been chiselled, exquisitely crafted and polished... there’s no mistaking the quality of the performances.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
John Pickard: Symphonies 2 & 6; Verlaine Songs
Emma Tring (soprano), BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins
'These performances...under Martyn Brabbins's cogent guidance excite admiration for their unstinting dedication and breathtaking accomplishment.'
Available Format: SACD
'These are exciting times for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, whose polished and committed performances do much to support Stasevska’s creative vision.'
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Early Music
'To say that Ockeghem composed some of the loveliest songs of the 15th century seems almost a cliché. But Scott Metcalfe and his musicians confirm that in spades.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'The singers Carine Tinney, Andrew Hallock and Jonatan Alvarado serve excellently, but never more than in their truly marvellous performance of Walter Frye's Tout a par Toy.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'Mostly known only to specialists of Central European music, Nicholas of Radom gets a proper outing here, his unfussy, stylish music beautifully showcased.'
Available Formats: 3 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Instrumental
'There is the most satisfying sense that Queyras knows the place and function of every single note in each musical sentence but isn’t precious about it: it’s magisterial yet somehow casual in its state of play.'
Available Formats: Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'This is yet another terrific release from Ridout, who again plays a 16th-century Peregrino di Zanetto with all the soul and panache of an Old Master.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Paganini: 24 Caprices
María Dueñas (violin), Itamar Golan (piano), Boris Kuschnir (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mihhail Gerts
I’d be hard-pushed to name another modern recording offering anything close to the multicoloured lyrical imagination produced by this 22-year-old.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Opera
Michael Tippett: New Year
Rhian Lois (Jo Ann), Ross Ramgobin (Donny), Susan Bickley (Nan), Roland Wood (Merlin), Robert Murray (Pelegrin), Rachel Nicholls (Regan), Alan Oke (The Presenter); BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Martyn Brabbins
'With such a kaleidoscopic score to capture...the very feat of recording all its multifarious layers so transparently is triumphantly achieved.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Original 1857 version)
Germán Enrique Alcántara (Simon Boccanegra), Eri Nakamura (Maria/Amelia), William Thomas (Fiesco), Iván Ayón-Rivas (Gabriele Adorno), Sergio Vitale (Paolo Albiani); The Hallé, Chorus of Opera North, RNCM Opera Chorus, Sir Mark Elder
'It is the Hallé that is as much of a star of the show as any of the principals. Any regret that the opportunity was not taken of employing a period orchestra is swept away by the magnificence of the playing.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
Lise Davidsen (Senta), Gerald Finley (The Dutchman), Brindley Sherratt (Daland), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Erik), Anna Kissjudit (Mary), Eirik Grøtvedt (Steersman); Orchestra and Chorus of Norwegian National Opera, Edward Gardner
'Gardner conducts an electrifying account from Norwegian National Opera, the chorus deftly adapting to the drama, a Chicagoan edge to the brass, and well-cast leads.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Orchestral
'There is something spacious in some of Wong's direction...which seems to conjure a tangible sense of theatrical presence while bringing a visceral physical brilliance to Britten's kaleidoscopic invention.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Enescu: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 & Romanian Rhapsodies 1 & 2
Orchestre National de France, Cristian Măcelaru
'This new release by Cristian Măcelaru on DG brings the benefits of more polished playing and better sound than the earlier Romanian releases.'
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'Die sieben Todsünden (‘The Seven Deadly Sins’) is brought off with deftness and élan...This Weill collection, polished but never slick, merits the very strongest recommendation.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Piano
'Kantorow’s playing can be torrential but it’s never reckless...and because of his uncanny ability to balance inner lines, he manages to untangle Brahms’s thickest passages.'
Available Format: SACD (ECOPAK)
'In all these works, Giorgini's ability to choose the inevitably apt tempo is uncanny... From a pianist who is not yet 40, one can only imagine the musical joys that lie ahead.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'Gugnin ripples his way through the Holberg Suite in its original piano solo guise, radiating poise, affection and respect for its Golden Age retrospection.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Song
'The lyricism of Spence’s singing impresses throughout, as does his understated way with words and meaning...It’s a most distinguished recital, and warmly recommended.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'A Schöne Müllerin that combines tonal beauty, immediacy of characterisation and an enriching sense of spontaneous improvisation. This performance simply feels right, and I suspect [Prégardien’s] father Christoph might agree.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Songs For Peter Pears
Robin Tritschler (tenor), Philip Higham (cello), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Sean Shibe (guitar)
'A hearty welcome to this exceptionally stimulating programme...With his mellifluous tone, flawless technical prowess and impeccable diction, the Irish tenor covers himself in glory throughout.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Voice & Ensemble
Telemann: Ino · Opera Arias for Soprano
Amanda Forsythe (soprano), Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Paul O'Dette
'Forsythe and the orchestra of the Boston Early Music Festival conjure exceptional stylish elegance and theatrical vitality in the flowing sequence of orchestrally accompanied recitatives, ariosos, dances and arias.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
'Montague Rendall’s characterisations are consistently focused and tellingly insightful throughout...It’s a superb recital and a most distinguished debut, and I cannot recommend it too highly.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Lucrezia: Portraits of A Woman
Sandrine Piau, Amel Brahim-Djelloul (sopranos), Karine Deshayes, Lucile Richardot (mezzos), Les Paladins, Jérôme Corréas
'Lucile Richardot’s flexibility of dynamism and immersion in the character’s predicament, vulnerability and courage are enthralling.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
