- 36 recordings now compete for their category award as well as coveted
Recording of the Year - Conductor Kirill Petrenko leads the nominations with nods in three separate categories
- Winners to be announced at glittering awards ceremony on Tuesday, October 4 at London’s De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms – in-person for the first time since 2019 – alongside special awards including Artist of the Year and Orchestra of the Year
Gramophone have revealed the 36 recordings which have been shortlisted in the top three of each category of the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2022. Known as the Oscars of classical music, the Awards celebrate exceptional recordings of the past year, as well as acknowledging artists, ensembles and labels that have made outstanding contributions to the classical recording industry.
The full shortlist – six in each category – was revealed in a special digital magazine from Gramophone published on September 1, before the top three were announced in their recently published October issue. From these shortlisted recordings, one will be chosen as the winner in each of the 12 categories, and a single album among those winners will go on to be named as the prestigious Recording of the Year.
Conductor Kirill Petrenko is the most nominated artist in the shortlist, with three nominations in separate categories. His recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester is nominated in the Orchestral category, competing against John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London ‘Metamorphosen’ album and Jordi Savall’s recording of Beethoven Symphonies Nos 6-9 with La Concert Des Nations. Petrenko is also nominated in the Opera category for his recording of Korngold’s Die tote Stadt with the Bayerische Staatsoper, alongside François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles’ recording of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and the Teatro Real’s recording of Dvořák’s Rusalka under the baton of Ivor Bolton. His final nomination is in the Concerto category, where he’s nominated with fellow conductors Alan Gilbert and Daniel Harding for Frank-Peter Zimmermann’s album of Bartók, Berg and Beethoven violin concertos with the Berliner Philharmoniker; other nominations in this category includes Leif Ove Andsnes’s ‘Mozart Momentum 1786’ and Frank Dupree’s recording of Kapustin concertos.
Dame Mitsuko Uchicha’s recording of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations – her first studio recording since 2016 – earns her a nomination in the Piano category alongside Marc-Andre Hamelin’s collection of CPE Bach’s sonatas and rondos and Igor Levit’s ‘On DSCH’, an exploration of Shostakovich’s preludes and fugues for piano paired with Ronald Stevenson’s Passacaglia on D.S.C.H. 2021’s Artist of the Year James Ehnes is nominated in the Instrumental category for his recording of Ysaÿe’s sonatas for solo violin, up against Thomas Trotter’s recording of Duruflé’s complete organ works – the first time an organ recording has been nominated in many years – and Alina Ibragimova’s album of Paganini’s Caprices.
Isabelle Faust – no stranger to the Gramophone Awards, having won Young Artist of the Year in 1997, the Chamber Award in 2012 and the Concerto and Recording of the Year Awards in 2017 – once again makes the shortlist in the Chamber category for her recording of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale with pianist Alexander Melnikov; competition comes from the EbèneQuartet’s ‘Round Midnight’and the Belcea Quartet’s recording of Brahms’s string sextets featuring Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras. The Choral Award includes two recordings of JS Bach – his St Matthew Passion, recorded by Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon, and a collection of cantatas and his motet O Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht from Collegium Choral Gent under Philippe Herreweghe – as well as Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri recorded by Ensemble Corréspondences and Sebastian Daucé.
Composer Hans Abrahamsen features large in the Contemporary category, with a recording of his opera The Snow Queen from Bayerische Staatsoper under Cornelius Meister competing against Lapland Chamber Orchestra and John Storgårds’ recording of his work Schnee; both recordings face Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s album of Francisco Coll’s Violin Concerto. The Early Music award is also dominated by one composer, with recordings of Josquin taking two of the three slots – Ensemble Thélème and John-Christophe Groffe’s ‘Josquin Desprez: Baisiez moy’ takes on The Gesualdo Six, Odhecaton, La Pifraescha, La Reverdie and Paulo Da Col in their recording ‘Giosquino: Josquin Desprez in Italia’. Gothic Voices’ ‘Echoes of an Old Hall’, featuring music from The Old Hall Manuscript, completes the category.
Michael Spyres gains another Gramophone Award nomination – having previously been nominated in 2021 as well as singing Énée on the 2018 Recording of the Year, Berlioz’s Les Troyens – for his BariTenor album in the Voice & Ensemble category; he faces competition from another previous nominee, Véronique Gens, for her‘Passion’ album and Lea Desandre’s ‘Amazone’. Soprano Asmik Grigorian’s collection of songs by Rachmaninov, ‘Dissonance’, earns her a nomination in the Song category alongside Christian Gerhaher’s recording of the complete songs by Schumann and Magdalena Kožená’s ‘Nostalgia’, featuring songs by Bartók, Brahms and Mussorgsky.
In its second year, the Spatial Audio Award (in association with Apple Music) honours the most impressive use of Dolby Atmos technology and finds two spectacular orchestral albums – Ravel from John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London (Chandos) and Richard Strauss from The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst on the orchestra’s own label – lined up against Anna Lapwood’s ‘Images’, recorded by Signum in Ely Cathedral to impressive effect.
The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony on Tuesday October 4 at London’s De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, returning to an in-person ceremony for the first time since 2019. Presented by Gramophone’s Editor-in-Chief James Jolly and featuring music from one of the UK’s finest period-instrument ensembles, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, there will also be a fanfare from the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain in their 70th anniversary year, as well as performances from Gramophone Award winners past and present. Audiences around the world will be able to view highlights and performances from the awards ceremony on medici.tv and the Gramophone and Classic FM websites and social media channels from Friday, October 7 at 7pm (GMT).
Other awards to be announced on the night include Artist of the Year (sponsored by Raymond Weil), Young Artist of the Year (sponsored by Classic FM), Lifetime Achievement (sponsored by the Global Foundation for the Performing Arts), Special Achievement, Label of the Year, Concept Album (in partnership with Nordoff Robbins)and Orchestra of the Year (in association with Apple Music).
James Jolly, Editor-in-Chief of Gramophone, said: ‘Another very rich field, and it’ll be great to gather together the classical record industry alongside so many of this year’s winning artists in London on October 4. Once again, the blend of great works in extraordinary performances and more unusual repertoire artfully presented proves the imagination and creativity of the people who produce such wonderful music for us.’
FULL SHORTLIST
CHAMBER (sponsored by Wigmore Hall)
- Brahms String Sextets
Tabea Zimmermann; Jean-Guihen Queyras; Belcea Quartet (Alpha) - Stravinsky The Soldier’s Tale
Isabelle Faust; Alexander Melnikov et al (Harmonia Mundi) - Dutilleux/Merlin/Schoenberg Round Midnight
Antoine Tamestit; Nicolas Altstaedt; Ebène Quartet (Erato)
CHORAL
- JS Bach ‘Mein Lebens Licht’ – Cantatas BWV 45-198 & Motet BWV 118
Dorothee Mields; Alex Potter; Thomas Hobbs; Peter Kooj; Collegium Corrale Gent; Philippe Herreweghe (PHI) - 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) - Buxtehude Membra Jesu nostril
Ensemble Corréspondences; Sebastian Daucé (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) - Kapustin Concertos
Frank Dupree; Rosanne Philippens; Wurttembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn (Capriccio) - ‘Mozart Momentum 1786’
Mahler Chamber Orchestra; Leif Ove Andsnes (Sony Classical)
CONTEMPORARY (sponsored by PPL & PRS for Music)
- Abrahamsen Schnee
Lapland Chamber Orchestra; John Storgårds (Dacapo) - 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) - Coll Violin Concerto
Patricia Kopatchinskaja; Orchestre Philharmonie de Luxembourg; Gustavo Gimeno (Pentatone)
EARLY MUSIC
- Josquin ‘Giosquino: Josquin Desprez in Italia’
Odhecaton; The Gesualdo Six; La Pifarescha; La Reverdie; Paolo Da Col (Arcana) - Josquin ‘Baisiez moy’
Ensemble Thélème; Jean-Christophe Groffe (Aparté) - ‘Echoes of an Old Hall’
Gothic Voices (Linn)
INSTRUMENTAL
- Duruflé Complete organ works
Thomas Trotter (King’s College, Cambridge) - Paganini Caprices
Alina Ibragimova (Hyperion) - Ysaÿe Sonatas for solo violin
James Ehnes (Onyx)
PIANO (sponsored by Yamaha)
- CPE Bach Sonatas and Rondos
Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion) - Beethoven Diabelli Variations
Mitsuko Uchida (Decca) - ‘On DSCH’ – Shostakovich 24 Preludes and Fugues Stevenson Passacaglia on DSCH
Igor Levit (Sony Classical)
ORCHESTRAL
- Beethoven Symphonies Nos 6-9
Le Concert des Nations; La Capella Nacional de Catalunya; Jordi Savall (Alia Vox) - Mahler Symphony No 7
Bayerisches Staatsorchester; Kirill Petrenko (BSO Recordings) - ‘Metamorphosen’ Music by Korngold, Schreker and R Strauss
Sinfonia of London; John Wilson (Chandos)
OPERA (sponsored by Mascarade Opera)
- Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande
Julien Behr; Vannina Santoni; Alexandre Duhamel; Marie-Ange Todorovitch; Jean Teitgen; Hadrien Joubert; Les Siècles; François-Xavier Roth (Harmonia Mundi) - Dvořák Rusalka
Asmik Grigorian; Eric Cutler; Maxim Kuzmin-Karavaev; Katarina Dalayman; Karita Mattila; Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Real; Ivor Bolton (dir Christof Loy) (C Major) - 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)
SONG (sponsored by Anderson Financial)
- Schumann Complete songs
Christian Gerhaher; Gerold Huber et al (Sony Classical) - ‘Dissonance’ Songs by Rachmaninov
Asmik Grigorian; Lukas Geniušas (Alpha) - ‘Nostalgia’ Songs by Bartók, Brahms and Mussorgsky
Magdalena Kožená; Yefim Bronfman (Pentatone)
VOICE & ENSEMBLE
- ‘Amazone’
Lea Desandre; Jupiter; Thomas Dunford (Erato) - ‘Baritenor’
Michael Spyres; Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg; Marko Letonja (Erato) - ‘Passion’
Véronique Gens; Ensemble Les Surprises; Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas (Alpha)
SPATIAL AUDIO (in association with Apple Music)
- Ravel Ma Mère l’Oye. Boléro etc
Sinfonia of London / John Wilson (Chandos) - R Strauss Don Juan. Macbeth. Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
The Cleveland Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst (Cleveland Orchestra) - ‘Images’ The organ of Ely Cathedral
Anna Lapwood (Signum)