Finalists Await Gramophone Awards Oct. 3

By Matthew Westphal
September 28, 2007

Early this month, Gramophone magazine announced the finalists — the "shortlist," as they say on that side of the Atlantic — for the 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Awards (co-sponsored by the British radio network).

The journal's critics have selected three releases as finalists for each of 15 categories; all 45 titles are listed below. The winners in each group will be announced at a ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel next Wednesday, October 3. Also presented will be the Gramophone Record of the Year and Label of the Year prizes — as well as the Artist of the Year award, selected by public vote at www.gramophone.co.uk.

FINALISTS FOR 2007 CLASSIC FM GRAMOPHONE AWARDS

Baroque instrumental

• Arne: Overtures
  Collegium Musicum 90 / Simon Standage (Chandos)
• Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for violin
  John Holloway (ECM New Series)
• Handel: Concerti grossi, Op. 3
  Academy of Ancient Music / Richard Egarr (Harmonia Mundi)

Baroque vocal

• Bach: Cantatas, Vol. 15
  Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)
• Handel: Messiah (1742 version)
  Dunedin Consort & Players / John Butt (Linn)
• Monteverdi: Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi
  Concerto Italiano / Rinaldo Alessandrini (Naďve)

Chamber

• Bartók, Hindemith: String Quartets
  Zehetmair Quartet (ECM New Series)
• Brahms: Piano Quartets
  Leopold Trio, Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion)
• Haas, Janácek: String Quartets
  Pavel Haas Quartet (Supraphon)

Choral

• Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
  Röschmann, Quasthoff, Berlin Radio Choir, Berlin Philharmonic / Simon Rattle (EMI Classics)
• Elgar: The Spirit of England
  Gritton, A. Kennedy, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / David Lloyd-Jones (Dutton)
• Wesley: Anthems
  Choir of Clare College, Cambridge / Christopher Robinson (Naxos)

Concerto

• Brahms: Piano Concertos
  Nelson Freire, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly (Decca Classics)
• Medtner, Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos
  Yevgeny Sudbin; Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de Săo Paulo / John Neschling (BIS)
• Saint-Saëns: Violin Concertos
  Jean-Jacques Kantorow et al., Tapiola Sinfonietta / Kees Bakels (BIS)

Contemporary

• J. Anderson: Alhambra Fantasy
  BBC Symphony Orchestra / Oliver Knussen (Ondine)
• J. Anderson: The Book of Hours
  City of Birmingham SO & Chorus / Martyn Brabbins and Sakari Oramo,
  Birmingham Contemporary Music Group / Oliver Knussen (NMC)
• P. Lieberson: Neruda Songs
  Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Boston Symphony Orchestra / James Levine (Nonesuch)

DVD

• Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 8
  London Philharmonic Orchestra / Klaus Tennstedt (EMI Classics)
• Mozart: Cosě fan tutte
  Glyndebourne Festival Opera / Iván Fischer (Opus Arte)
• "My Life in Music"
  Julian Bream (Avie)

Early Music

• Byrd: Laudibus in sanctis
  The Cardinall's Musick (Hyperion)
• Crecquillon: Missa mort m'a privé
  Brabant Ensemble / Stephen Rice (Hyperion)
• Jenkins: Five-Part Consorts
  Phantasm (Avie)

Historic archive

• R. Strauss: Four Last Songs, Wagner: Scenes
  Kirsten Flagstad, Philharmonia Orchestra / Wilhelm Furtwängler (Testament)
• Verdi: Don Carlo
  Vickers, Gobbi, Christoff, Brouwenstijn, Barbieri, Langdon /
  Royal Opera / Carlo Maria Giulini (Royal Opera House Heritage Series)
• Wagner: Götterdämmerung
  Varnay, Windgassen, Ilosvay, Greindl, Uhde, Neidlinger /
  Bayreuth Festival Opera / Joseph Keilberth (Testament)

Historic reissue

• "Ernest Ansermet - The Decca Recordings"
  Ernest Ansermet (Decca Classics)
• Moeran: Symphony in G minor, Sinfonietta, Overture for a Masque
  London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra / Adrian Boult (Lyrita)
• "Sir Clifford Curzon, Volume 4"
  Clifford Curzon (Decca)

Instrumental

• Bach: Suites for unaccompanied cello
  Steven Isserlis (Hyperion)
• Haydn: Piano Sonatas
  Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion)
• Medtner: Skazki (complete)
  Hamish Milne (Hyperion)

Opera

• Donizetti: Dom Sébastien, roi de Portugal
  Filianoti, Kasarova, Miles, Keenlyside /
  Royal Opera / Mark Elder (Opera Rara)
• Janácek: The Makropulos Case
  Cheryl Barker, et al. / English National Opera / Charles Mackerras (Chandos)
• Rossini: Matilde di Shabran
  Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez /
  Orquesta sinfónica de Galicia / Riccardo Frizza (Decca Classics)

Orchestral

• Bartók: Kossuth, The Wooden Prince
  Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra / Zoltán Kocsis (Hungaroton)
• Nielsen: Orchestral Works
  Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Dausgaard (Dacapo)
• Prokofiev: Complete Symphonies
  London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev (Philips)

Recital

• R. Strauss: Four Last Songs, Opera Scenes
  Nina Stemme, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Antonio Pappano (EMI Classics)
• "The Russian Album"
  Anna Netrebko, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra / Valery Gergiev (Deutsche Grammophon)
• "Tales of Opera"
  Simon Keenlyside, Münchner Rundfunkorchester / Ulf Schirmer (Sony Classical)

Solo vocal

• Brahms: Lieder
  Bernarda Fink, Roger Vignoles (Harmonia Mundi)
• Handel, Mahler, P. Lieberson: Songs
  Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Roger Vignoles (Wigmore Hall)
• R. Strauss: Lieder
  Jonas Kaufmann, Helmut Deutsch (Harmonia Mundi)