Gramophone has announced the first 12 winners of its 2017 Awards. The winners will now be put forward for the Recording of the Year prize, announced on 13 September at a ceremony in London.
Joyce DiDonato, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Silesian Quartet, Bach Collegium Japan and Matthias Goerne are among the winners of the prestigious prizes. Winners of special awards will be announced during the ceremony.
James Jolly, editor-in-chief at Gramophone, said: “Another vintage year for recorded classical music that illustrates the extraordinary talent that’s all around us. It’s great to see artists returning to the awards, but equally wonderful to be celebrating new talent in such a variety of genres and different periods of music.”
Here is the full list of winners:
Baroque instrumental: Adrian Chandler and ensemble La Serenissima for The Italian Job.
Baroque vocal: Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen for JS Bach: Cantatas BWV54, 82 & 170.
Chamber: Silesian Quartet for Grażyna Bacewicz: Complete String Quartets.
Choral: Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki for Mozart: Great Mass in C Minor.
Concerto: Isabelle Faust for Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos.
Contemporary: Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for Musica Viva 22.
Early music: Phantasm for Dowland: Lachrimae or Seven Tears.
Instrumental: Murray Perahia for Bach: French Suites.
Opera: Zurich Opera for Wozzeck.
Orchestra: Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini for Haydn Symphonies: No 12; No 60, ‘Il Distretto’, No 70.
Recital: Joyce DiDonato for In War and Peace.
Solo vocal: Matthias Goerne for Brahms Vier ernste Gesänge. 9 Lieder und Gesänge.