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 The WinnersTwenty-one recordings in seven categories were selected by an expert jury for public online voting. The nominations represented the best of all the recordings reviewed by BBC Music Magazine during the year, and featured an eclectic array of household names as well as newcomers to the field. The votes are now in, and the winning discs were announced on 12th April, together with the special jury awards.
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Disc of the Year |
 Schumann: Piano WorksPiotr Anderszewski (piano)The jury says… "Anderszewski proves to be utterly compelling and persuasive, teasing out an astonishing range of colours throughout." |
Category Award Winners |
 Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 4, 17 & 22Jerusalem QuartetThe jury says… "I defy anyone not to find something new in these scintillating performances. From the opening bars we are in the midst of a riveting conversation…" |
 Victoria: Requiem Mass 1605Tenebrae, Nigel ShortThe jury says… "Tenebrae seem to have everything - deep musical insight, technical finesse and an utterly mesmerizing balance and poise." |
Schumann: Piano WorksPiotr Anderszewski (piano)The jury says… "Anderszewski proves to be utterly compelling and persuasive, teasing out an astonishing range of colours throughout." |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D majorLucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (Lucerne 2010)The jury says… "The three-minute silence between the final, ineluctably slow and soft bars of the Adagio and the storm of audience applause says it all…" Also available on blu-ray. |
 Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Jennifer Rivera, Bejun Mehta, Sunhae Im, Markos Fink etc, René JacobsThe jury says… "Agrippina herself is a manipulative monster… and a performance as thrillingly realised as this from René Jacobs and his outstanding cast proves the dramatic worth of the original score." |
 Jean-Efflam Bavouzet plays Ravel, Debussy & MassenetBBC Symphony Orchestra, Yan Pascal TortelierThe jury says… "A dazzling palette of colours; magical tone and impeccable phrasing; sensitivity to every mood combined with an unerring instinct for Ravel’s finely-turned forms." |
 Purcell: O Solitude!Andreas Scholl (countertenor), Accademia Bizantia, Stefano MontanariThe jury says… "It might be a new Golden Age of the countertenor, but few can equal the sheer beauty of tone and dramatic instinct displayed by Andreas Scholl." |
Jury Award Winners |
 Award for Technical ExcellenceBerlioz: Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem)Robert Murray (tenor), Gabrieli Players & Consort, Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Ensemble Wroclaw, Chetham’s School of Music Symphonic Brass Ensemble, Paul McCreesh |
 Newcomer of the YearFrancesco Piemontesi - RecitalFrancesco Piemontesi (piano) |
 Premiere Recording of the YearBirtwistle: Night’s Black Bird and other worksThe Hallé Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth |
 Award for DVD (documentary)Genius Within - The Inner Life of Glenn GouldA film by Michèle Hozer & Peter Raymont Also available on blu-ray. |
Other Finalists |
 Ben Johnston: String Quartets Nos. 1, 5 & 10Kepler QuartetThe jury says… "A revelation. The still little-known and underestimated 85-year-old American composer writes music which challenges, stimulates and delights the ear." |
 Purcell: Twelve Sonatas of three parts (1683)Retrospect TrioThe jury says… "These dazzling, original ‘Sonatas’ brought Italian virtuosity to London’s music scene. The genius part writing has an enticing clarity here, and it’s imbued with irresistible energy." |
 Parry: Songs of FarewellTenebrae, Nigel ShortThe jury says… "Tenebrae’s superbly programmed collection is the finest to appear in years. Its secret? Technical discipline, supreme vocal blend, dynamic range, sensitive phrasing and terrific soloists." |
 Reich: Three Movements & The Desert MusicChorus sine nomine & Tonkünstler-Orchester, Niederösterreich, Kristjan JärviThe jury says… "The Desert Music finds Reich in monumental mode. Järvi and his Austrian forces set a new benchmark in this beautifully balanced and emotionally engaged performance." |
 Strauss: ElektraIréne Theorin, Waltraud Meier, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Robert Gambill, René Pape, Oliver Zwarg; Vienna Philharmonic; Vienna State Opera Chorus, Daniele Gatti; directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff (Salzburg, 2010)The jury says… "All the claustrophobic intensity of Strauss's most compressed operatic one-acter is recreated here, thanks to Nikolaus Lehnhoff's searching staging." Also available on blu-ray. |
 Britten: Billy BuddJohn Mark Ainsley, Jacques Imbrailo, Philip Ens, Matthew Rose, Richard Mosley-Evans, John Moore, Ben Johnson etc; LPO; The Glyndebourne Chorus, Mark Elder, directed by Michael Grandage (Glyndebourne, 2010)The jury says… "This is a terrific act of advocacy for Britten’s opera, with a searingly effective cast and alert musical direction." Also available on blu-ray. |
 Benjamin Grosvenor: Chopin, Liszt & RavelBenjamin Grosvenor (piano)The jury says… "It’s astonishing to think that Grosvenor is still only 19 yet he can produce performances of such maturity and finesse. " |
 Ravel: The complete solo piano musicSteven Osborne (piano)The jury says… "Here is the child and the man in Ravel, the innocence and the experience. The recording captures Osborne's imaginative sense of Ravel's other-worldliness with stylistic and technical distinction." |
 Donizetti: Linda di ChamounixEglise Gutiérrez, Ludovic Tézier, Elizabeth Sikora, Alessandro Corbelli, Stephen Costello; Royal Opera House Orchestra & Chorus, Mark ElderThe jury says… "Hearing this lavishly-cast, vividly conducted recording, one wonders why Linda di Chamonix ever dropped out of the repertoire." |
 Vivaldi: Prima DonnaOrfeo 55, Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto & conductor)The jury says… "Stutzmann’s heady mixture of raw energy, high-octane passion and stunning vocal acrobatics works marvellously in this imaginatively planned recital." |
 Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2 & RhapsodiesBarnabás Kelemen (violin), Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Zoltán KocsisThe jury says… "Explosive is the only word for the combination of Barnabás Kelemen, Zoltán Kocsis and Bartók: performances that burn with a coruscating inspiration." |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D minorMihoko Fujimura (contralto), Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonathan NottThe jury says… "Nott’s brilliantly vivid live recording is supported by playing of elemental power from the Bamburg Symphony Orchestra." |
 Carl Loewe: Songs & BalladsFlorian Boesch (baritone) & Roger Vignoles (piano)The jury says… "Carl Loewe was a virtuoso performer, holding audiences in thrall with his own singing. Florian Boesch taps into that heritage, with chilling and thrilling characterizations." |
 Berg & Hartmann: LiederJuliane Banse (soprano) & Aleksandar Madžar (piano)The jury says… "A bewitching selection of nocturnal songs... Juliane Banse's intensely focused voice captures the late-Romantic, crepuscular mood of the Berg before launching into the tempestuous Hartmann. A magnificent and haunting programme." |
For details of the 2011 and earlier awards, click here. |
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