Awards,
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2025: Shortlist
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 28th February. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at King's Place on Wednesday 23rd April, where the Recording of the Year and Personality of the Year will also be revealed...
Orchestral
'It hardly needs saying that there is nothing banal about Bychkov’s meticulously mapped performances and that his attention to detail never stifles the music’s spontaneity...In sum, an enriching Má Vlast up there with the other indisputably great performances.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Her complex, imaginative scores verily zing with life and colour, while readily charting profound emotional depths…Beautifully performed and recorded, the whole selection has the feeling of a musical treasure trove, resplendent in its sense of vitality, beauty and imaginative possibility.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'What makes this performance especially persuasive is Järvi’s ability to control the constantly fluctuating tempo changes in Schoenberg’s score without losing sight of the music’s structural cohesion.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Concerto
Beethoven: Triple Concerto
Nicola Benedetti (violin), Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), Benjamin Grosvenor (piano), Gerald Finley (bass-baritone), Philharmonia Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali
'There are surely no more charismatic young performers in this country today than violinist Nicola Benedetti, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and together they make a stellar team, bursting with energy and expressive precision.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'A new version which stands comparison with the best. Frang’s initial entry is immediately soulful and introspective, intently tuning in to Robin Ticciati’s compelling account of the long orchestral introduction...Anyone interested in Elgar, or in acutely insightful violin playing , should hear it.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Schumann & Grieg: Piano Concertos
Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano), Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Michael Sanderling
'Leonskaja’s live performances of the Schumann and Grieg piano concertos have been cause for wonder...There are other ways of performing these works, but these interpretations are utterly consistent and totally enlightening.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Opera
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
'Fausto may not be a masterpiece, but it is well worth encountering...There’s strong support from the Flemish Radio Choir and Les Talens Lyriques, with conductor Christophe Rousset revealing the extraordinary qualities of this long-forgotten work.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Kevin Puts: The Hours
Renée Fleming (Clarissa Vaughan), Joyce DiDonato (Virginia Woolf), Kelli O'Hara (Laura Brown), Sean Panikkar (Leonard Woolf), Kyle Ketelsen (Richard), Denyce Graves (Sally); Metropolitan Opera, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
'Listening to it is an absorbing, even harrowing, experience...Puts’s music is tonal, broadly melodic and full of striking orchestral detail. His writing for the three principal female voices – two sopranos (Fleming and O’Hara) and a mezzo (DiDonato) – is highly expressive.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
John Adams: Girls of the Golden West
Julia Bullock (Dame Shirley), Ryan McKinny (Clarence), Davone Tines (Ned Peters), Hye Jung Lee (Ah Sing), Daniela Mack (Josef Segovia), Paul Appleby (Joe Cannon), Elliot Madore (Ramón); Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, John Adams
'The influence of Ives can be heard in the shifting layers; once a funeral march, now a Fourth of July celebration. As Dame Shirley, Julia Bullock is on scintillating form, particularly as she acts out the part of Lady Macbeth in Act II.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Choral
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
'This is unquestionably a great recording of Gerontius, one that every Elgarian should have, and ranks high among the many important projects Gabrieli has so far undertaken in its four decades of existence.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Gabriela Ortiz: Revolución diamantina
María Dueñas (violin), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Gustavo Dudamel
'Complex, dazzling scores that are at once tautly constructed yet freewheeling in their imaginative reach...The album as a whole really is outstanding, bringing together a sense of vision and virtuosity in what is a deeply felt celebration of the power of music.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Mozart: Requiem
Chadi Lazreq (treble), Ying Fang (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Alex Rosen (bass); Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
'Pichon and his superb choir and period instrument orchestra, Pygmalion, move the discussion on by sensitively adding their own interpretive layer in this beautiful and truly moving programme.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Vocal
'While you get plenty from the aesthetics of the listening experience, there is much more to be gleaned from this album as a piece of history, reinterpreting the story of Paul Robeson through a contemporary lens.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Rita Strohl: Volume 1, Musique vocale
Elsa Dreisig (soprano), Adèle Charvet (mezzo), Stéphane Degout (baritone), Olivia Darlic (narrator), Florian Caroubi, Célia Oneto Bensaid, Romain Louveau (piano)
'Justice cannot be done in a few words to the discoveries on this revelatory double album, with high production values, starry musicians, and crystal-clear sound. This is one to gift all your song-loving friends.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Close-Ups
Heloïse Werner, Max Baillie, Julian Azkoul, Ruth Gibson, Colin Alexander, Marianne Schofield, Kit Downes
'Performing her own work – there is surely no better interpreter – alongside a killer ensemble comprising (in different combinations) violin, viola, cello, double bass and hardanger fiddle...Werner and her collaborators are co-composers for an interlude that reappears in three guises throughout the album.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Chamber
'The heart is perhaps Once a Shoemaker, following on from an old field recording of the song on which it's based; is it here we get the distinctive, introspective sound of the clog fiddle? The voices add magic; so does the whistling, adding extra pleasure to Sørensen’s exquisite violin playing in As I Walked Out.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Played with such warmth and eloquence, the arrangements chosen here often feel as if they were tailor-made for the instrument, while the sensitive programming paints a loving portrait of the Schumann household.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'[The playing] can affectionately embrace the whimsical to the manner born, but equally bristles with spellbinding virtuosity, compelling insight and crests a lifeforce carrying all before it.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Instrumental
'This endlessly fascinating collection is played with style and incredible subtlety...I don't recall ever giving a recording the full ten stars. But then, I hadn't heard Hamelin play his own work.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'This album stands as a testament to the way 21st-century historical performance can often be a consummate synthesis of innovation and heritage. It also confirms her well-deserved reputation as a leading exponent of the viol, whose persuasive interpretations never fail to inspire and impress.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Some extremely daring speeds guarantee excitement, pushing the technical limits in what are, of course, despite their generic title (Études, or Studies), so much more than technical exercises, yet he also finds great poetry...some of Yunchan Lim’s interpretations may be too subjective for everyone’s taste, yet this is a remarkable feat that demands to be heard.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Premiere
'Deliberate and fresh exploration unique to this set of instruments is what this ensemble is all about – producing uncompromising and outstandingly mastered dynamics, slide control, multiphonics and, at times, outrageously comical moments.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Adrian Sutton: Violin Concerto and other works
Fenella Humphreys (violin), BBC Philharmonic, Michael Seal
'Sutton’s natural métier is the theatre, and even the Violin Concerto has an external programme which concerns a seagull and its appearance around various coastlines...Sutton was himself a violinist, and the writing is idiomatic, but also tricky in its demands, both athletic and lyrical, which are effortlessly met by Humphreys.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Emily Howard: The Anvil
Kate Royal, Claire Booth (sopranos), Hugh Cutting (countertenor), Christopher Purves (bass-baritone), BBC Philharmonic, BBC Singers, Hallé Choir, Ben Gernon, Vimbayi Kaziboni
'It’s an immersive and emotional experience. In 'The field turns inside out' the orchestral assault mirrors the flash of sabres and crush of hooves, voices crying out as chaos reigns. Visceral and brilliant.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Newcomer
'Here is a deeply satisfying, centuries-spanning, thought-provoking debut album by the fine choral ensemble Echo...The highlight of the album is Howard Skempton’s luminous Yeats setting ‘He wishes for the cloths of heaven’, which is exquisitely done.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Deliberate and fresh exploration unique to this set of instruments is what this ensemble is all about – producing uncompromising and outstandingly mastered dynamics, slide control, multiphonics and, at times, outrageously comical moments.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Some extremely daring speeds guarantee excitement, pushing the technical limits in what are, of course, despite their generic title (Études, or Studies), so much more than technical exercises, yet he also finds great poetry...some of Yunchan Lim’s interpretations may be too subjective for everyone’s taste, yet this is a remarkable feat that demands to be heard.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
