Awards,
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2021: The Winners!
This morning brings news of the winners of this year's BBC Music Magazine Awards, with the final instalment of Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars' 'unforgettable' Josquin series on Gimell named as Recording of the Year. Category-winners include Scottish pianist Steven Osborne, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London, and Egyptian soprano Fatma Said - who also takes the Newcomer of the Year prize for her beguiling debut album El Nour, released on Warner Classics in October. (You can read Katherine's interview with Fatma about the project here).
Until 17th May 2021, we're offering up to 20% off all the winners (please note that discounts do not apply to downloads).
Recording of the Year
Josquin: Masses 'Hercules Dux Ferrarie', 'D'ung aultre amer' & 'Missa Faysant regretz'
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips
'Phillips’s reading of the Ferrarese work is fluid and supple, and there’s a gentle momentum even in the more contemplative sections...The Scholars’ sound is lean and clear: every strand of the musical web is beautifully illuminated, and the text is carved with a sculptural sharpness...a mesmerising final chapter to this unforgettable musical odyssey.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Premiere Award
Tavener: No longer mourn for me
Steven Isserlis (cello), Matthew Rose (bass), Abi Sampa (vocals); Philharmonia Orchestra, Trinity Boys Choir, Omer Meir Wellber
'These are among Tavener’s most powerful works. They are magnificently performed. Those simple points could easily be lost in the necessity of charting not just the diverse range of music and influences, but also the profoundly personal nature for Steven Isserlis of this remarkable disc.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Newcomer Award
El Nour
Fatma Said (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Burcu Karadağ (ney), Rafael Aguirre (guitar), vision string quartet
'There’s no tacky Orientalism here...Abd al-Rahīm’s Ana bent el sultan is huge fun, offering an Arabic soundscape with modernist touches...Recitals which combine innovation and appeal at this standard are a rarity. This is one to give all your friends.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
DVD Award
Wagner: Die Walküre (DVD)
Stuart Skelton (Siegmund), Emily Magee (Sieglinde), Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde), John Lundgren (Wotan), Sarah Connolly (Fricka), Ain Anger (Hunding), Lise Davidsen (Ortlinde); Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano, Keith Warner
'Pappano has always had a special relationship with the Ring’s second part…and the Royal Opera House Orchestra rewards him with some of its most sumptuous playing. The cast in this 2018 staging would have been the envy of every world class opera company…But it’s Nina Stemme, as it should be, who defines this production.'
Available Format: 2 DVD Videos
Public-Voted Awards
Chamber Award
'The performers respond to both aspects of [Bowen's] music with muscular virtuosity and affection. Especially in the high tessitura of the slow movement, Tasmin Little’s tonal variety and rhythmic freedom capture the romantic outpouring...[The Ireland] receives a performance which mirrors the conviction of the composer.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Choral Award
Josquin: Masses 'Hercules Dux Ferrarie', 'D'ung aultre amer' & 'Missa Faysant regretz'
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips
'Phillips’s reading of the Ferrarese work is fluid and supple, and there’s a gentle momentum even in the more contemplative sections...The Scholars’ sound is lean and clear: every strand of the musical web is beautifully illuminated, and the text is carved with a sculptural sharpness...a mesmerising final chapter to this unforgettable musical odyssey.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Concerto Award
Brahms: Double Concerto & Schumann: Violin Concerto
Antje Weithaas (violin), Maximilian Hornung (cello), NDR Radiophilharmonie, Andrew Manze
'Here’s a performance of Brahms’s Double Concerto that has purged the music of much of its accustomed heaviness and astringency, offering instead something that at times feels more like a chamber concerto – especially in the lovely dialogue at the heart of the slow movement.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Instrumental Award
'From first electrifying note-punch to last, with so much poetry and poignancy in between, this is a tour de force of pianism highlighting what seems more than ever like the great sonata sequence of the twentieth century. There are so many towering performances of these harrowing works…but I believe Steven Osborne caps them all…This is legendary stuff.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Opera Award
Malcolm Arnold: The Dancing Master
Mark Wilde, Ed Lyon, Fiona Kimm, Graeme Broadbent, Catherine Carby, Eleanor Dennis; BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews
'This premiere recording from conductor John Andrews, a vivacious cast and BBC Concert Orchestra is dollops of fun, and more besides. Arnold’s inventive, eclectic score is vividly brought to life...this is no dismissible pastiche, but a seriously worthwhile addition to the repertoire.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Orchestral Award
'The Triton Fountain sparkles with vitality…There are dozens of versions of Respighi’s ‘Roman Trilogy’ available, but I’ve heard none better than this. The orchestral playing is magnificent, and its joy and exuberance are a tonic at this anxious, isolated period.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Vocal Award
El Nour
Fatma Said (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Burcu Karadağ (ney), Rafael Aguirre (guitar), vision string quartet
'There’s no tacky Orientalism here...Abd al-Rahīm’s Ana bent el sultan is huge fun, offering an Arabic soundscape with modernist touches...Recitals which combine innovation and appeal at this standard are a rarity. This is one to give all your friends.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
