Awards,
ECHO Klassik Awards 2017
The star-studded presentation-ceremony for Germany's premiere classical music awards (established in 1994) takes place this evening at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, with victors including Joyce DiDonato, Matthias Goerne, Brigitte Fassbaender and Andris Nelsons. Read on for full details of the winners in each category.
Female Singer of the Year - Joyce DiDonato
'[Her] vocal attack is fearless, her range of vocal colours immense – not many singers would risk such extremes of dynamics and manipulation of vibrato without sounding mannered, but somehow she pulls it off .' (Opera Now)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Male Singer of the Year - Matthias Goerne
Berio: Sinfonia & Berio/Mahler: Frühe Lieder
Matthias Goerne (baritone), BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Synergy Vocals, Josep Pons
'Goerne gives the vocal lines the slightly larger-than-life quality they need, exaggerating their expressive extremes and running through his full palette of baritonal shades.' (The Guardian)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumentalist (trumpet) - Gábor Boldoczki
'He plays throughout not only with technical mastery, but also with an unaffected musicianship, which makes the performances all the more pleasing… Fine playing, and music which is challenging but far from inaccessible.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Instrumentalist (cello) - Johannes Moser
Rachmaninov & Prokofiev: Works for Cello and Piano
Johannes Moser (cello) & Andrei Korobeinikov (piano)
'There is much to applaud…[their] Rachmaninov Sonata has a keen sense of drama and line that never gets obscured despite the piece’s manifold technical challenges.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumentalist (piano) - Maurizio Pollini
'All the Pollini hallmarks are here too: chiselled structure, aristocratic demeanour and lucid lines... He also judges the rubato and tempos beautifully, and draws a cool, liquid tone from his Steinway.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Instrumentalist (accordion) - Ksenija Sidorova
'To say that Ksenija Sidorova reconceives the landmark opera on deeply personal and thoroughly idiosyncratic terms would be an understatement. .In all, a tour de force of imagination, instrumentation and improvisation.' (Chicago Tribune)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumentalist (violin) - Christian Tetzlaff
'A breathtaking balance of poise and daring...Tetzlaff and Vogt take obvious pleasure in details without losing sight of the larger picture…Indeed, they sharply delineate the individual character of each sonata.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Conductor of the Year - Kent Nagano
'This is a well-engineered disc with immaculate orchestral playing and a tasteful concept of the work as a whole. I would recommend it…for its lyrical qualities and clarity of detail.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Ensemble/Orchestra - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Shostakovich Under Stalin's Shadow: Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
'[Nelsons] is as effective in projecting Shostakovich’s sardonic black humour…he is in evoking his dark emotional inner world…Great performances from a conductor and orchestra at the top of their game.' (Sunday Times)
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Ensemble/Orchestra - RIAS Kammerchor
'It’s the simplest material that is the true measure of this recording…delivered here with such unaffected simplicity and instinctive flow – the heart of a programme that celebrates a lived musical culture as much as a historical anniversary.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Ensemble/Orchestra - Wiener Klaviertrio
'Such remarkable musicians that they seem to find inspiration, expression and deep musical narrative behind every note and within every bar they play…. this new recording is a strong indication that the best is yet to come.' (Classical Music Sentinel)
Available Format: SACD
Newcomer (piano) - Lucas Debargue
'There’s no doubt that he has a considerable natural musicality and of the composers here it is Medtner with whom he seems to have a particular affinity…both Debargue’s Medtner and his Beethoven have real personality.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Newcomer (conductor) - Yoel Gamzou
'Gamzou’s “realisation and elaboration” of Mahler’s 10th is self-avowedly more reliant on instinct than on meticulous scholarship… it sounds like the impressively bold work of someone gifted yet young.' (Sunday Times)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Newcomer (mixed ensemble) - Notos Quartett
'All in all, this is an intelligently devised, brilliantly executed and warmly recorded disc, raising hopes that the Notos Quarttett can come up trumps again with further worthwhile discoveries.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Newcomer (double bass) - Dominik Wagner
'Some charming sounds evolve from the combination of eastern folk music with well-known classical scores.' (Pizzicato)
Available Format: CD
Newcomer (singer) - Pretty Yende
'Her singing boasts an elegant sheen that carries across a wide vocal range, and she uses it to wonderful emotional effect even as she dashes off music with demanding technical challenges.' (San Francisco Chronicle)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The 'Klassik ohne Grenzen' Prizes (Classical without Borders)
'A spectacular demonstration of the sounds and colours that 12 cellos can produce in the hands of players of this calibre… there’s hardly a technique that isn’t deployed… it’s all done with love, rhythmic flair and stellar virtuosity.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Any good new recording of The Four Seasons should always be welcomed. This one by Daniel Hope and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra is more than good: it’s outstanding… Especially to be welcomed is Hope’s fluent, abundant decoration of the melodic line.' (Limelight)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Safaian: Überbach
Sebastian Knauer (piano) & Pascal Schumacher (vibraphone), Zürcher Kammerorchester
'The impeccable craft and sheer joie de vivre quickly won me over…Knauer’s unaffected, affectionate piano playing is a real pleasure…Enormous fun, with incisive, full-toned string playing from Willi Zimmermann’s Zürcher Kammerorchester.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Symphonic Recording (Music up to and including 18th century)
'L’Achéron perform stylishly and gracefully, adding well-chosen and effective wind doublings to Bach’s basic string texture. these suites are a pleasant encounter.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Symphonic Recording (19th-century music)
'The work compels huge admiration for its dramatic range and bold ideas. Certainly, this live performance from Constantin Trinks and the Mozarteumsorchester has all the necessary drive, intensity and variety of colour to keep the listener fully engaged.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Symphonic Recording (20th/21st-century music)
'Ibert emerges from it all as a fine composer, whose unity lies in his almost impudent diversity, and who is often far from frivolous as some have maintained. And the disc allows Järvi to show off his Swiss orchestra to perfection. Very fine.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concert Recording (Music up to and including 18th century)
'Antonini proves an athletic and affectionate communicator of this sophisticated music, enlivening the dances with well-judged tempos, cogent articulation and a light tread that would grace any dance-floor.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concert Recording (Music up to and including 18th century)
Mozart: Piano Concertos K413-15
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Freiburger Barockorchester, Gottfried von der Goltz
'There’s plenty of interpretative freedom...as the soloist takes Mozart’s scores as a starting point rather than as the gospel handed down from above...he is superbly responsive to the music’s high spirits and to the possibilities inherent in these scores.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concert Recording (19th-century music)
Chopin: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Jan Lisiecki (piano), NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Krzysztof Urbański
'The youthful Polish-Canadian pianist dispatches their fiendish demands with easy virtuosity and no little wit, while Urbanski brings an authentic Polish flavour to the Elbphilharmonie’s playing.' (Sunday Times)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concert Recording (19th-century music)
'Manz certainly doesn’t do things by halves…The flexible, springy tone, which the innovative performers shape with loving care, is immediately appealing.' (Spiegel)
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concert Recording (19th-century music)
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Linus Roth (violin), London Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Sanderling
'His delicate, internalised playing is as lovely as his technical dispatch is thrilling. Shostakovich’s second, rarer concerto is a bold coupling, intensely played.' (Sunday Times)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concert Recording (20th/21st-century music)
'All three of these violin concertos were composed expressly for Renaud Capuçon, and all take his fiercely impassioned lyrical playing as their starting point...But it’s Pascal Dusapin’s 'Aufgang' that provides the real substance here .' (The Guardian)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concert Recording (20th/21st-century music)
Bartók and Babin: Concertos for Two Pianos
Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov, Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yordan Kamdzhalov
'Each work requires considerable stamina from both pianists and the Genova & Dimitrov piano duo give it their all…The Bulgarian band is well guided by conductor Yordan Kamdzhalov and play in a committed manner.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Concert Recording (20th/21st-century music)
Russian Oboe Concertos
Maria Sournatcheva (oboe), Göttinger Symphonie Orchester, Christoph-Mathias Mueller
'The music inspires Maria Sournatchva to a never-ending playfulness on the oboe. Her tone is radiant and she demonstrates not only immaculate breath-control, but also an impressive precision.' (Klassik Heute)
Available Format: SACD
Choral Recording of the Year
Opera Recording (up to and including 17th/18th century)
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Christiane Karg, Luca Pisaroni, Sonya Yoncheva, Thomas Hampson; Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
'You are in his safe hands the moment Mozart’s upstairs-downstairs comedy kicks off, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe buoyant, textures balanced, colours vibrant...Yoncheva’s magnificently melancholic Countess is a peach of a performance.' (Sunday Times)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Opera Recording (up to and including 20th/21st century)
Berg: Wozzeck
Roman Trekel (Wozzeck), Anne Schwanewilms (Marie), Marc Molomot (Captain); Houston Symphony Orchestra, Hans Graf
'This new recording from the Houston Symphony under Hans Graf is as lustrous and well-fed as you’d expect from a Texan outfit, with thundering lower strings and glossy, supple wind lines…the singing is gripping.’ (The Guardian)
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Solo Recording - piano (music up to and including 17th/18th century)
'He monkeys around with articulations, shocks you with unexpected accents, balances chords in strange ways and brings inner voices (both real and invented) to the fore...Check out this release if you want Mozart with a twist.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Solo Recording - piano (19th-century music)
'Trifonov leaves one open-mouthed at the Mendelssohnian wit and dexterity of 'Gnomenreigen', and at the sheer playfulness of Liszt’s homages to Paganini. A young player, yes, but already a master.' (Sunday Times)
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Solo Recording - piano (20th/21st-century music)
'Altogether excellently prepared, and is a fine introduction to a world that has been too much set in the shadows by historical events and changes in fashion. It will richly reward curiosity, if that is also accompanied by a spot of determination.' (Gramophone)
Available Format: 4 SACDs
Solo Recording (Voice - Duets/OperaArias)
Oh, Boy! - Mozart & French Opera Arias
Marianne Crebassa (mezzo), Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Marc Minkowski
'Crebassa has a deliciously smooth lyric mezzo and employs it with taste and style. When she starts a phrase her intent is apparent, her singing buoyant and purposeful, but with the ability to caress and luxuriate in the line…stylish and classy.' (Opera Now)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Solo Recording (Voice - Arias/Recitals)
'A couple of French arias establish her coloratura credentials…She is carefree and vivacious in Snegurochka’s aria from Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden…and moving in the lullaby from Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Solo Recording (Voice - Songs)
Shakespeare Songs
Ian Bostridge (tenor), Antonio Pappano (piano), Elizabeth Kenny (lute), Adam Walker (flute), Lawrence Power (viola), Michael Collins (clarinet)
'As anniversary tributes go, this is a good one...Bostridge’s sensitivity to text and ability to spin a line right through even the densest of consonant clusters makes for a compelling collection that is strongest in contemporary repertoire.' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Music Recording (Music up to and including 17th/18th Century - Mixed Ensemble)
'The range of sounds [Mönkemeyer] draws from his instrument is never less than compelling, and is matched by Meyer’s mellifluous clarinet and Youn’s subtle touch… an hour and a quarter of pure Mozartian pleasure .' (Gramophone)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Music Recording (19th-Century Music - Mixed Ensemble)
'The phrasing in itself is an art and this lady demonstrates perfect taste, but can be equally flamboyant when the score requires it. It is wonderful to hear Libeer and Thomas tailgate each other in their playing.' (Klassiek Centraal)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Music Recording (19th-Century Music - Mixed Ensemble)
'Visceral excitement and pulsating energy…[they demonstrate] consummate mastery of soft mysterious playing, experienced here to best advantage in the unexpectedly veiled sounds they conjure up.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC
Chamber Music Recording (20th/21st-Century Music - Wind)
Rendez-vous Russe
Eva van Grinsven (saxophone), Helena Basilova (piano), Maria Milstein (violin), Lars Niederstrasse (saxophone)
(No review available)
Available Format: SACD
Chamber Music Recording (20th/21st-Century Music - Mixed Ensemble)
(No review available)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Chamber Music Recording (20th/21st-Century Music - Strings)
'The tiny Aus der Ferne III is…almost frozen alive, [an] effective [approach]…[they] shine in the luminescent, mirage-like microludes of Hommage à Mihály András’.' (BBC Music Magazine)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
(No review available)
Available Format: CD
World Premiere Recording of the Year
'Musically, these were worth the wait. Telemann presents a cornucopia of broken chords, unison and contrapuntal writing, passagework and even some plucking …the notes themselves really dance into life under Fritzsch’s natural, joy-filled playing.' (Gramophone)
Available Format: CD
Audiophile Multi-Track Recording of the Year
Mahler: Rückert-Lieder & Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Gerhild Romberger (contralto) & Alfredo Perl (piano)
'A beautiful voice with lovely pianissimo high notes, and she sings with feeling and nuances well…Romberger is superb. She is not always vocally perfect but her involvement is tangible and her tone has a strong feeling of vulnerability.' (MusicWeb International)
Available Format: SACD
Music DVD/Blu-ray Recording - Opera
'Punchy playing from Perm Opera's MusicAeterna orchestra under Teodor Currentzis. The Perm chorus also field Purcell's sacred anthems with refreshing directness…The sympathetic and hard-working Julia Bullock is the Queen.' (Gramophone)
Available Format: Blu-ray
'Punchy playing from Perm Opera's MusicAeterna orchestra under Teodor Currentzis. The Perm chorus also field Purcell's sacred anthems with refreshing directness…The sympathetic and hard-working Julia Bullock is the Queen.' (Gramophone)
Available Format: DVD Video
Music DVD/Blu-ray Recording - Documentary
'An unprecedented musical meeting-of-the-minds between two very different artists… This film documents [their] recording sessions, offering revealing insight into the creative processes of two of today’s most distinctive and influential musicians.' (Medici)
Available Format: Blu-ray
Bestseller of the Year
'Closely miked, his singing smoulders with lustrous tone and the arrangements of the (rather scrappy) Palermo orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch bring to mind feel-good Italian movies of the 1960s. The tenor’s admirers will have little cause for complaint.' (Financial Times)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Lifetime Achievement Award
Brigitte Fassbaender
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
