You can browse the shortlist and listen to snippets of the discs below; to place your votes, visit the magazine's website by midnight UK time on Friday 23rd February. The winning recordings will be announced at a ceremony at King's Place on Thursday 18th April, where the Recording of the Year and Personality of the Year will also be revealed...
Orchestral
Thomas Adès: Dante
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Gustavo Dudamel
'Heady textures and great imagination abounds in this live premiere recording.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 8, 9, 10
Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirill Petrenko
'These are unusually vivid performances, breathing conviction at every stage.'
Available format: 2 CDs + Blu-ray
Vaughan Williams, Howells, Delius & Elgar: Music for Strings
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
'The Sinfonia of London’s string playing bristles with vitality and definition.'
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Concerto
Stravinsky: Violin Concerto & Chamber Works
Isabelle Faust (violin), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
'The gut strings imbue Faust’s solo part with the limpid texture of finely wrought glassware rather than hard steel.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Nielsen: The Concertos
Bomsori (violin), Ulla Miilmann (flute), Johnny Teyssier (clarinet) Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi
'These characterful works were brought to vivid life by their respective soloists, in fine dialogue with Luisi and the Danish National Symphony.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Dobrinka Tabakova: Orpheus' Comet, Earth Suite & Concertos
Maxim Rysanov (viola), Guy Johnston (cello), Hallé Orchestra, Delyana Lazarova
'Beautifully performed and recorded, this is a first-rate release, offering a timely showcase of this exceptionally talented composer.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
Opera
Puccini: Turandot
Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), Jonas Kaufmann (Calaf), Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum); Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
'The rhythmic detail is electrifying, the conductor’s deep understanding of Puccini the symphonist mesmerising.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma!
Nathaniel Hackmann (Curly), Sierra Boggess (Laurey), Rodney Earl Clarke (Jud Fry), Jamie Parker (Will Parker), Louise Dearman (Ado Annie), Sandra Marvin (Aunt Eller), Nadim Naaman (Ali Hakim); Sinfonia of London, Oklahoma! Ensemble, John Wilson
'As ever, John Wilson brings great passion to this project, assembling not only his go-to band of top-notch orchestral players, but a cast totally perfect in their roles.'
Available formats: 2 SACDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Lully: Psyché
Ambroisine Bré (Psyché), Deborah Cachet (Amour/Agalour), Bénédicte Tauran (Venus), Cyril Auvity (Cupid); Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
'Rousset’s great charisma at the harpsichord might have carried the production along, but the vocal fireworks from the cast impressed, too.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Choral
Reconnaissance: Choral Works by Kaija Saariaho
Helsinki Chamber Choir, Uusinta Ensemble, Nils Schweckendiek
'The Helsinki Chamber Choir made expressive work of the programme, including the otherworldly title work, Reconnaissance, here in its premiere recording.'
Available format: CD
Vaughan Williams, Macmillan & Tavener: Choral Works
The Choir of Westminster Abbey, James O'Donnell
'As the summation of a golden era in Westminster Abbey’s venerable choral tradition, this consummately performed programme is unmissable.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Vocal
Walking in the Dark
Julia Bullock (soprano), Christian Reif (piano)
'This excellent album, blending orchestral works with more intimate, often jazz-infused numbers for voice and piano, focuses on music of personal significance to her.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Beyond
Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor), Il Pomo d'Oro
'Orliński carries off the programme with great élan: his bell-like voice is warm, focused and as limber as his famous break-dancing.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Les Heures Claires: The Complete Songs of Nadia & Lili Boulanger
Lucile Richardot (mezzo), Stéphane Degout (baritone), Raquel Camarinha (soprano), Anne de Fornel (piano), Sarah Nemtanu (violin), Emmanuelle Bertrand (cello)
'Pianist Anne de Fornel is the impressive constant factor, capturing the refined emotional nuances of these exquisite works, while mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot takes the lion’s share of the 55 songs.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Chamber
Schubert: Works for Piano Trio & Arpeggione Sonata
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Tanja Tetzlaff (cello), Lars Vogt (piano)
'These Schubert performances were among the last recordings Lars Vogt made before his untimely death last year...It provides a moving testimonial to his exceptional musicianship and pianism.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
JS Bach: The Well-Tempered Consort – III
Phantasm, Laurence Dreyfus
'This is a truly outstanding album, which rewards the listener with profound aural pleasure.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Beethoven: The Late Quartets
Calidore String Quartet
'The Calidore players penetrate right to the heart of the music, giving warm and intensely lyrical accounts.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Instrumental
Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works
Krystian Zimerman (piano)
'The middle-period Masques also leap out with more imagination than anything else here, the pianist’s command of colour magnificent and mesmerising.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Fauré: Nocturnes & Barcarolles
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
'Hamelin’s superb technique and no doubt many hours of careful thought pay dividends, magisterially impressing on us the power and beauty of this music.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Profesión
Sean Shibe (guitar)
'This is a gleaming and brilliant album that doesn’t fail to awaken the senses to the exhilarating world of unadulterated acoustic sound.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Premiere
Missy Mazzoli: Dark with Excessive Bright
Peter Herresthal (violin), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, James Gaffigan, Arctic Philharmonic, Tim Weiss
'The orchestras here hail from Norway, where their own experience of dark light perhaps enables their instinctive response to Mazzoli’s arresting blend of apparent opposites.'
Available format: SACD
Sola: Music for Viola by Women Composers
Rosalind Ventris (viola)
'Ventris brings absolute technical assurance and a vivid sense of line...Among the many excellent more contemporary works, Amanda Feery’s Boreal is especially powerful.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Maconchy, Lutyens & Wallen: Works for Piano and Orchestra
Martin Jones (piano), Rebeca Omordia (piano), BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews
'All the pieces are premieres on disc – and they are discoveries you’ll want to hear many times again.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Newcomer
Le Voyage
Alexandra Lowe (soprano), Patrick Milne (piano)
'For all her linguistic adeptness, Spanish-born British soprano Lowe is a tone-based singer who knows how to use vocal colour as an imaginative vehicle of expression.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Visages Baroques
Raphaël Feuillâtre (guitar)
'Feuillâtre’s acute musical intelligence allies with frequent ornamentation...It's an exquisite, joyfully presented programme.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Mirrors
George Xiaoyuan Fu (piano)
'His intelligent approach to the music is fuelled by deep emotion and understanding of the wide variety of repertoire. That and Fu’s entrancing lightness of touch made for a memorable debut.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
