Conductor Sir Mark Elder (above) leads the winners of the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2013. The Hallé’s recording of Elgar’s oratorio The Apostles was named Recording of the Year at a ceremony in Kings Place in London today, 9 April.
‘Right from the start this recording reveals the imagination, originality and radiant beauty of the score,’ said the jury of the recording which also won the Choral category and is on the Hallé’s own label.
Sir Simon Rattle took the Orchestral Award for his recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, with the Berlin Philharmonic on EMI. Rattle said of his choice to record the four-movement version, completed posthumously by scholars, that ‘it gives you an idea of what Bruckner actually had in mind, and indeed the sheer scale of his conception.’
Pianist Janina Fialkowska, who also performed at the awards ceremony, was crowned Instrumental winner for her disc of music by Chopin on the Atma label.
Handel’s opera Alceste, performed by the Early Opera Company conducted by Christian Curnyn came out top in the Opera category and the Vocal field was won by mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager and pianist Julius Drake for their disc of Liszt songs on Hyperion.
Trio Zimmermann won the Chamber category for a disc of Beethoven String Trios on the BIS label and the DVD prize went to the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle again for their filmed performance of JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion on the Berlin Philharmonic's own label.
In addition, the jury also awarded the title of Newcomer of the Year to pianist Mei Yi Foo for her disc of music by Gubaidulina, Chin and Ligeti called Musical Toys on Odradek Records.
The prize for Technical Excellence went to the Pentatone label and producer Job Maarse for a recording of Wagner’s Parsifal conducted by Marek Janowski.
The Premiere Recording Award went to a disc of music by Kaija Saariaho recorded by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sakari Oramo on the Ondine label.
The BBC Music Magazine Awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and website. This year the Awards attracted over 30,400 votes. The ceremony was held in Kings Place, London, on Tuesday 9 April and was hosted by editor of BBC Music Magazine, Oliver Condy and Radio 4 presenter James Naughtie.
For a limited time, new subscribers to BBC Music Magazine will receive a copy of the Recording of the Year, Elgar's The Apostles, conducted by Sir Mark Elder, absolutely free. Visit our subscriptions page for more information.