A selection of the artists recently recognised by Germany's premiere classical music awards (formerly the Echo Klassik Awards, but re-branded in 2018) gathered last weekend for a gala concert at the Konzerthaus Berlin: you can watch the event (which includes performances from Sonya Yoncheva, Daniil Trifonov, Fatma Said and Lang Lang) here. Read on for full details of the winners in each category, including Piotr Beczała, Reri Grist, Olga Neuwirth, and Marc Albrecht.
Female Singer of the Year - Sonya Yoncheva
Sonya Yoncheva (soprano), Cappella Mediterranea, Leonardo García Alarcón
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Male Singer of the Year - Piotr Beczała
Piotr Beczała (tenor), Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Marco Boemi
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Instrumentalists of the Year - Daniil Trifonov, Augustin Hadelich and Martin Fröst
Silver Age
Scriabin - Stravinsky - Prokofiev
Daniil Trifonov (piano), Mariinsky Orchestra, Valéry Gergiev
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Augustin Hadelich (violin), Charles Owen (piano), Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Jakub Hruša
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Martin Fröst (clarinet), Concerto Köln
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Conductor of the Year - Marc Albrecht
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Albrecht
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Composer of the Year - Olga Neuwirth
Lifetime Achievement Award - Reri Grist
Newcomers of the Year - Fatma Said, Pablo Ferrández, Robert Neumann, Lucienne Renaudin Vary
Fatma Said (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Burcu Karadag (ney), Rafael Aguirre (guitar), vision string quartet
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Pablo Ferrández (cello), Denis Kozhukhin (piano)
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Robert Neumann (piano), SWR Symphonieorchester, Kerem Hasan
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Lucienne Renaudin Vary (trumpet), Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Sascha Goetzel
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Orchestra/Ensemble of the Year - Ensemble Modern
Solo Vocal Recital (Opera)
Regula Mühlemann (soprano), Basel Chamber Orchestra, Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli
Available format: CD
Solo Vocal Recital (Lied)
Sabine Devieilhe (soprano), Alexandre Tharaud (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Solo Instrumental Recital (Organ)
Berlin!
Organ Works By Berlin Composers
Andreas Sieling (Sauer organ Berliner Dom)
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Solo Instrumental Recital (Violoncello da spalla)
Sergey Malov (cello da spalla)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Solo Instrumental Recital (Viola)
Solo II
Bach & Kurtág
Tabea Zimmermann (viola)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Solo Instrumental Recital (Piano)
Lars Vogt (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Concerto (Cello)
Dai Miyata (cello), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard
Available format: CD
Concerto (Trumpet)
Selina Ott (trumpet), ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Roberto Paternostro
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Concerto (Violin)
Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Concerto (Piano)
Yuja Wang (piano), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Chamber Music
Jörg Widmann (clarinet), András Schiff (piano)
Available format: CD
Duo Tal & Groethuysen
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Mahler: Symphony No. 10
arr. M. Castelletti for chamber ensemble
ensemble mini, Joolz Gale
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Dejan Lazic (piano), Benjamin Schmid (violin), Zen Hu (violin), Johannes Erkes (viola), Enrico Bronzi (cello)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Beethoven Around The World
The Complete String Quartets
Quatuor Ebène
Available formats: 7 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Isang Enders (cello), Mischa Meyer (cello), Sunwook Kim (piano), Sean Shibe (guitar), Joachim Enders (harmonium)
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
The 'Klassik ohne Grenzen' Prizes (Classical Without Borders)
Røta
Music by Grieg, Halvorsen, Bull & Svendsen
Ragnhild Hemsing (violin/hardanger fiddle)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Joseph Calleja (tenor), Mantovani & His Orchestra
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Orchestral (19th-century music)
NDR Radiophilharmonie, Leo McFall
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Orchestral (20th/21st-century music)
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrea Battistoni
Available format: CD
Choral
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Opera (up to and including 18th-century)
Katharina Thalbach, Cappella Aquileia, Marcus Bosch
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Opera (19th-century)
Jonas Kaufmann (Otello), Federica Lombardi (Desdemona), Carlos Álvarez (Iago)
Orchestra e Coro dell'Academia Nationale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Opera (20th/21st-century)
Stefan Kurt (General Wladimir Katschalow), Alma Sade (Tatjana), Vera-Lotte Boecker (Lydia Pawlowska), Dominik Koninger (Roderich Zirbitz), Tansel Akzeybek (Ito), Tino Lindenburg (Colonel Baltischew), Luca Schaub (Grand Duke Michailowitsch)
Komische Opera Berlin, Jordan de Souza, Barrie Kosky
Available format: 2 DVD Videos
Stefan Kurt (General Wladimir Katschalow), Alma Sade (Tatjana), Vera-Lotte Boecker (Lydia Pawlowska), Dominik Koninger (Roderich Zirbitz), Tansel Akzeybek (Ito), Tino Lindenburg (Colonel Baltischew), Luca Schaub (Grand Duke Michailowitsch)
Komische Opera Berlin, Jordan de Souza, Barrie Kosky
Available format: Blu-ray
World Premiere Recording
Helena Rasker (alto), Bruno De Sá (countertenor), João Fernandes (bass), Maria Ladurner, Roberta Mameli, Liliya Gaysina, Roberta Invernizzi (sopranos)
Ensemble 1700, Dorothee Oberlinger
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Innovative Audio Production
Helen Dabringhaus, Trio Parnassus
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Best-seller of the Year
Lang Lang (piano)
Available formats: 2 CDs & Download (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
