Following the unveiling of potential contenders for this year's Gramophone Awards on 1st August, the judges have whittled the list down still further, and we're pleased to announce details of the three discs which will be battling it out in each category.
The overall winners will be announced at 2pm UK time on 27th August (in advance of the 17th September Awards Ceremony at St John's Smith Square); we'll also have a special treat in store for you here on the Presto website, so be sure to check back in with us next Wednesday afternoon when our surprise will be revealed!
In the meantime, you can still browse the original shortlist in full here - sound-samples and video-clips available for many titles!
Baroque Instrumental
Mahan Esfahani
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
Amandine Beyer (violin) Gli Incogniti
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
Baroque Vocal
RIAS Kammerchor & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Hans-Christoph Rademann
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Anna Stéphany, David Daniels et al; Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
Available formats: 3 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Chamber
Steven Isserlis & Robert Levin
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexander Melnikov
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Pavel Haas Quartet
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Choral
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique & Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Stuttgart Southwest Radio Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Contemporary
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Ryan Wigglesworth
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Barbara Hannigan, Bejun Mehta, Christopher Purves, Royal Opera House, George Benjamin; also available on Blu-ray
Available format: DVD Video
Roderick Williams, BBC Singers & Nash Ensemble, Nicholas Kok
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
Concerto
Isabelle Faust, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Early Music
La Compagnia del Madrigale
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
Gallicantus, Gabriel Crouch
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 176.4 kHz, 24 bit)
Instrumental
Igor Levit
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Marc-André Hamelin
Available formats: 3 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Arcadi Volodos
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Opera
Bryan Hymel, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Anna Caterina Antonacci; Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir David McVicar; also available on Blu-ray
Available format: 2 DVD Videos
Evgeny Nikitin, Ingela Brimberg, Sally Matthews; Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Marc Minkowski
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Orchestral
Gewandhausorchester, Riccardo Chailly
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Recital
Bejun Mehta, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Roberta Invernizzi, I Turchini, Antonio Florio
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
Solo vocal
Gerald Finley, Julius Drake
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Jonas Kaufmann, Helmut Deutsch
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
