Awards,
Recordings of the Year 2024 - Our Top 10
We'll be despatching physical awards to all our winners over the next week, so do look out for a photo-gallery in the not-too-distant future, and you can browse the list of all 100 finalists here - until 22nd January 2025 we're offering discounts of up to 25% on almost all of the featured titles (excluding downloads).
'Bates's concerto is an ideal microcosm of the ideas at play in the album as a whole, variously hinting at the genres of jazz, film music and minimalism that Trifonov has performed earlier, whilst also taking in wider allusions to Renaissance music and the more Romantic tradition of piano concertos in the vein of Rachmaninoff. It's a highly enjoyable piece that is brilliantly despatched by Trifonov and the orchestra.' (James Longstaffe)
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Queyras's second recording of the Bach cello suites, made seventeen years after his first, breathes vibrant new life into this cornerstone set of pieces. Careful phrasing, a wide variety of dynamics, inventive yet always natural sounding ornamentation, and some moments of pure genius, like playing the opening of the Minuet in the second suite pizzicato, make this a must-hear recording.' (Chris O'Reilly)
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Blu-ray, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'The relatively small forces and the use of period instruments bring a level of clarity rarely heard in Bruckner’s music, the distinctive timbres characterfully colouring the sound and demonstrating the skill and subtlety of his orchestration. This could be music from the choir stalls, melodies shaped as if by a singer, and harmonies voiced with a balance which frequently sounds hymnal and allows every timbre its rightful space.' (Matthew Ash)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Nicky Spence (Gerontius), Anna Stéphany (The Angel), Andrew Foster-Williams (The Priest/Angel of the Agony); Polish National Youth Choir, Gabrieli, Paul McCreesh
'The subtleties of Elgar's orchestration are realised to great effect, the extensive use of gut strings allowing for a haunting transparency of sound. Similarly, the brass are capable of being loud without obliterating the rest of the orchestra. Vocally, the star of the show is undoubtedly Nicky Spence, magnificently nuanced in tone and deeply impressive in his delivery of text.' (James Longstaffe)
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Despite the phenomenally difficult demands that Hamelin creates for himself, I never get the feeling that any of it is superficial virtuosity for its own sake. It's abundantly evident that there is an intelligent mind at work with a vast knowledge of the repertoire, alongside a wicked sense of humour.' (James Longstaffe)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'One of the many pleasures of this programme is tracing connections not just with Wagner but between the other featured composers, and the real rarities abound with details that evidently seized Wagner’s imagination...The prayer from Rienzi brings some of the finest singing and playing on the album, with Spyres on radiant form and some magical colours from the brass in particular.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'One of the most successful aspects of these performances is their rhythmic vitality. It can be easy particularly in the earlier symphonies to become too stodgy, but Järvi avoids this trap altogether. Another strength can be found in the slow movements, not least the rich, warm tone from the strings in the Adagio religioso section of the first part of Symphony No. 2, or the powerful intensity of the third movement of the Scottish.' (James Longstaffe)
Available Formats: 4 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Meyerbeer: Le prophète
John Osborn (Jean de Leyde), Elizabeth DeShong (Fidès), Mané Galoyan (Berthe), Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Count Oberthal); London Symphony Orchestra, Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône, Lyon Opera Chorus, Sir Mark Elder
'It’s difficult to imagine this weird and wonderful score sounding better. Elder clearly adores the piece and has the full measure of its rather lopsided Gothic architecture...All three principals meet Meyerbeer’s fearsome technical demands, but the real marvel is the way they get right under the skin of these psychologically complex characters.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available Formats: 3 SACDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Nathaniel Hackmann (Billy Bigelow), Mikaela Bennett (Julie Jordan), Sierra Boggess (Carrie Pipperidge), Julian Ovenden (Enoch Snow), Francesca Chiejina (Nettie Fowler), David Seadon-Young (Jigger Craigin); Sinfonia of London, ‘Carousel’ Ensemble, John Wilson
'I could easily expend my entire word-count on the myriad details which Wilson draws out from the opening Carousel Waltz, a little masterpiece of music-drama all on its own. The orchestral riches don’t recede once the singers take centre-stage, and the cast - largely made up of Wilson regulars - has no weak link.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Sibelius & Prokofiev: Violin Concertos
Janine Jansen (violin), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä
'I was gripped from the very opening of the Sibelius, and over the course of just a few bars Jansen draws myriad colours from the Shumsky-Rode Stradivarius (1715), making it speak from the iciness of those first notes to the early signs of the intensity that is to come. And the relationship between soloist and orchestra is best described as organic, with Mäkelä’s affinity for the composer clearly in evidence.' (Matthew Ash)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Debut Solo Album
'At full tilt, these musicians generate the same sort of gutsy firepower that we’ve come to expect from the Pavel Haas Quartet, but the fine-boned quality of their pianissimo playing is equally impressive...This is an ensemble which really can go from 0-60 in a couple of seconds, as indeed they're frequently called upon to do in both works.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
World Premiere Recording - New Work
Carlos Simon: Tales – A Folklore Symphony
National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center, Gianandrea Noseda
'Commissioned by the Sphinx Organization and the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2022, Tales is a kaleidoscopic journey through the folklore of African heritage, with a captivating combination of rhythmic energy, moments of quiet reflection and surging emotional expression that reaches out in celebration of triumph over adversity.' (Matthew Ash)
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
World Premiere Recording - Rediscovery
Louise Bertin: Fausto
Karine Deshayes (Fausto), Karina Gauvin (Margarita), Ante Jerkunica (Mefistofele), Nico Darmanin (Valentino), Marie Gautrot (Catarina); Les Talens Lyriques, Flemish Radio Choir, Christophe Rousset
'This rip-roaring account of Bertin's 1831 opera is a real white-knuckle ride, with Rousset conjuring some truly spine-chilling colours in the great witches' sabbath which closes Act One and a fiercely committed cast giving their all to some seriously demanding vocal writing. Let's have a fully-staged production soon, please.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
DVD/Blu-ray of the Year
Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Blu-ray)
Diana Damrau (Rosalinde), Georg Nigl (Eisenstein), Katharina Konradi (Adele), Andrew Watts (Orlofsky), Sean Panikkar (Alfred), Markus Brück (Dr Falke); Bayerische Staatsoper, Vladimir Jurowski, Barrie Kosky
It was around this time last year that Barrie Kosky invited us to question whether Die Fledermaus is a portrait of a society dancing on the edge of an abyss, a study of the psychology of revenge, or simply a play about champagne. Slick, sexy and just dark enough, this brilliant staging argues that it’s all three at the same time, with Georg Nigl giving a super-nuanced interpretation of Eisenstein and Vladimir Jurowski providing plenty of fizz from the pit. (Katherine Cooper)
Available Format: Blu-ray
Archive Issue of the Year
'This magnificent set of Smetana’s complete operas is a sort of Má vlast for the stage, the dances (there are many to savour) and tone-poetry supplemented by a rich fund of wonderful melodies. I’m not Czech myself, but for the duration of this collection, as a listener, I may as well be.' (Rob Cowan)
Available Format: 17 CDs
EP of the Year
'The winner of our new EP Award is born out of the friendship between a composer who’s best-known for his orchestral and large-scale ensemble music and a pianist who’s made her name in some of the densest, most virtuosic repertoire around. Each of these miniatures is a little gem, with both the music itself and Hammond’s interpretations showing an outstanding economy of expression.' (Chris O'Reilly)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
