BBC Music Magazine has announced the shortlist for its 2020 Awards. With 21 nominees across seven categories, the expert panel drew their choices from the 175 recordings that were awarded five-star reviews in 2019.
The 15th annual BBC Music Magazine Awards are the only classical music awards voted for by the public. To listen to the nominated recordings and cast your votes, visit classical-music.com/awards.
The nominees are divided into seven categories: Orchestral, Concerto, Opera, Choral, Vocal, Chamber and Instrumental.
With a clutch of premiere recordings in this year’s shortlist, there’s no doubt 2019 was a year for superb new music. The chamber category features Orange – an album of string quartets by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, while Gabriel Jackson’s retelling of the Passion story is up for the Choral Award. Elsewhere, Elizabeth Kenny’s Ars Longa – an album of old and new music for the theorbo, nominated in the Instrumental Category – features two premiere recordings of works by Nico Muhly and Benjamin Oliver, both written specifically for Kenny.
This year’s BBC Music Magazine Awards also celebrates new recordings of works by underrated masterpieces and lesser-known composers. This is particularly the case in the Orchestral Category, which features stunning performances of Weinberg’s Symphony No. 21 by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Korngold’s Symphony in F sharp by John Wilson and the newly revived Sinfonia of London, and symphonies by Lutosławski performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hannu Lintu. Also in the shortlist, Kirill Gerstein performs Busoni’s extraordinary piano concerto, Markus Maskuniitty brings us a selection of horn concertos, and Opera Rara champions Puccini’s first opera, Le Willis.
The full list of nominees can be seen below. For details on how to vote, visit our Awards page here.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Kings Place on Tuesday 28 April. As well as the public awards, there are also four jury awards: Premiere Recording, Newcomer of the Year, DVD of the Year and Recording of the Year. The BBC Music Magazine team will also choose its Music Personality of the Year, an award first given to violinist Tasmin Little in 2019.
Orchestral
Weinberg Symphonies Nos 2 & 21 Gidon Kremer (violin); Kremerata Baltica; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla Deutsche Grammophon 483 6566 88.59 mins (2 discs)
Korngold Symphony in F sharp; Theme and Variations; Straussiana Sinfonia of London/John Wilson Chandos CHSA 5220 59.17 mins
Lutosławski Symphonies Nos 1 & 4; Jeux vénitiens Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Hannu Lintu Ondine ODE 1320-5 57:21 mins
Concerto
Busoni Piano Concerto in C major Kirill Gerstein (piano); Men of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Boston Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo Myrios MYR024 71:29 mins
Glière • Saint-Saëns • R Schumann R Schumann: Konzertstück for Four Horns*; Adagio and Allegro; Saint-Saëns: Morceau de concert; Glière: Horn Concerto Markus Maskuniitty (horn); Martin Schöpfer, Kristofer Oberg, Monica Berenguer Caro (horns)*; Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Sakari Oramo Ondine ODE 1339-2 59:08 mins
Dvořák * Martinů Dvořák: Piano Concerto in G minor; Martinů: Piano Concerto No. 4, ‘Incantation’ Ivo Kahánek (piano); Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/Jakub Hrůša Supraphon SU 4236-2 59.24 mins
Opera
Puccini Le Willis Ermonela Jaho, Arsen Soghomonyan, Brian Mulligan (voices); Opera Rara Chorus; London Philharmonic Orchestra/Mark Elder Opera Rara ORC59 62.39 mins
Purcell King Arthur Anna Dennis, Mhairi Lawson, Rowan Pierce, Carolyn Sampson, Jeremy Budd, James Way, Roderick Williams, Ashley Riches; Gabrieli Consort and Players/Paul McCreesh Signum Classics SIGCD589 97.38 mins (2 discs)
Gounod Faust Benjamin Bernheim, Véronique Gens, Andrew Foster-Williams, Jean-Sébastien Bou, Juliette Mars, Anas Séguin, Ingrid Perruche; Les Talens Lyriques; Flemish Radio Choir/Christophe Rousset Bru Zane BZ 1037 173.48 mins (3 discs)
Vocal
Handel Italian Cantatas Sabine Devieilhe (soprano), Lea Desandre (mezzo-soprano); Le Concert d’Astrée/Emmanuelle Haïm Erato 9029563362 96:10 mins (2 discs)
Si J’ai Aimé Songs by Saint-Saëns, Bordes, Berlioz, Dubois, Massenet et al Sandrine Piau (soprano); Le Concert de la Loge/Julien Chauvin Alpha Classics ALPHA 445 59.25 mins
Janáček The Diary of One Who Disappeared; Ríkadla; Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano); Václava Housková (mezzo-soprano), VOICE, Victoria Samek (clarinet) Hyperion CDA 68282 62.21 mins
Choral
Bach Cantatas H Bach: Ich danke dir Gott; JM Bach: Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ; Herr, der König freuet sich; JC Bach: Die Furcht des Herren; Herr, wende dich und sei mir gnädig; Es erhub sich ein streit; JS Bach Christ Lag in Todesbanden, BWV4 Vox Luminis/Lionel Meunier Ricercar RIC 401 66.30 mins
Handel Brockes-Passion HWV 48 Elizabeth Watts, Ruby Hughes (sopranos), Rachael Lloyd (mezzo-soprano), Tim Mead (countertenor), Robert Murray, Gwilym Bowen, Nicky Spence (tenors), Cody Quattlebaum, Morgan Pearse (bass-baritone); Choir and Orchestra of the Academy of Ancient Music/Richard Egarr Academy of Ancient Music AAM007 172 mins (3 discs)
Gabriel Jackson The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Emma Tring (soprano), Guy Cutting (tenor); Choir of Merton College, Oxford; Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia/Benjamin Nicholas Delphian DCD34222 69:01 mins
Chamber
Ysaÿe • Franck • Vierne • L Boulanger Ysaÿe: Poème Elégiaque; Franck: Violin Sonata in A; Vierne: Violin Sonata in G minor; Lili Boulanger: Nocturne Alina Ibragimova (violin), Cédric Tiberghien (piano) Hyperion CDA 68204 78:29 mins
Caroline Shaw Entr’acte; Valencia; Plan and Elevation; Punctum; Ritornello 2.sq.2.j.a; Limestone & Felt Attacca Quartet Nonesuch 7559-79260-9 60.97 mins
Bartók * Veress Veress: String Trio; Bartók: Piano Quintet in C Barnabás Kelemen, Vilde Frang (violin), Katalin Kokas, Lawrence Power (viola), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano) Alpha Classics ALPHA 458 61.50 mins
Instrumental
Bach to the Future JS Bach: Musical Offering, BWV 1079: Ricercar a 6; Fugue in G minor, BWV 578; Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565; Chorale Prelude, BWV 721; Fantasia & Fugue in G minor, BWV 542; Chorale Preludes, BWV 617 and BWV 727; Fantasia in G, BWV 572; Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 Olivier Latry (organ) La Dolce Volta LDV69 77:37 mins
Ars Longa: Old and new music for theorbo Works by Piccinini, James MacMillan, Kapsperger, Benjamin Oliver, De Visée and Nico Muhly Elizabeth Kenny (theorbo) Linn CKD 603 75.34 mins
Shostakovich Piano Sonatas Nos 1 and 2; 24 Preludes, Op. 34; Nocturne from The Limped Stream Andrey Gugnin (piano) Hyperion CDA68267 79.27 mins
