Awards,
Gramophone Awards 2018: The Winners!
The category-winners of this year's Gramophone Awards have just been announced: among those scooping an award are the Pavel Haas Quartet, Marianne Crebassa, Arcadi Volodos, and François-Xavier Roth & Les Siècles.
The overall Recording of the Year will be announced on 13th September at the Awards Ceremony at the Connaught Rooms in London, as will the Lifetime Achievement Award and Artist of the Year.
You can browse through all the winning discs below, or find the full 2018 shortlist here.
Chamber
'From the off, they make the music their own...the sense of story-telling is very persuasive...Another triumphant addition to the Pavel Haas’s already Award-laden discography.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Choral
'The Estonians have always rejoiced in a warm, rich sound and perfect blend, and guided by the utterly precise and dynamic Kaspars Putninš they give here a truly outstanding rendition that picks up every emotional and spiritual nuance with no sacrifice of technical perfection.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concerto
Bartók: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
'An out-and-out winner...Tetzlaff’s account of the First Concerto elevates this work to a whole new level of musical excellence, so much so that I’m inclined to place his expertly recorded CD of the two concertos ahead of all rival versions. It’s that good!'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Contemporary
Dusapin: Quatuor VI Hinterland & Quator VII OpenTime
Arditti Quartet, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
'Both pieces reaffirm Dusapin’s quartet cycle as among the most significant now emerging.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Early Music
'At full stretch there isn’t a weak link from top to bottom...try the Mass that forms the centrepiece here...I doubt whether I’ll be alone in thinking this one of the discoveries of the year.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumental
'This is one of those discs where a word count is a strange thing. For it needs only four: Go Buy This Disc...whatever he does, you can’t imagine the music going any other way, which is perhaps the definition of a great artist.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Opera
Berlioz: Les Troyens
Joyce DiDonato (Didon), Michael Spyres (Énée), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Cassandre), Orchestre et Choeur philharmonique de Strasbourg; John Nelson
'Nelson is in no great rush, allowing Berlioz’s music time to breathe where necessary…[His] cast is simply to die for...Énée is thrillingly sung by Michael Spyres…DiDonato’s vehement response to Énée’s desertion reveals her as a great tragedienne…In short this is a peach of recording.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Orchestral
'Les Siècles’ French-built woodwind and brass instruments from the early 20th century...Lean gut strings achieve feathery lightness... With fine choral contributions from the Ensemble Aedes, this new recording is highly recommended.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Recital
'This is a treasure trove of rare music…Galou is a perfect singer to introduce us to this music, thanks to an agile and comfortable technique...The playing of Accademia Bizantina…is keen as mustard and filled with typically telling detail by director Ottavio Dantone.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Solo Vocal
'With her warm tone and often remarkable way with both vocal colour and verbal inflection, Crebassa is outstanding in this repertory, and in Fazıl Say she has an accompanist whose direct yet subtle approach matches her own...One of the finest French song recitals of recent years. I cannot recommend it too highly.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
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