Awards,
Gramophone Awards - finalists revealed
This week sees the announcement of the shortlist for this year’s Gramophone Awards. Generally regarded as the Oscars of the classical music world, they are the most significant honours bestowed on the classical record industry.
Chosen by the critics of the famous magazine the 45 shortlisted discs (3 finalists in each of 15 different categories) are arguably the 45 finest discs released in the last twelve months. Like any awards shortlist there are always going to be a few surprises. Personally I was surprised not see Paul Lewis in there for his Beethoven Piano Sonatas Volume 2 which was released last October. Equally I expected Julia Fischer’s Tchaikovsky Concerto disc would be in the running for the overall Disc of the Year award but that is also missing.
However looking at the discs that are there it is hard to argue against any of them. There is the familiar (more Bach Cantatas from Eliot Gardiner) and the relatively unknown (Saint-Saëns 3rd Violin Concerto with Jean-Jacques Kantorow). There are some now legendary recordings (Keilberth’s 1955 Götterdämmerung) and some ground-breaking recorded firsts (Julian Anderson’s Alhambra Fantasy). And of course there is a lot more between.
We’ll reveal the overall winners on the afternoon of October 3rd along with the artist of the year and overall disc of the year. The Artist of the Year is being decided by public vote and if you haven’t voted yet you can do so now on the website. It is a slightly bizarre selection – Vadim Repin hasn’t even released a disc in the past year – but perhaps it gives an opportunity for one of my favourites (Julia Fischer) to receive an award she surely deserves.
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
