The BBC Music Magazine announced the winners of their annual awards last week, and all of the ten winners (six of which were voted for by the public) came from independent labels. In some ways that is not surprising - while the difficulties of major labels have been often reported in the press, independents have been quietly going about their business producing a succession of excellent recordings with top artists and often more interesting repertoire.
The independents have raised the bar and now it is up to the majors to respond. The signs are they are doing just that. EMI for one have made some astute signings recently. On the back of Natalie Clein's and Alison Balsom's discs last autumn, pianists Simon Trpceski and Jonathan Biss have both been turning heads this spring, not to mention the soprano of the moment, Nina Stemme. With investment in young artists like this the majors clearly have a large and important contribution to make to the award winners of future years.
This year's ten BBC Music Magazine award winners are listed below. To view a single page with full details of all the winning discs and the other short-listed finalists click here.
Soile Isokoski (soprano), Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Smetana Trio
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Luiza Borac
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Veronica Cangemi, Simone Kermes, Philippe Jaroussky, Stefano Ferrari & Iestyn Davies, Ensemble theus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Pavel Haas Quartet
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Juliane Banse (soprano) Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart SWR, Heinz Holliger
Available Formats: FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Sarah Connolly, Angelika Kirchschlager, Danielle de Niese, OAE, William Christie
Available Format: 3 DVD Videos
