SPECIAL AWARDS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Stephen Kovacevich
Stephen Kovacevich is being awarded the ICMA Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the world of music as a pianist and conductor. Renowned for his interpretative depth and technical brilliance, he has inspired audiences worldwide. His mastery of the central repertoire, particularly the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, has set new standards for pianists and fostered a deeper appreciation of classical music. During his six-decade career, he has performed with prestigious orchestras and released critically acclaimed recordings, thus cementing his legacy as a true master of the instrument.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Jakub Hrůša
Jakub Hrůša, who has restored the Bohemian sound of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, must surely be counted among the greatest conductors of our time and is at home equally in the symphonic and operatic worlds, as he is now demonstrating as music director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His conducting is characterized by a sense of breathing with the music and optimal transparency, which never compromises the inner harmony of the score. Every piece of phrasing, rubato, accelerando and accentuation makes sense, fitting logically into the overall flow and serving the performance, giving the scores their deep, meaningful character.
YOUNG ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Anja Mittermüller, mezzo soprano
Despite her young age, Anja Mittermüller exudes confidence on stage and demonstrates artistic progression with each performance, fuelled by her dedication and discipline. Her vocal clarity, strong artistry and mature musical insight command attention. You can hear focus in every phrase and intent in every choice – qualities that helped her become the youngest winner of the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition. Her work shows great promise, and her upcoming debut at the Salzburg Festival confirms that she is on the right track and has a bright future ahead of her.
DISCOVERY AWARD
Mariam Abouzhara, violin
Despite her youth, Mariam Abouzhara demonstrates remarkable musical maturity and technical precision, as well as a strong artistic personality. She combines inner clarity with expressive depth and stylistic confidence in her playing. She shapes music with natural authority and a refined sense of sound, demonstrating a keen awareness of structure and emotion.
ICMA CLASSEEK AWARD
Anthony Ratinov, piano
Anthony Ratinov is a Classeek Ambassador Programme Artist. His first teacher was his grandmother, Edit Ratinova, who taught at Moscow’s Gnessin Music School. A graduate of the Artist Diploma program at The Juilliard School, he completed his graduate studies at the Yale School of Music, studying with Boris Berman. Hailed for his unwavering energy and precision, Anthony is a prize winner of the Montréal, Busoni and Olga Kern Competitions and is a Young Steinway Artist.
COMPOSER AWARD
Péter Zombola
Péter Zombola is one of the most exciting and versatile composers of his generation. He has a particular affinity for large-scale forms and is equally virtuosic in both instrumental and vocal genres. In his large-scale and highly moving Passion, which the composer considers his most important work to date, the story is told in an unusual way, by the choir, without soloists, reinterpreting the centuries-old traditions of the genre.
LABEL OF THE YEAR
LSO Live
In 1999, the London Symphony Orchestra became the first orchestra to found its own label, LSO Live. Over the last 27 years, LSO Live has built up a catalogue of over 200 titles, some of which have become major references. The exceptional sound quality of LSO Live releases, coupled with their high artistic standard, makes them a must-have for music lovers.
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Carlos Païta / Le Palais des Dégustateurs
Unlike other contemporary conductors, the Argentinean conductor Carlos Païta was almost forgotten when he died in 2015 at the age of 83. Throughout his career, he was one of the most controversial conductors, receiving either enthusiastic praise or total disapproval. This was the result of his unorthodox, highly emotional, and extraordinary interpretations. Therefore, it is invaluable that the French label Le Palais des Dégustateurs is making previously released and unreleased recordings by Carlos Païta available again.
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Bamberger Symphoniker
At just 80 years old, the Bamberger Symphoniker are still considered a young orchestra by German standards. However, from the outset, they have been among the world’s top orchestras. They are not only ambassadors of music, having played in over 60 countries worldwide, but also a mainstay of European and German culture. Led by their Czech chief conductor, Jakub Hrůša, this orchestra is a beacon of excellence.
AUDIO & VIDEO AWARDS
EARLY MUSIC
Maria – Josquin in Leipzig
Amarcord
Raumklang RK AP 10124
In their album Maria, the Leipzig ensemble Amarcord delves deep into the history of vocal art. Renaissance sounds in honour of the Virgin Mary framed by medieval sequences from Leipzig’s Thomas Gradual add up to a meaningful dramatic whole. The result is a stylistically confident, highly precise and tonally consistent vocal gem with reference potential.
BAROQUE INSTRUMENTAL
Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Continuo
Isabelle Faust, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Kristin von der Goltz
Harmonia Mundi HMM 902698
Violinist Isabelle Faust is one of those ideal Bach interpreters who have been combining absolute transparency, lucid lines, natural phrasing, distinctive ornamentation and the highest levels of intensity to create consistent interpretations for years. The focused lightness and meticulousness of her approach is reflected in her highly balanced collaboration with Kristian Bezuidenhout and Kristin von der Goltz.
BAROQUE VOCAL
Songs of Passion
John Dowland & Henry Purcell: Various works
Lea Desandre, Thomas Dunford, Jupiter Ensemble
Erato 2173282845
The lutenist Thomas Dunford has been immersed in Dowland’s music since childhood. He has now brought Lea Desandre and the Jupiter Ensemble into this intimate circle. The result is a heartfelt and beautiful album that tells the story of passion. Desandre’s delicate and captivating voice breathes life into the lyrics, enabling listeners to share her innermost feelings. Sensitivity and authentic emotion set the tone of this recording, making it a truly special listening experience.
VOCAL MUSIC
Gaetano Donizetti: Songs
Ermonela Jaho, Carlo Rizzi
Opera Rara ORR 258
Not just operas: Gaetano Donizetti’s catalogue includes a remarkably rich selection of Italian and French songs for voice and piano. As part of Opera Rara’s ambitious project to record his complete works, this album featuring Ermonela Jaho is notable for the Albanian soprano’s commitment to conveying the meaning of the lyrics, the intensity of her performance, and her ability to bring a theatrical dimension to the music, supported by Carlo Rizzi on the piano.
CHORAL MUSIC
Joseph Haydn: Die Schöpfung
Lucy Crowe, Benjamin Bruns, Christian Gerhaher
Chor & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Simon Rattle
BR Klassik 900221
The jury honours a recording that is a true hymn to the human voice. Powerful, harmonious and clear with splendid timbres, it showcases an orchestra and choir at their very best. All of these elements come together in Joseph Haydn’s The Creation, performed by the choirs and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Simon Rattle.
OPERA
Richard Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
Lise Davidsen, Anna Kissjudit
Stanislas De Barbeyrac, Eirik Grøtvedt
Gerald Finley, Brindley Sherratt
Norwegian National Opera Chorus
Norwegian National Opera Orchestra
Edward Gardner
Decca 4870952
Lise Davidsen, the great Wagnerian and Straussian soprano of our time, and baritone Gerald Finley lead a superb cast in a performance of The Flying Dutchman which, conducted with verve and inspiration by Edward Gardner and with a fabulous rendition by the Norwegian Opera Orchestra and Chorus, stands as one of the best-ever recordings of the first opera in the Wagnerian canon.
SOLO INSTRUMENT
John Field: Complete Nocturnes
Alice Sara Ott
Deutsche Grammophon 4866239
When listening to John Field’s 18 nocturnes, we can observe that the first ones have a classical character and a mainly joyful spirit. Other nocturnes anticipate those that Frédéric Chopin would write years later. It is a diverse world full of light and shadow, which Alice Sara Ott paints exceptionally well. She is an intelligent pianist with enormous sensitivity and the ability to share her emotions with the audience. She uniquely combines the minimalist spirit of Japan, where her mother is from, and the analytical mind of Germany, where her father is from. These are exactly the qualities needed to perform these pieces, which she brings to life so well.
CHAMBER MUSIC
Bohuslav Martinů
String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 5 & 7
Pavel Haas Quartet
Supraphon SU43682
The Pavel Haas Quartet has long been dedicated to performing Bohuslav Martinů’s string quartets. With their debut recording for the Czech label Supraphon, the ensemble presents a compelling case for these pieces. The musicians succeed masterfully in revealing the very different characters of Quartets 2, 3, 5 and 7. The recordings capture the full range of emotions in the pieces, from energetic tension to lyrical melancholy.
CONCERTOS
War Silence – Rare Italian Piano Concertos
Fano, Dallapiccola, Omizzolo, Carrara: Piano Concertos
Roberto Prosseda,
London Philharmonic Orchestra,
Nir Kabaretti
Hyperion CDA68458
One of the most outstanding contemporary pianists, renowned for his melodic sensitivity, logical interpretations and natural style here introduces four relatively unknown piano concertos. In every case, Roberto Prosseda finds a style based on his understanding of each piece’s idiom, requirements and exquisite technique. All of them employ the communicative language of neo-classicism in the broad sense and are interesting. One or two of them should definitely be included in the standard concert repertoire. Apart from Dallapiccola’s picturesque and lyrical piece, which ones? Let everyone choose for themselves.
SYMPHONIC MUSIC
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Paavo Järvi
Alpha Classics 1127
Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is one of the most significant Romantic masterpieces and has countless excellent recordings, including some iconic ones from Bernstein to Rattle. Nevertheless, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and Paavo Järvi manage to stand alongside their great predecessors as one of the best. The performance is characterized by unparalleled precision, wonderful harmony, and perfectly judged tempos, but it is mainly thanks to its arc that this monumental 70-minute work never lets the listener’s attention wander for a single moment.
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
Kalevi Aho: Moonlight Concerto – Concerto For Alto Flute & Strings
Hiyoli Togawa, Alexej Gerassimez, Sharon Bezaly
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, St. Michel Strings
Anja Bihlmaier, Erkki Lasonpalo
BIS 2626
The works of an ambassador of contemporary music, Kalevi Aho’s two concertos show that the strengths of contemporary music include an ability to define its own place within all of music’s genres, without limiting its own style to only one. The combination of sounds from rarely heard percussive instruments to almost Romantic phrases are interpreted with complete dedication by all the soloists and orchestras alike.
ASSORTED PROGRAMS
Schönberg: Die Jakobsleiter, Kammersymphonie No. 1, Violin Concerto
Variations for Orchestra, Verklärte Nacht
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Wolfgang. Koch, Daniel Behle, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Gyula Orendt, Stephan Rügamer, Nicola Beller Carbone, Liv Redpath, Jasmin Delfs
Rundfunkchor Berlin, Berliner Philharmoniker,
David Bui, Gregor Mayrhofer, Giuseppe Mentuccia, Friedrich Suckel
Kirill Petrenko
Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings BPHR 250511
To mark the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra paid tribute to the composer with whom they have a long-standing relationship. This box set of concert recordings, conducted by the orchestra’s music director Kirill Petrenko, offers a new perspective on Schönberg’s music and is a major reference. Once again, it demonstrates the excellence of the partnership between conductor and orchestra.
HISTORICAL RECORDINGS
Sergio Fiorentino – The Legacy
Various composers
Sergio Fiorentino
Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, Pro Musica Symphony Orchestra Hamburg
London Mozart Ensemble
Brilliant Classics 97423
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli called him “the only other pianist” (apart from himself, of course): the artistry of Sergio Fiorentino, whose brilliant career was cut short by the aftermath of a plane crash, shines in all its glory thanks to this rich Brilliant box set, the most comprehensive ever dedicated to the Neapolitan pianist. Curated by Ernst Lumpe, the man who convinced him to resume performing, it is an essential contribution to the rediscovery of a true aristocrat of the keyboard, worthy of comparison with the greatest pianists of the 20th century.
PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Ernst Gernot Klussmann: Piano Quintet Op. 1 + String Quartet No. 1
Kuss Quartett, Peter Nagy
EDA Records EDA55
Ernst Gernot Klussmann’s wonderful quintet is unmistakably late Romantic. The quartet, completed five years later, sounds much more modern. The Kuss Quartet – and Peter Nagy in the quintet – moves through this music and all its mood changes with stylistic confidence and gripping expressiveness. Their interpretation has breath and tension, drama and intensity, but does not neglect lyricism when required.
ex aequo
Shostakovich Discoveries: World Premiere Recordings & Rarities
Daniil Trifonov, Gidon Kremer, Nils Mönkemeyer, Alexander Roslavets
Yulianna Avdeeva, Rostislav Krimer, Madara Petersone, Georgijs Osokins
Daniel Ciobanu, Alexei Mochalov, Andrei Pushkarev
Kremerata Baltica, Staatskapelle Dresden, Thomas Sanderling
Deutsche Grammophon 4867190
Half a century on from the death of Dmitri Shostakovich, this album of rarities and lesser-known works by one of the 20th century’s greatest composers, performed by a line-up of top-level artists, is one of the finest tributes an artist could wish for. This essential album is a must-have in any discography of the composer of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.
VIDEO: OPERA
Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace
Olga Kulchynska, Andrei Zhilikovsky, Violeta Urmana, Olga Guryakova
Mischa Schelomianski, Arsen Soghomonyan et al.
Chor und Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper
Vladimir Jurowski
Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings BSOREC 1006
On 5 March 1953, Sergei Prokofiev and dictator Joseph Stalin died. Exactly seventy years later to the day, the opera War and Peace premiered at the Bavarian State Opera. Dmitri Tcherniakov directed, Vladimir Jurowski conducted. Both were personally affected by the Russian war against Ukraine. The result is a powerful production that is conscious of the play’s problematic content and confronts it scenically and musically with colourful ambiguity.
VIDEO: PERFORMANCE & DOCUMENTARIES
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Bamberger Symphoniker, Herbert Blomstedt
Accentus Music ACC20661
On 11 July 2024, in the year of Anton Bruckner’s bicentenary and on his own 97th birthday, Herbert Blomstedt conducted Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony in the Basilica of St Florian. This video captures the emotional impact of the event, with the Swedish conductor offering an interpretation that focuses on redemption rather than fear of death. Ultimately, everything comes together, location, music, Blomstedt and the Bambergers, not least thanks to the beautiful shots of the basilica. Unforgettable!
ex aequo
The Alchemy of the Piano
A Film by Jan Schmidt-Garre
Francesco Piemontesi, Alfred Brendel, Ermonela Jaho, Stephen Kovacevich
Antonio Pappano, Maria João Pires, Eldar Nebolsin et al.
Naxos 2.110778
Director Jan Schmidt-Garre and pianist Francesco Piemontesi went to meet older colleagues who could provide information about their secrets of piano playing. This wonderfully compiled film explains the fascination of the piano and illustrates how it transcends its own limitations. The result is a fantastic documentary and an outstanding homage to the piano.
