This year's ceremony will take place at the De Vere Connaught Rooms in London on the evening of Wednesday 7th October, when details of special prizes including Artist, Orchestra and Recording of the Year will also be unveiled...
Chamber
Dvořák & Price: Piano Quintets
Takács Quartet, Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
'With recorded sound that’s at once detailed and atmospheric, this new Hyperion release is pure pleasure in every respect.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Enescu & Mendelssohn: Octets
Quatuor Ébène, Belcea Quartet
'Few octet recordings so fully reconcile orchestral amplitude with chamber accountability and make it sound inevitable.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Martinů: String Quartets Nos. 2-3-5-7
Pavel Haas Quartet
'The present anthology could be a game-changer for a series which, the Seventh apart, gets fewer performances than it deserves.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Choral
Johann Ludwig Bach: The Leipzig Cantatas
Capella Sollertia, Johanna Soller
'This seminal project is a revelation in the sheer weight of first-rate 'Bach', previously under the radar, and now in premiere recordings delivered with exceptional attentiveness and care.'
Available Formats: 4 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
JS Bach: Johannes-Passion
Julian Prégardien (Evangelist), Huw Montague Rendall (Jesus), Ying Fang (soprano), Lucile Richardot (mezzo-soprano), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Christian Immler (bass-baritone), Etienne Bazola (baritone), Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
'You feel it in the gut like few other accounts, alongside unalloyed human observation and unyielding quality.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Benevoli: Missae Angelus Domini & Dum complerentur
I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth
'I reckon this is probably I Fagiolini at their sonorous, splendid best. A fitting end to this fantastic project.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Concerto
Elgar & Adès: Violin Concertos
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds
'The Adès Concerto here becomes the version that establishes this brilliant and probing work as a repertoire classic...quite simply, a knockout new album.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Ligeti: Violin Concerto - Concert Românesc - Piano Concerto
Isabelle Faust (violin), Martial Gauthier, Carole Roth, Robin Michael (cello), Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (piano), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
'No memorable performance of such a startling score should be deemed effortless, but this one has the riveting atmosphere of a manic yet fiercely constrained improvisation...the result is a stunning drama.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works
Yuja Wang (piano), Thomas Rolfs (trumpet), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
'A genuine collaborative spirit presides over these Shostakovich concerto performances, not to mention the dazzling execution and playful characterisation one expects from this particular piano soloist.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Contemporary
Adès: The Exterminating Angel Symphony & Violin Concerto
Leila Josefowicz (violin), Minnesota Orchestra, Thomas Søndergård
'A powerful, even coruscating extraction of crucial sections from the original score to create a coherent four-movement stand- alone work that carries all before it'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Vesper
Sean Shibe (guitar)
'You find yourself marvelling at what Shibe can do with two hands and six strings in the space of one bar...the depths he plumbs, on his instrument, with these miniature stories.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Huw Watkins: Fanfare; Symphony No. 2; Concerto For Orchestra
Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder
'Both works are irresistibly performed...Watkins is assuredly a modern master and this is an album to relish.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Early Music
Monteverdi: Il Sesto Libro de Madrigali
RossoPorpora, Walter Testolin
Testolin manages [the] changes of textures smoothly. In his hands, this last book of completely polyphonic madrigals has a dreamlike quality that matches many of their pastoral overtones.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
William Mundy: Vox Patris Caelestis
Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney
'A steady and safe reading in most cases, supported particularly by a seriously energetic team of boy trebles, who are in general favoured in the acoustic here.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Stravagante pensiero: Gesualdo & Napoli
Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
'Full of surprises and superbly done, this is an almost intoxicatingly pained addition to the catalogue.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Instrumental
Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2
Chris Thile (mandolin)
'His are generous and loving performances that, like a Rothko painting, reveal more of themselves to you the longer you spend with them.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Louis Couperin: The Complete Works
Jean Rondeau (harpsichord)
'His phrasing is flexible yet logical, rhetorical in the unfashionable but true sense of the word...In a time when 'completeness' too often means mere obsession, Rondeau's set redefines the term.'
Available Format: 11 CDs
Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Complete Solo Works
Franz Halász (guitar)
'There are arguably few players today better placed to imbue Villa-Lobos’s musical language with an entirely modern sensibility that is both respectful and idiosyncratic.'
Available Format: SACD
Opera
Édouard Lalo: Le Roi d’Ys
Judith van Wanroij (Rozenn), Kate Aldrich (Margared), Cyrille Dubois (Mylio), Jérôme Boutillier (Karnak), Nicolas Courjal (Le Roi d’Ys), Christian Helmer (Saint Corentin/Jahel) Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian National Choir, György Vashegyi
'Vashegyi and his Hungarian forces admirably capture its hurtling momentum and the almost unnerving ferocity of its war music as well as the beauty of the love scenes.'
Available Formats: CD + Book, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Mozart: Idomeneo
Andrew Staples (Idomeneo), Magdalena Kožená (Idamante), Sabine Devieilhe (Ilia), Elsa Dreisig (Elettra), Linard Vrielink (Arbace), Allan Clayton (High Priest of Neptune), Tareq Nazmi (Voice of the Oracle) Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Simon Rattle
'Rattle is every bit Gardiner's equal in theatrical energy, and arguably fields the strongest all-round cast in any recording of Mozart's ever-astonishing Enlightenment parable.'
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Saariaho: Adriana Mater
Fleur Barron (Adriana), Axelle Fanyo (Refka), Nicholas Phan (Yonas), Christopher Purves (Tsargo), San Francisco Symphony & Chorus, Esa-Pekka Salonen
'Saariaho puts text first and the singers respond, but articulation from the San Francisco Symphony...while giving space to so much in between, is outstanding, too.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Orchestral
Bacewicz: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2
Peter Donohoe (piano), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
'For anyone wondering why Bacewicz is now considered among the more notable composers of her era this Chandos release is the preferred option.'
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
'Here is one that demands to be heard...First choice or not, this is a memorably bracing take on a masterpiece that ought to be reserved for special occasions.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Pettersson: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 8
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Christian Lindberg
'Interpretatively, what Lindberg - now the most experienced Pettersson conductor of them all - does so well is to let the music flow, and at pace when needed.'
Available Format: SACD
Piano
Bach: Goldberg Variations
Yunchan Lim (piano)
'Lim's searching voice and powers of communication always come across in a performance well worth hearing.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Schubert: Four Hands
Bertrand Chamayou (piano), Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)
'[They] consistently transcend matters of ensemble synchronicity and textural balances, going directly to the music's heart and soul...An instant classic.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty, Children’s Album, Piano Sonata, Theme & Variations
Daniil Trifonov (piano)
'With all due respect to Mikhail Pletnev's excellent recording of the Album for the Young, Op 39, Trifonov now claims reference-version status.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Song
Brahms: Lieder
Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Gerold Huber (piano)
'They cast a very individual spell over the music, their interpretative approach drawing all the songs together so that they come across as a coherent whole.'
Available Format: CD
Visiting Rachmaninoff
Julia Lezhneva (soprano), Alexander Melnikov (piano)
'I’ve always associated Lezhneva primarily with Baroque and bel canto repertoire, where her cut-glass soprano sparkles. Her Rachmaninov is quite the revelation.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Belle époque!
Adèle Charvet (mezzo), Florian Caroubi (piano)
'Charvet's mezzo is warm and velvety...Caroubi, meanwhile, is a real revelation, a wonderful accompanist, marvellous in his understanding of colour, dynamics and rubato.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Voice & Ensemble
Gluck Arias
Ann Hallenberg (mezzo), The Mozartists, Ian Page
'As well as virtuosity, Hallenberg brings something vital to everything in this assortment, be it an insightful dramatic detail, a point of stylistic nous or a sheer sense of presence.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Vaughan Williams: Landscapes
Cyrille Dubois (tenor), Anne Le Bozec (piano), Julien Dieudegard (violin), Emeline Concé (violin), Louise Desjardins (viola), Louis Rodde (cello), Baptiste Gibier (oboe)
'Set down within an ideally intimate space, these are scrupulously prepared and urgently communicative performances, evincing a most pleasing sense of teamwork and freshness of new discovery.'
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Northern Light
Lucile Richardot (mezzo), Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé
'Ensemble Correspondances conjure up an intimate, focused sound world, in which every detail tells. But the star of the show is soloist Lucile Richardot.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
