United Kingdom
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2013
The winners of the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2013 have now been announced and details can be found below. You can jump to a particular category using the following links: "The BBC Music Magazine Awards offer the serious and merited celebration of sustained excellence in music-making... the public votes are cast not for superficial glamour but for real and enduring quality". Harry Eyres, Financial Times |
 Mouton Missa Dictes moy toutes voz pensees The Tallis Scholars Peter Phillips ‘Once again, the Tallis Scholars reveal hidden Renaissance masterworks. Phillips sculpts a virile, vigorous sound for these mesmerising works where sonority is never slave to maths.’ | WINNER! Elgar The Apostles (2CD) Halle Choir & Orchestra Mark Elder ‘Elder and co. reveal the imagination, originality and radiant beauty of this score. The cast is excellent, the choral contributions totally committed, the recording atmospheric, and the ram’s horn shofar and Apostles’ Chorus are interesting extras. A profoundly moving contribution to Elder’s Hallé Elgar series. |  Brahms Works for chorus and orchestra Collegium Vocale Ghent Philippe Herreweghe ‘Herreweghe's refreshingly untraditional approach brings a proverbially un-Brahmsian lightness and clarity of texture to these shorter choral works.’ |
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 Beethoven Diabelli Variations Andreas Staier ‘No other pianist has painted the Diabelli in such colours, taking advantage of all the effects available on the fortepiano…Staier brings miracles of phrasing, touch, pacing and wit to illuminate a thorny masterpiece.’ | WINNER! Chopin Piano Recital 2 Janina Fialkowska ‘By some mysterious alchemy, Fialkowska only has to perform a note of Chopin and instantly it’s inimitable, indelible. The magic lies in her subtle, supple rhythm; an infinitesimal rubato that makes perfect sense of every dance without sacrificing its vital lilt.’ |  Debussy Preludes (2CD) Alexei Lubimov ‘Of all the new recordings released for Debussy’s 150th anniversary, this is the one to which I’ve returned most often. Not just for the two books of Preludes on a pair of carefully chosen period pianos, whose tone colours, timbre and contrast affect every aspect of the music, but for Lubimov’s inspired responses to the changing soundscapes.’ |
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 Suk Prague, A Summer's Tale BBC Symphony Orchestra Jiri Belohlavek ‘The BBC SO has developed a speciality in Czech music under Jirí Belohlávek, locating a generous, supple, honeyed sound. Sad and enchanting.’ | WINNER! Bruckner Symphony no.9 Berliner Philharmoniker Simon Rattle ‘This scholarly reconstruction of the fourth movement, premiered here, is astonishingly convincing. The performance of the whole work, graced by fabulous Berlin Philharmonic brass, is exceptional.’ |  Beethoven/Berg Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust Orchestra Mozart Claudio Abbado ‘Berg and Beethoven illuminate and transform each other in these performances by Abbado and his hand-picked orchestra, alert to every nuance and detail… Isabelle Faust is a radiant soloist’ |
 Langgaard String Quartets 2, 3 & 6 Nightingale Quartet ‘Langaard composed music which simply can't be ignored, especially in performances as intense as these from this young quartet. Kaleidoscopic images pass by held together by the sure touch of a composer harnessing an exceptionally vivid imagination.’ | WINNER! Beethoven String Trios op.9 Trio Zimmermann ‘Beethoven’s dazzling string trios were as revealing of the young composer’s talent as they are exposing for performers… here the ensemble is breathtaking, the rhythms bite and their blend of timbres compels, from densely textured to shimmering transparency. |  Lawes Consort Music Phantasm ‘There’s something irresistible about Lawes’s music…Phantasm and Daniel Hyde are elegant, erudite guides to this strange and beautiful world, relishing each telling dissonance, each mercurial harmonic shift.’ |
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 Puccini Suor Angelica WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln Andris Nelsons 'Kristine Opolais’s cool, distinctive timbre underlines the aristocratic background and steely self-restraint of the heroine of Suor Angelica, making her unravelling at the end more powerful and violent.' | WINNER! Handel Alceste Early Opera Company Christian Curnyn ‘This exquisite performance of the reconstructed Alceste is suave and sprightly, the trio of soloists first-rate and soprano Lucy Crowe’s ‘Gentle Morpheus’ a magical highlight.’ |  Wagner Die Walkure Halle Orchestra Mark Elder ‘Recorded live in Manchester, this Die Walküre is something very special. With Elder’s huge operatic experience at the helm, the Hallé responds with playing so impressive that it holds its own with the best anywhere. Can the short-lived love of Siegmund and Sieglinde ever have been more movingly portrayed than here, by Stig Andersen and Yvonne Howard?’ |
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 Goethe-Lieder Wolf, Krenek, Liszt etc Marlis Petersen Jendrik Springer ‘An appealing and fascinatingly devised recital programme of Goethe settings from Schubert’s time to the present day… You simply won’t hear lovelier singing.’ | WINNER! Liszt Lieder vol.2 Angelika Kirchschlager Julius Drake ‘Liszt was one of the great song-composers, and this wide-ranging programme contains some miracles of the Lieder repertory. Kirschlager brings intelligent musicianship and a stunning range of expressive options.’ |  Ferne Geliebte Beethoven, Haydn etc Christian Gerhaher Gerold Huber ‘Christian Gerhaher’s recitals with pianist Gerold Huber seem less like performance than a private conversation. They make complex music seem simple, and simple music sophisticated.’ |
 Puccini Il Trittico Royal Opera House Antonio Pappano ‘We so rarely see Puccini’s whole triptych: here are all three operas in vividly characterised, memorable productions by Richard Jones, superbly performed under Pappano. A treat.’ | WINNER! J S Bach St Matthew Passion Berliner Philharmoniker Simon Rattle ‘Rattle's fine cast includes Christian Gerhaber's Jesus and Magdalena Kozena's sensual Magdalene. In its immediacy, Peter Sellars' ‘ritualization’ makes Mark Padmore's superb Evangelist the major protagonist, and adds a thrillingly unexpected dimension to a familiar edifice.’ |  Massenet Don Quichotte La Monnaie de Munt Marc Minkowski ‘What could have been a romp through an old warhorse is made moving and special by the presence of José van Dam: his performance has a valedictory intensity.’ |
Newcomer Award Musical Toys Piano Works by Chin, Gubaidulina & Ligeti Mei Yi Foo | Premiere Award Saariaho D'Om Le Vrai Sens etc Kari Kriikku, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo | Technical Excellence Wagner Parsifal Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski |
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