English conductor Harry Christophers, founder and tirelessly enthusiastic director of The Sixteen, was crowned Personality of the Year. His continued committment to taking a wide range of choral repertoire to all corners of the country on the choir's annual Choral Pilgrimage is testament to his passion, and the album which accompanies each tour, on The Sixteen's own CORO label, is always a delight, capturing the skilful blending of voices and attention to detail which is a hallmark of their work. Christophers established an invaluable new training programme for 14-18 year-olds last year, following the choir's forty-fifth anniversary in 2024.
Until 24th June, we're delighted to be offering 20% off this year's winners.
Recording of the Year and Choral
A Prayer For Deliverance
Tenebrae, Nigel Short
'One of Tenebrae's great strengths is to bring both dignity and panache to these works, showing restraint where it is due, but unleashing full-blooded passion at the climaxes without a trace of vulgarity.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Orchestral
Schreker - Korngold - Krenek
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Sascha Goetzel
'Korngold's Sinfonietta - written at just 15 - and Schreker's Overture to Die Gezeichneten are lushly, boldly Romantic, while Krenek's Potpourri of 1927 chucks elements such as European dance and jazz into the melting pot that its title suggests. Superb playing is matched by first-rate sound.'
Available format: SACD
Concerto
Lindberg and Aho: Clarinet Concertos
Julian Bliss (clarinet), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Taavi Oramo
'It's exciting to hear [the Lindberg] taken up by Julian Bliss, a clarinettist who thrives in this scampering sound world...The cadenza is Bliss's own; from its restrained opening to repeated ascents it is an extraordinary and engaging display - Mozart in modernity.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Opera
Bartók: Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Gábor Bretz (Bluebeard), Rinat Shaham (Judith), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Karina Canellakis
'Canellakis conducts the orchestra as if her life depended on it Philharmonic as if her life depended on it, understanding the aching angularity of Bartók's score and exploring every musical shiver and chordal creak.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Vocal
Mahler: Songs of Fate
Anna Lucia Richter (mezzo), Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Jordan de Souza
'Her identification with the songs and their subject-matter appears total, and the artistic result both mesmerises and disturbs the listener...This is as near great singing as makes no difference.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Chamber
'They seem to have assimilated the music into their cells, performing it with an energetic vitality and colour that is all special effects...The group offers high-pixel definition of character, conveyed with mesmerising intensity.'
Available format: SACD
Instrumental
Telemann - Bach - Britten - Shaw
Timothy Ridout (viola)
'This is an album that proclaims the viola as a distinctive, individual solo instrument, ideally served here by its skilled interpreter...this [Bach] Chaconne seems to sum up Ridout's whole approach as a creative combination of sustained sound with musical argument, perfectly balanced.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Premiere
Dobrinka Tabakova: Sun Triptych
Maxim Rysanov (viola), Dasol Kim (piano), Roman Mints (violin, hurdygurdy), Kristina Blaumane (cello), BBC Concert Orchestra, Dobrinka Tabakova
'Perhaps the most engaging work in this recital is the Sun Triptych, a three-movement nature piece for violin, cello and strings that traces the movement of light from dawn to dusk. Here, Tabakova allows her aural imagination to take flight, and in the process of that, conjures up a wealth of fascinating and evocative sounds.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Newcomer
'Not yet 20, the Czech pianist Jan Schulmeister makes an outstanding Supraphon debut with this recital of Russian music...all three composers are united here through Schulmeister's intense musicality.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
