The winners will be revealed on Wednesday 4th October, when details of special prizes including the Lifetime Achievement Award and Recording of the Year will also be unveiled.
Until 13th November 2023, we're offering discounts of up to 20% off all of the titles in the running...
Chamber
Prism IV - Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bach
Danish String Quartet
'The DSQ make compelling storytellers.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Mozart: String Quintets K515 & K516
Antoine Tamestit (viola), Quatuor Ebène
'The Ébène are second to none in colour and vitality, and unrivalled in their lyrical tenderness. For me they become a new benchmark.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Schoenberg: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 3, Opp. 7 & 30
Gringolts Quartet
'The Gringolts stand out both for their technical refinement and for the projection of a kind of melancholy Jewish wit that reveals itself more readily in Schoenberg’s correspondence than in his music.'
Available format: SACD
Choral
John Cage: Choral Works
Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Kļava
'One is unsurprised by the unconventionality but taken aback by the richness and variety of the final musical result.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Monteverdi: Concerto & Settimo Libro de' Madrigali
Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
'This is opera without the stage – a riveting and incredibly stylish account of this vast and varied book of music. Well worth the wait.'
Available formats: 2 CDs & Download (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
Ravel: Cantates Pour Le Prix de Rome
Véronique Gens (soprano), Vannina Santoni (sopranos), Sophie Koch, Janina Baechle (mezzos), Julien Behr, Michael Spyres (tenors), Jacques Imbrailo (baritone); Choeur et Orchestre National des Pays de La Loire, Pascal Rophé
'What a delicious surprise this has turned out to be.'
Available format: 2 SACDs
Concerto
Elgar: Viola Concerto & Bloch: Suite For Viola and Orchestra
Timothy Ridout (viola), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
'Ridout is a strong, personable player whose deft handling of the Scherzo and heartfelt playing of the Adagio make the concerto’s central episodes exceptionally memorable.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Martinů, Krása & Kalabis: Harpsichord Concertos
Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord), Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Liebreich
'An unalloyed joy from first chord to last...The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra’s accompaniment is sensitive and ideal, and Esfahani plays like an angel.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Ravel: Concertos pour piano & Mélodies
Cédric Tiberghien (piano), Stéphane Degout (baritone), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
'Every now and again accounts of Ravel’s concertos come along that set new standards...here’s another game-changer.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Contemporary
Richard Causton: La Terra Impareggiabile
Marcus Farnsworth (baritone), Huw Watkins (piano), BBC Symphony Orchestra
'La terra impareggiabile (‘The Incomparable Earth’) is a magnificent cycle...a performance of alternately gripping power and constrained sensitivity.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
James Dillon: Emblemata - Carnival
Red Note Ensemble
'Dillon, who has latterly worked at IRCAM, doesn’t over-egg the electronics, knowing that a light touch is more effective than pell-mell indulgence.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Wennäkoski: Sigla; Flounce; Sedecim
Sivan Magan (harp), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Collon
'This is music that knows exactly where it is going and is happy to bring its audience along with it.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Early Music
Byrd: Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets (1611)
The Sixteen, Fretwork, Harry Christophers
'It’s an exquisite album of unparalleled beauty that will bear repeated listening long past the anniversary year.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Ludwig Daser: Polyphonic Masses
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul Van Nevel
'This larger ensemble creates a rich, wellbalanced sound which at times I found attractively wistful.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri Quinto & Sesto
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
'Agnew is surely right to insist on the music’s ability to stand on its own terms.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Instrumental
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Complete Works For Keyboard, Vol. 7
Benjamin Alard (organ), Ensemble Vocal Bergamasque, Marine Fribourg, Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris
'The effect, both individually and collectively, is stunning.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Bartók, Ligeti, Veress, Eötvös
Nurit Stark (violin & viola)
'Quite a journey, one that’s profoundly representative of the Hungarian musical psyche in the 20th century.'
Available format: SACD
Tutta sola
Rachel Podger (violin)
'Throughout, Podger is a perfect guide, her intonation unfailing and her musicianship and violinistic personality illuminating this intriguing music at every moment.'
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Opera
Meyerbeer: Robert le Diable
John Osborn (Robert), Nicolas Courjal (Bertram), Amina Edris (Alice), Erin Morley (Isabelle), Nico Darmanin (Raimbaut); Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Chœur de l'Opera National de Bordeaux, Marc Minkowski
'It all adds up to a formidable re-evaluation of a seminal if neglected work, as well as being a remarkable achievement in its own right.'
Available formats: 3 CDs + Book, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Puccini: Turandot
Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), Jonas Kaufmann (Calaf), Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum), Mattia Olivieri (Ping), Gregory Bonfatti (Pang), Siyabonga Maqungo (Pong); Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
'A Turandot for the ages? This recording holds its own against venerable competition and, in the original Alfano completion, is unique.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage
Robert Murray (Mark), Rachel Nicholls (Jenifer), Ashley Riches (King Fisher), Jennifer France (Bella), Toby Spence (Jack), Claire Barnett-Jones (Sosostris), Susan Bickley (She-Ancient), Joshua Bloom (He-Ancient), London Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Edward Gardner
'Gardner’s is more than warmly recommended as both reminder of and entrée to Tippett’s achievement.'
Available formats: 3 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Orchestral
Rued Langgaard: Symphony No. 1 - Cliffside Pastorals
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sakari Oramo
'The Berlin players offer stamina and assurance, vital in those multilayered accompaniments and sudden jump-cuts.'
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi
'These are quite marvellous – and in the case of the Fourth Symphony, incendiary – performances.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Vaughan Williams, Howells, Delius & Elgar: Music for Strings
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
'The Sinfonia of London belongs in the Formula 1 class of orchestras, and in this repertoire sits in pole position.'
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Piano
William Bolcom: The Complete Rags
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
'I doubt if there’s another pianist on the planet who, after giving us a revelatory two-disc survey of CPE Bach, could so adroitly turn his attention to late 20th-century ragtime. The man is a miracle.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Dvořák: Poetic Tone Pictures
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)
'We need more high-profile pianists on major labels to show the same initiative and introduce their fans to piano music beyond the safe, predictable and over-recorded.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works
Krystian Zimerman (piano)
'Zimerman has all the quick-wittedness and nimbleness called for, not to mention power and agility.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Song
The Complete Songs of Duparc
Malcolm Martineau (piano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo), Nicky Spence (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone), William Thomas (bass)
'This is very much a recording in which we’re aware of Duparc’s edginess as well as his beauty.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Fauré: Complete Songs
Cyrille Dubois (tenor), Tristan Raës (piano)
'He is a stylish, cultured performer and is as fine an advocate for Fauré’s mélodies as any of the best.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Schubert: Schwanengesang
Andrè Schuen (baritone), Daniel Heide (piano)
'An illuminating sense of long-term musical direction, plus telling articulation of text.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Voice & Ensemble
Contra-Tenor
Michael Spyres (tenor), Il Pomo d’Oro, Francesco Corti
'The speed with which his voice moves can be breathtaking...it’s an enthralling disc as one might expect, and the best of it is sensational indeed.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Rossini & Donizetti: French Bel Canto Arias
Lisette Oropesa (soprano), Dresdner Philharmonie, Sachsischer Staatsopernchor, Corrado Rovaris
'She’s in wonderful voice throughout, her coloratura at once dazzling and expressive, her sense of line often flawless, text, character and emotions exactingly conveyed.'
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Rivales
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Véronique Gens (soprano), Le Concert de la Loge, Julien Chauvin
'Le Concert de la Loge provides support that is virile and tender, as appropriate...And the two singers are magnificent.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
