BBC Music Magazine Awards 2007 |
 Now in its second year, the BBC Music Magazine Awards have already established themselves as one of the UK's most important celebrations of recorded classical music. A few weeks ago, a panel of experts narrowed down over 1500 of the year's new releases to a shortlist of 18 - three per category. These were then subjected to a public vote, resulting in the winners announced at a ceremony on 11th April.
For details of the 2008 awards, click here.
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Disc of the Year & Vocal Award WinnerEx. VAT prices will be applied automatically for non-EU delivery addresses.
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Sibelius - Orchestral Songs
Sibelius: | Kaiutar, Op. 72, No. 4 Våren flyktar hastigt, Op. 13 No. 4 (Text: Runeberg) Säf, säf, susa, Op. 36 No. 4 (Text: Gustav Fröding) Men min fågel märks dock icke, Op. 36, No. 2 Luonnotar, Op. 70 (Text: Kalevala) Soluppgång, Op. 37 No. 3 (Text: Tor Hedberg) Den första kyssen, Op. 37 No. 1 (Text: J.L. Runeberg) Under strandens granar (Under the fir-trees) Op. 13 No. 1 (Runeberg) Var det en dröm? Op. 37 No. 4 (J.J. Wecksell) Höstkväll, Op. 38:1 (Text: Viktor Rydberg) På verandan på vid havet, Op. 38 No. 2 (Viktor Runeberg) Arioso, Op. 3 (Text: J.L. Runeberg) Lastu lainehilla, Op. 17, No. 7 Souda, souda, sinisorsa (Swim, duck, swim) (A.V. Forsman-Koskimies) Se'n har jag ej frågat mera, Op. 17 No. 1 (Text: J.L. Runeberg) En slända, Op. 17, No. 5 Hertig Magnus, Op. 57 No. 6 |
Soile Isokoski (soprano) Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam | "A thrilling performance of Luonnotar in which Isokoski’s sonorous soprano is matched by atmospheric playing from the Finnish orchestra. The rest of the disc makes you wonder why Sibelius’s orchestral songs occupy one of the most unjustly neglected corners of his output." Erik Levi BBC Music Magazine |
 CD Review
Critics Disc of the Year - December 2006 |
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Other Category Winners |
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| 'A vital ingredient in the Smetana Trio’s success is the quality of their string sound, its variety of tone and the handling of vibrato. Certainly, there are many details to admire in these performances, but in the end it is the Trio’s unrivalled feeling of ensemble that generates results unmatched in the catalogue.' Jan Smaczny - BBC Music Magazine |
 BBC Music Magazine
Disc of the month - September 2006 |
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Peter Mattei (baritone) & Monica Groop (mezzo-soprano) Gentlemen of the London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis | "If any performance is needed to convince anyone of the early mastery of Sibelius, it is this one … this is a great performance. I have no doubt that the LSO at present is the greatest orchestra in the world" International Record Review |
BBC Music Magazine Choral & Song Choice - March 2006 |
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| |  | George Enescu - Piano Works Volume 2
| “A most valuable CD … One hopes that it might be the first instalment of a second Enescu piano music survey.”
– The Gramophone |
BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Choice - May 2006 |
| | Avie - AV2081 (SACD - 2 discs) £19.99 (£17.01 ex. VAT) |
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| |  | Opera in three actsworld première recording
Griselda: Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Costanza: Veronica Cangemi (soprano), Ottone: Simone Kermes (soprano), Roberto: Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Gualtiero: Stefano Ferrari (tenor) & Corrado: Iestyn Davies (countertenor) Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi 3 CDs for the price of 2 | 'Spinosi’s intuitive and vital direction achieves rewarding results. His instrumentalists are firstrate and the choice of cast well nigh impeccable. Marie-Nicole Lemieux gives a fine account of the contralto title role and further outstanding contributions come from Veronica Cangemi as Costanza.' Nicholas Anderson - BBC Music Magazine |
BBC Music Magazine Disc of the month - October 2006 |
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Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons | "This was a performance, played with the Concertgebouw's phenomenal spectrum of colouring, phrasing and
dynamic subtlety, that asserted the symphony's organic structural credentials and spoke of deep-seated,
human feelings throughout its ample 80-minute span. It was wonderful to have past reservations about the
symphony swept aside with such authority." The Daily Telegraph |
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| |  | Stage Director - David McVicar
Sarah Connolly, Angelika Kirchschlager, Danielle de Niese, Christophe Dumaux, Patricia Bardon, Christopher Maltman & Rachid Ben Abdeslam The Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, William Christie | ‘Christie conducts Handel beguilingly - in fact, I’d go so far as to suggest that nobody does Handel better. Christie drew brisk
playing from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, crisp and punchy, yet he also carried the slow tempos with magical
stillness. But the performance was about much more than sound alone: underneath the OAE’s sheen there was an internalized
musical depth to each of the numbers.’ Opera |
BBC Music Magazine DVD Choice - June 2006 |
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| "Not only is the performance beyond reproach on technical grounds, but also, more importantly, it conveys with almost graphic immediacy the searing passion the 74-year-old composer felt for Kamila Stosslova. The performers demonstrate a similarly convincing capacity to bring to life in the remarkable Second Quartet by the Janacek pupil Pavel Haas" BBC Music Magazine |
BBC Music Magazine Chamber Choice - October 2006 |
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Christine Schafer & Matthais Goerne Orchestra de Paris, Christoph Eschenbach | “Zemlinsky’s music is so much more complex, gorgeous and painful than any verbal resume can convey. Yet Eshenbach makes it all come together beautifully… (he) is joined by two superb soloists, on finest form, both with as strong a feeling for the greater melody as the conductor…Strongly recommended.” BBC Music Magazine |
CD Review Critics Disc of the Year - December 2006 |
BBC Music Magazine Disc of the month - July 2006 |
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| |  | Koechlin - Vocal Works With Orchestra
Juliane Banse (Soprano) SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart SWR, Heinz Holliger Eight World Premieres of Music by Charles Koechlin on this recording of his vocal works with orchestra in the ongoing complete Koechlin recording project. Heinz Holliger arguably the world’s top oboist takes up the baton. BBC Music Magazine Choral & Song Choice - February 2006 |
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Other FinalistsEx. VAT prices will be applied automatically for non-EU delivery addresses.
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Zsolt Fejérvári (double bass) Kodaly Quartet & Auer Quartet | 'Featuring two of Hungary’s finest quartets, this performance [of the Mendelssohn] captures all the youthful fervour of the opening Allegro moderato, the brilliant delicacy of the Scherzo and the driving perpetual motion of the Finale, while also finding an air of mystery and unexpected darkness in the slow movement.' Erik Levi - BBC Music Magazine |
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| Shostakovitch - String Quartets 3, 7 & 8
| Here’s an entirely new, distinctive performance tradition in Shostakovich’s quartets. The Hagen’s approach is pristine, with a wonderful transparency to the textures and a real bounce to the dance-inspired movements. There’s no lack of emotional depth, but some of the grime of accumulated habits has been cleaned off and the works emerge shining anew. Helen Wallace - BBC Music Magazine |
BBC Music Magazine Chamber Choice - July 2006 |
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| |  | listen: | | Morales: Parce mihi Domine | | | Mouton: Nesciens Mater | |
| Pilgrimage to Santiago
The Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner recorded: All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London - May 2005 | Being a man for great
journeys of exploration,
John Eliot Gardiner took
his Monteverdi Choir on
a musical pilgrimage to
Santiago in 2004. The
concerts they gave along
the route have yielded
this superb album. All
the composers have a
connection with Spain,
so Morales and Mouton
are set alongside Dufay
and Victoria, marvellous
performances all. - Gramophone Magazine |
BBC Music Magazine Choral & Song Choice - December 2006 |
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| |  | Baltic Voices 3
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Paul Hillier | Once again Paul Hillier and his Estonian choir provide a varied programme of new choral works by Baltic composers. Despite a wide gamut of styles, each composition has an immediacy that is not always found in contemporary music. Erik Levi - BBC Music Magazine |
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| |  | Hamburg 1734
Andreas Staier (harpsichord Anthony Sidey after Hass) Hamburg, 1734. The most extravagant of harpsichord builders, Hieronÿmus Albrecht Hass, created an instrument whose sonority was inspired by the variety and amplitude of the organ. Here, on a copy of this unique harpsichord, Andreas Staier plays pieces by the finest composers who were attracted to the Hanseatic city: a riot of colours! | "a stimulating and at times extravagantly expressive recital." Instrumental Choice, BBC Music Magazine, February 2006, *****/***** |
BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Choice - February 2006 |
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Marc-André Hamelin (piano) | Hamelin is a cult figure to pianophiles, his phenomenal technique matched by an intellectual musicality that’s second to none. Dukas’s gargantuan Sonata, light years away from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, could seem a white elephant, but Hamelin’s magic touch transforms it into a masterpiece. And the weird world of Decaux is a revelation. Jessica Duchen - BBC Music Magazine |
BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Choice - June 2006 |
| | Hyperion - CDA67513 (CD) Normally: £12.99 (£11.06 ex. VAT) Special: £9.74 (£8.29 ex. VAT) |
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John Treleaven, Christine Brewer, Peter Rose, Dagmar Peckova BBC Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles | “You would certainly have to go far to hear it better sung in the opera house. Christine Brewer’s Isolde had gleaming power, amplitude and amazing technical security… John Treleaven’s Tristan sang with ringing, clarion tone yet was capable of scaling down the voice in the intimate moments…” (The Times, February 2003) |
BBC Music Magazine Opera Choice - October 2006 |
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Patricia Petibon (soprano), Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Michael Schade (tenor), Malin Hartelius (soprano), Werner Güra (tenor), Johannes Kalpers (tenor), Markus Schäfer (tenor), Elisabeth von Magnus (mezzo-soprano) & Florian Boesch (bass) Concentus Musicus Wein, Nikolaus Harnoncourt | “The musical adventurer par excellence,… the scholarly conductor with temperament, the thinking musician who makes music with rough edges.” Gramophone |
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| |  | Bax - Tone Poems Volume 1
BBC Philharmonic, Vernon Handley | 'This recording makes a splendid follow-up to Vernon Handley’s set of the complete Bax symphonies: here some of the composer’s most powerful orchestral writing receives committed, full-blooded performance, the complex textures ideally balanced and recorded.' Calum MacDonald - BBC Music Magazine |
BBC Music Magazine Orchestral Choice - May 2006 |
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Anima Eterna (on period instruments), Jos aan Immerseel | 'In the Left Hand Concerto, Claire Chevallier’s technique fully matches her musicianship. Whatever recordings you may have of these works, this disc is a must, balancing opulence against clarity in the orchestral sound and respecting the diamond-hard construction on which Ravel lavished so many sleepless nights.' Roger Nichols - BBC Music Magazine |
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| |  | Canciones ArgentinasSongs By Buchardo, Carillo, Fleury, Guastavino, Lasala & Piazzolla
Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano), Marcos Fink (baritone) & Carmen Piazzini (piano) | "these songs burst with gorgeous, heartbreaking melodies…I can feel CD-of-the-year mode coming on." Choral & Song Choice, BBC Music Magazine |
BBC Music Magazine Choral & Song Choice - May 2006 |
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| |  | Wolf Lieder - Eichendorff and Goethe settings
Ian Bostridge (tenor) & Antonio Pappano (piano) | Bostridge’s ability to inhabit and dramatise the poetry of Wolf’s settings is extraordinary. This compelling programme has you on the edge of your seat, not least to catch every inflection of Pappano’s superlative musicianship: he has grand designs for these intimate songs, investing them with a supple, simmering passion, and mining their rich seam of expression with magical results. Helen Wallace - BBC Music Magazine |
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BBC Music Magazine Awards 2007
Gramophone Awards 2006
Gramophone Magazine