The nominations for the 19th BBC Music Magazine Awards, in association with Bang & Olufsen, have now been announced, featuring the best classical music recordings from the last year.
Across nine categories, 27 recordings have been selected by our expert jury of BBC Music Magazine critics. Of the nine winners, one will go onto be announced as our Recording of the Year. At our awards ceremony in April, we will also name the BBC Music Magazine Personality of the Year.
In the Orchestral category, we see an immersive survey of three Shostakovich symphonies competing against an assortment of English works and a debut recording of Thomas Adès’s 2021 account of Dante’s Inferno.
In the Concerto category, there are further premiere recordings, with the Hallé’s impressive gathering of large-scale works by Dobrinka Tabakova, which is shortlisted alongside the Danish National Symphony’s portrayals of Nielsen concertos and violinist Isabelle Faust’s period-instrument take of Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto.
As well as being shortlisted for the Orchestral Award, John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London also feature in the Opera category for their rendition of Rogers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!. They are up against an ‘electrifying’ recording of Puccini’s Turandot from Antonio Pappano and an all-star cast, and Les Talens Lyriques’ ‘dazzling’ performance of Lully’s rarely recorded opera Psyché.
As ever, there is a wide range of works featured in the nominations for the Choral Award this year, with a collection of atmospheric choral works by Saariaho from the composer’s native Helsinki Chamber Choir; a well-considered new recording of Monteverdi’s oft-performed 1610 Vespers; and James O’Donnell’s ‘unmissable’ final recording as music director of Westminster Abbey.
Recordings of the complete songs of the Boulanger sisters and lesser-known Baroque composers sung by the trailblazing countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński are joined in the Vocal category by the solo recording debut of singer Julia Bullock – a varied programme combining a traditional spiritual with songs by 20th-century singer-songwriters.
In the Chamber category, there are offerings from Phantasm and the Calidore Quartet tackling Bach’s Well-Tempered Consort III and Beethoven’s Late String Quartets respectively. Joining them are Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff with Lars Vogt in a recording of Schubert piano trios.
Competing for the Instrumental Award are pianists Krystian Zimerman and Marc-André Hamelin, and guitarist Sean Shibe. Zimerman offers ‘staggering virtuosity’ in his set of Szymanowski piano works, while Hamelin showcases the power and beauty of Fauré’s piano writing with superb technique. This is the second time Sean Shibe has been nominated in this category, following his 2018 entry for his debut solo album. This time, he takes a trip to South America to showcase some of the continent’s most arresting music.
Nominated for the Premiere Award are a ‘beautiful, varied and enlightening’ programme of overlooked solo viola repertoire by female composers by Rosalind Ventris; a collection of premiere recordings spanning decades from Martin Jones, Rebeca Omordia and the BBC Concert Orchestra; and a thrilling showcase of orchestral works by Missy Mazzoli, performed by the Arctic and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras.
Our final category is the Newcomer Award, celebrating a new artist who has made a splash in the classical music world over the past year with their debut recording. Soprano Alexandra Lowe and pianist Patrick Milne showcase their respective talents in Le Voyage, a programme of French songs inspired by Greece, the Middle East and Spain. They are joined in this category by guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre, who reframed works by JS Bach and his French contemporaries in an ‘exquisite, joyfully presented programme’. Pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu joins the line-up with his debut album Mirrors, which pairs a dynamic range of works by composers including Ravel, Rachmaninov, Freya Waley-Cohen and Unsuk Chin.
Our expert panel of judges was chaired by BBC Music Magazine reviews editor Michael Beek. He was joined by the magazine’s editor Charlotte Smith, along with regular critics Terry Blain, Jessica Duchen and Andrew McGregor.
Voting closes at midnight on Friday 23 February, with the winners revealed at our Awards ceremony at King’s Place on Thursday 18 April. To cast your votes, head to classical-music.com/awards or click on the icons below for each category.
Listen to the nominated recordings for the 2024 BBC Music Magazine Awards
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2024: The full list of nominees
Orchestral nominations
Thomas Adès
Dante
Los Angeles Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel
Nonesuch 7559790616
Shostakovich
Symphonies Nos 8-10
Berlin Philharmonic/Kirill Petrenko
Berlin Phil BPHR220421
Delius • Elgar • Howells • RVW
Orchestral Works
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
Chandos CHSA 5291
Concerto nominations
Stravinsky
Violin Concerto etc
Isabelle Faust (violin); Les Siècles/François-Xavier Roth
Harmonia Mundi HMM902718
Nielsen
Flute Concerto*, Clarinet Concerto**, Violin Concerto^
*Ulla Miilmann (flute), **Johnny Teyssier (clarinet), ^Bomsori Kim (violin); Danish National Symphony Orchestra/Fabio Luisi
Deutsche Grammophon 486 3487
Dobrinka Tabakova
Cello Concerto*; Viola Concerto**; Orpheus' Comet; Earth Suite
*Guy Johnston (cello), **Maxim Rysanov (viola); Hallé Orchestra/Delyana Lazarova
Hallé CD HLL 7562
Opera nominations
Rodgers & Hammerstein
Oklahoma!
Nathaniel Hackmann, Sierra Boggess et al; Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
Chandos CHSA 5322(2)
Puccini
Turandot
Sondra Radvanovsky, Jonas Kaufmann et al; Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Antonio Pappano
Warner Classics 5419740659
Lully
Psyché
Ambroisine Bré, Deborah Cachet et al; Les Talens Lyriques/Christoph Rousset
Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS086
Choral nominations
Saariaho
Reconnaissance: Choral Music
Helsinki Chamber Choir/Nils Schweckendiek
BIS BIS-2662
Monteverdi
Vespro della beata Vergine
Pygmalion/Raphaël Picho
Harmonia Mundi HMM 902710.11
James MacMillan • Tavener • Vaughan Williams
Choral Works
The Choir of Westminster Abbey/James O'Donnell
Hyperion CDA68420
Vocal nominations
Lili Boulanger • Nadia Boulanger
Les heures claires – Complete Songs
Lucile Richardot (mezzo-soprano), Stéphane Degout (baritone) et al; Anne de Fornel (piano)
Harmonia Mundi HMM902356.58
Beyond
Works by Monteverdi, Caccini, Frescobaldi, Kapsberger, Saracini, Netti, and Jarzębski
Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor); Il Pomo d'Oro
Erato 5419772645
Walking in the Dark
Works by John Adams, Barber et al
Julia Bullock (soprano); Philharmonia Orchestra/Christian Reif
Nonesuch 75597908176
Chamber nominations
Schubert
Piano Trios Nos 1 & 2; Notturno, D897; Rondo, D895; Arpeggione Sonata, D821
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Tanja Tetzlaff (cello), Lars Vogt (piano)
Ondine ODE 1394-2D
Beethoven
Late String Quartets
Calidore Quartet
Signum Classics SIGCD733
JS Bach
The Well-Tempered Consort III
Phantasm
Linn Records CKD708
Instrumental nominations
Szymanowski
Piano Works
Krystian Zimerman (piano)
Deutsche Grammophon 486 3007
Fauré
Nocturnes & Barcarolles
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
Hyperion CDA68331-2
Profesión
Works by Barrios, Ginastera, Villa-Lobos
Sean Shibe (guitar)
Pentatone PTC 5187 054
Premiere nominations
Missy Mazzoli
Dark With Excessive Bright; Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres); These Worlds in Us; Orpheus Undone
Peter Herresthal (violin); Arctic Philharmonic/Tim Weiss; Bergen Philharmonic/James Gaffigan
BIS BIS-2572
Lutyens • Maconchy • Errollyn Wallen
Maconchy: Dialogue for Piano and Orchestra; Lutyens : Eos; Music for Piano and Orchestra; Errollyn Wallen: Piano Concerto*
Martin Jones, *Rebeca Omordia (piano); BBC Concert Orchestra/John Andrews
RES10315 RES10315
Sola – Music for Viola by Women Composers
Works by Amanda Feery, Sally Beamish, Thea Musgrave et al
Rosalind Ventris (viola)
Delphian DCD34292
Newcomer nominations
Le Voyage
Songs by Bizet, Debussy, Koechlin, Ravel, Viardot
Alexandra Lowe (soprano), Patrick Milne (piano)
Champs Hill Records CHRCD169
Visages Baroques
Works by JS Bach, Rameau, Royer, Forqueray, Duphly
Raphaël Feuillâtre (guitar)
Deutsche Grammophon 486 4073
Mirrors
Works by Ravel, Rachmaninov, Freya Waley-Cohen, Timo Andres, Unsuk Chin et al
George Xiaoyuan Fu (piano)
Platoon Music PLAT15459
