Gramophone Awards 2020 Reveal Recording Category Winners

Gramophone today revealed the winners in the ten recording categories of their 2020 Classical Music Awards. One of these recordings will win Recording of the Year which will be announced on 6 October during on online awards ceremony which will be live streamed on Gramophone’s Facebook and YouTube channels and on Medici TV. The winners of Artist and Young Artist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Concept Album, Label of the Year and Orchestra of the Year will also be revealed during the ceremony from Glyndebourne which will be hosted by Gramophone’s editor-in-chief James Jolly and mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsay.

The winners of the 10 recording categories of the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2020 are:

Chamber

Bartók Piano Quintet / Veress String Trio recorded by Vilde Frang, Barnabás Kelemen, Lawrence Power; Nicolas Altstaedt and Alexander Lonquich on Alpha Classics.

“I think it fair to say that Kelemen, Frang, Katalin Kokas, Altstaedt and Alexander Lonquich sell this lovable product of youthful creative excess more securely than any of their predecessors on disc, certainly any that I have encountered” – Rob Cowan, Gramophone

Choral

Bach St Matthew Passion recorded by Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki on BIS.

“A revelatory reading of an eminent Bach interpreter in his prime” – Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone

Concerto

Chopin Piano Concertos recorded by Benjamin Grosvenor, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Elim Chan on Decca Classics.

“It’s the kind of disc that makes you rethink these works and appreciate them all over again” – Harriet Smith, Gramophone

Contemporary

Adès Conducts Adès recorded by Kirill Gerstein, Mark Stone, Christianne Stotijn, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Adès on Deutsche Grammophon.

“For proof that Adès does what he does with mind-boggling brilliance, look no further” – Andrew Mellor, Gramophone

Early Music

Gesualdo Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo, recorded by Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew on Harmonia Mundi.

“The sheer inquisitive delight that these singers bring to Gesualdo’s extraordinary world indicates a very exciting series ahead” – Edward Breen, Gramophone

Instrumental

Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas recorded by Igor Levit on Sony Classical.

“Above all, there’s that sense of being completely at one with Beethoven himself. And that, in the end, is what makes this such a magnificent achievement” – Harriet Smith, Gramophone

Opera

Handel Agrippina recorded by Joyce DiDonato; Elsa Benoit; Luca Pisaroni; Franco Fagioli; Jakub Józef Orliński; Andrea Mastroni; Carlo Vistoli; Biagio Pizzuti; Marie-Nicole Lemieux; Il Pomo d’Oro and Maxim Emelyanychev on Erato.

“With DiDonato nonpareil in the title-role and a uniformly strong cast, this now becomes a first choice for Handel’s Venetian masterpiece” – Richard Wigmore, Gramophone

Orchestral

Weinberg Symphonies Nos 2 & 21 recorded by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica on Deutsche Grammophon.

“All in all, this has to be one of the most important symphonic releases of the year” – David Fanning, Gramophone

Recital

Si J’ai Aimé recorded by Sandrine Piau, Le Concert de la Loge and Julien Chauvin on Alpha Classics.

“With her silvery tone, immaculate sense of line and telling if understated way with words, Piau is very much at home in this repertory” – Tim Ashley, Gramophone

Solo Vocal

Janáček The diary of one who disappeared recorded by Nicky Spence and Julius Drake on Hyperion.

“An outstanding release – highly recommended” – Hugo Shirley, Gramophone

James Jolly said, “What a line-up of fantastic recordings – a wonderful reminder of the power and variety of classical music. 2020’s crop is truly vintage and the range of music and music-making is inspiring.”

To find out more about the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2020 visit www.gramophone.co.uk

Do you want to be the first to hear the latest news from the classical world? Follow uDiscover Classical on Facebook and Twitter.