Daniel Barenboim given Lifetime Achievement Award at Gramophone Awards 2022 as he announces that he will step back from performing for health reasons

• Korngold’s opera Die Tote Stadt with Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen named Recording of the Year
• Barbara Hannigan named Artist of the Year
• Kirill Petrenko, chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
  most decorated artist of the evening
• Budapest Festival Orchestra wins Orchestra of the Year with over a third of public vote
• International audiences can watch highlights from the ceremony on medici.tv; Gramophone and Classic FM websites, and social media channels from Friday, October 7 at 7pm (GMT)

Legendary conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, a towering cultural figure of our time,was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2022, on the evening he confirmed via social media from Berlin that he will be taking ‘a step back from some of my performing activities, especially conducting engagements, for the coming months’.

With a vast recorded catalogue made over an illustrious 66-year career, the award recognises his exceptional contribution to classical music in his 80^th birthday year. Unable to attend the awards in person, personal messages from many other major artists, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Maxim Vengerov, Alisa Weilerstein, Lisa Batiashvili and Yo-Yo Ma, were relayed in a powerful video tribute.

Sir Simon Rattle described him as “the personification of lifetime achievement… I can’t think of any classical musician who has not been influenced, inspired or learnt from Daniel over all these years, both as musician and philosopher with the extraordinary work he’s done with the [West-Eastern] Divan Orchestra. Of course, one of the greatest musicians of our time, both as pianist and conductor.”

The Gramophone Awards – widely regarded as the Oscars of the classical music world – celebrates exceptional recordings of the past year, and acknowledges artists, ensembles and labels that have made outstanding contributions to the classical recording industry. Attended by many international stars of classical music, the event featured a glittering array of live performances from winners and guest performers including soprano and Artist of the Year Barbara Hannigan, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and violinist and Young Artist of the Year Johan Dalene.

The most coveted prize of the evening, Recording of the Year, was awarded to a DVD of Bayerische Staatsoper’s production of Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, the first time a DVD has ever won this award, and coinciding with the 125^th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Conducted by Kirill Petrenko and starring Jonas Kaufmann, Marlis Petersen, Andrzej Filończyk and Jennifer Johnston, it also won the Opera categoryand was described by Gramophone as a “glorious achievement” and “a performance of a lifetime”. Johnston accepted the award with Guido Gärtner, Managing Director of Munich’s Bayerische Staatsorchester and its successful new recording label. 

Released on the new BSO Recordings label, these accolades were not its only success of the night, with all three of the label’s first recordings victorious in their categories: Petrenko’s recording of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony with the Bayerische Staatsorchester also claiming the Orchestral Award and their DVD of Hans Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen winning the Contemporary Award.

In addition to his wins with BSO Recordings, Kirill Petrenko was also successful in the Concerto category for his recording with Frank Peter Zimmermann of theBerg Violin Concerto – alongside those by Beethoven and Bartók conducted by Daniel Harding and Alan Gilbert – making him the most decorated artist of the night.

Barbara Hannigan was named as Artist of the Year, celebrating her extraordinary abilities as both singer and conductor. Accepting the award in-person, Hannigan said she was “very touched” by the award and thanked her childhood music teachers, orchestras, composers and directors she has worked with over the years, as well as her close team – before treating the room to a magnificent performance of Chausson’s Chanson perpétuelle with pianist and regular collaborator Bertrand Chamayou (himself recipient of 2019’s Recording of the Year).

Swedish violinist Johan Dalene, whose star has been continually on the rise since his win at the Carl Nielsen Violin Competition three years ago,was awarded Young Artist of the Year in recognition of his remarkable playing and superb recordings for BIS. Dalene later joined fellow award winner Leif Ove Andsnes – who took home the Special Achievement Award for his Mozart Momentum project for Sony Classical with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra – in a live performance of a movement from Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 2.

The Orchestra of the Year Award – the only award voted for by the public – was won by Budapest Festival Orchestra, claiming over a third of the votes cast. Their Music Director Iván Fischer accepted the award via video and thanked audiences around the world for their votes.

The Concept Award was awarded to soprano Emily d’Angelo for her album enargeia, which spotlights works from women composers from Hildegard of Bingen to Hildur Guðnadóttir; d’Angelo also performed ‘Verdi prati’from Handel’s Alcina.

The highly regarded British label Chandos was named as Label of the Year, celebrating its rich recordings legacy as well as its deep and long-lasting relationships with its artists. Speaking in its Awards issue, Gramophone editor Martin Cullingford states “Chandos is a shining example of what makes recording so special”.

Conductor John Wilson accepted the Spatial Audio Award, a category made in partnership with Apple Music and created to recognise the outstanding Dolby Atmos recordings and audio technology that have changed the way we hear music, for his Ravel recording with the Sinfonia of London.

Dame Mitsuko Uchida’s recording of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations – her first studio recording since 2016 – claimed the Piano Award, and last year’s Artist of the Year James Ehnes took home the Instrumental Award for his recording of Eugène Ysaÿe’ssolo sonatas for violin.

The full list of winners can be found below and in Gramophone’s Awards issue, published 5 October.

The evening was full of performances from incredible soloists and ensembles. The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, celebrating their 70^th anniversary this year, opened the ceremony with a fanfare by James Curnow, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment decorated the ceremony with performances of pieces by Rameau, Vivaldi, Handel, Haydn and Bach. 

Full list of winners

Special Awards

RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Korngold Die tote Stadt
Jonas Kaufmann; Marlis Petersen; Andrej Filonczyk; Jennifer Johnston; Mirjam Mesak; Corinna Scheurle; Manuel Günther; Dean Power; Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper / Kirill Petrenko (dir Simon Stone) (BSO Recordings)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT (sponsored by the Global Foundation for the Performing Arts)
Daniel Barenboim

ARTIST OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Raymond Weil)
Barbara Hannigan

YOUNG ARTIST OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Classic FM)
Johan Dalene

ORCHESTRA OF THE YEAR (in association with Apple Music)
Budapest Festival Orchestra

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
Mozart Momentum
Mahler Chamber Orchestra; Leif Ove Andsnes (Sony Classical)

LABEL OF THE YEAR
Chandos

CONCEPT ALBUM (in partnership with Nordoff Robbins)
‘enargeia’
Emily d’Angelo(Deutsche Grammophon)

Category Awards

CHAMBER (sponsored by Wigmore Hall)
Dutilleux. Merlin. Schoenberg ’Round Midnight
Antoine Tamestit; Nicolas Altstaedt; Ebène Quartet (Erato)

CHORAL
JS Bach St Matthew Passion
Julian Prégardien; Stéphane Degout; Sabine Devieilhe; Hana Blažiková; Lucile Richardot; Tim Mead; Reinoud Van Mechelen; Emiliano Gonzalez Toro; Christian Immler; Pygmalion / Raphaël Pichon (Harmonia Mundi)

CONCERTO (sponsored by medici.tv)
Bartók. Berg. Beethoven Violin Concertos
Frank-Peter Zimmermann; Berliner Philharmoniker / Alan Gilbert; Daniel Harding; Kirill Petrenko (Berliner Philharmoniker)

CONTEMPORARY (sponsored by PPL & PRS for Music)
Abrahamsen The Snow Queen
Barbara Hannigan; Rachael Wilson; Katerina Dalayman; Peter Rose; Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper / Cornelius Meister (dir Andreas Kriegenburg)(BSO Recordings) 

EARLY MUSIC
Josquin ‘Baisiez moy’
Ensemble thélème / Jean-Christophe Groffe (Aparté) 

INSTRUMENTAL
Ysaÿe Sonatas for solo violin
James Ehnes (Onyx)

PIANO (sponsored by Yamaha)
Beethoven Diabelli Variations
Mitsuko Uchida (Decca) 

OPERA (sponsored by Mascarade Opera)
Korngold Die tote Stadt
Jonas Kaufmann; Marlis Petersen; Andrej Filonczyk; Jennifer Johnston; Mirjam Mesak; Corinna Scheurle; Manuel Günther; Dean Power; Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper / Kirill Petrenko (dir Simon Stone) (BSO Recordings

ORCHESTRAL
Mahler Symphony No 7
Bayerisches Staatsorchester / Kirill Petrenko (BSO Recordings)

SONG (sponsored by Anderson Financial)
‘Dissonance’ Songs by Rachmaninov
Asmik Grigorian; Lukas Geniušas (Alpha)

SPATIAL AUDIO (in association with Apple Music)
Ravel Ma Mère l’Oye. Boléro etc
Sinfonia of London / John Wilson (Chandos)

VOICE & ENSEMBLE
‘BariTenor’
Michael Spyres; Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg / Marko Letonja (Erato)

• Audiences around the world will be able to view highlights and performances from the awards ceremony on medici.tv and via the Gramophone and Classic FM websites and social media channels from Friday, October 7 at 7pm (GMT)
• The Gramophone Award issue is on sale from 5 October