Awards,
Gramophone Awards 2020: The Winners!
The ten category-winners of this year's Gramophone Awards have just been announced: among the victors are Igor Levit, Sandrine Piau, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and Les Arts Florissants.
The overall Recording of the Year will be announced in an online ceremony on Medici TV and Gramophone's own website on the evening of October 6th, as will the Lifetime Achievement Award and Artist of the Year. Until 30th November we're offering discounts of up to 20% off the winning recordings.
Chamber
Veress: String Trio & Bartók: Piano Quintet
Vilde Frang (violin), Barnabás Kelemen (violin), Lawrence Power (viola), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano)
'What makes this CD unmissable is the Veress Trio, a masterpiece and a performance to match.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Choral
JS Bach: St Matthew Passion
Benjamin Bruns (Evangelist), Christian Immler (Christus); Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
'One never doubts Bach or Suzuki’s belief in its importance for mankind. The musicians convey it with infectious zeal...Generic early music politesse is relegated to the shadows.'
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concerto
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Elim Chan
'He has already lived with these works for long enough to strike a balance between thoughtfulness and youthful spontaneity…Chan and the RSNO offer solid support.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Contemporary
Adès conducts Adès
Mark Stone (baritone), Kirill Gerstein (piano), Christianne Stotijn (mezzo), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Adès
'For proof that Adès does what he does with mind-boggling brilliance, look no further.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Early Music
'The fleeting nature of Gesualdo’s flurried passages is a particular speciality of Les Arts Florissants.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumental
'Above all there’s that sense of being completely at one with Beethoven himself. And that, in the end, is what makes this such a magnificent achievement.'
Available Formats: 9 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Opera
'With DiDonato nonpareil in the title-role and a uniformly strong cast, this now becomes a first choice for Handel’s Venetian masterpiece.'
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Orchestral
Weinberg: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 21
Gidon Kremer (violin), Kremerata Baltica, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
'It takes a performance of fierce concentration and absolute dedication to ensure this music’s hold on an audience...this has to be one of the most important symphonic releases of the year.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Recital
'With her silvery tone, immaculate sense of line and telling if understated way with words, Piau is very much at home in this repertory.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Solo Vocal
Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Václava Housková (mezzo), VOICE, Victoria Samek (clarinet)
'Not only does Spence’s voice offer a rare mix of steely strength and velvety tenderness but his bright, vibrant timbre communicates a touching, wide-eyed sense of ardent longing, tinged with melancholy.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
