Recital
Verismo Arias Various
Jonas Kaufmann; Chorus and Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia Academy, Rome / Antonio Pappano Decca Classics 4782258
These days, for a solo vocal album to stand out it usually has to find a niche. It’s not enough to just have a famous singer traverse the repertoire familiar from umpteen previous like-minded recitals. In this there is something rather gloriously old-fashioned about Jonas Kaufmann’s latest. Yes, it has the theme of verismo, and there are some rarities in the playlist. But its great strength, and the reason people will buy it, is simply this – a great singer-actor at his peak, singing very, very well. “Kaufmann has entered this world completely”, wroteGramophone’s Mike Ashman in his review. “His Italian is good. He is never afraid to sing softly – and does it most beautifully – and there is plenty of power when needed…A perfectly recorded and stunning recital.”Read full Gramophone review
DVD Documentary
Carlos Kleiber: Traces to Nowhere
A film by Eric Schultz Arthaus 101553
Enigmatic, charismatic, reclusive and difficult, Carlos Kleiber was “an intriguing, contradictory” figure, “made all the more alluring by his refusal to play the media game”, wrote Jeremy Nicholas. Eric Schulz takes as the starting point for his fascinating documentary Kleiber’s final journey to his home in Slovenia, including along the way recollections by such friends and colleagues as Plácido Domingo, Brigitte Fassbaender and Manfred Honeck – and the first and only interview with his sister Veronika.
Read full Gramophone review
Other awards included:
The Pavel Haas Quartet received the Recording of the Year Award for their recording of Dvořák Quartets Nos 12 (American) and 13, released on the Supraphon label.
Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamelwas named Artist of the Year – chosen in Gramophone's only publicly-voted award.
Two artists who were also honoured. Dame Janet Baker, the great mezzo-soprano, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Sir John Eliot Gardiner received the Special Achievement Award for his Bach Cantata Pilgrimage project.
Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić, signed to DG, received two Awards, Young Artist of the Year, and the Specialist Classical Chart Award, given in recognition of the sales of his debut disc 'The Guitar'. Wigmore Hall Live - the in-house label launched by the London chamber music venue - received the Label of the Year Award.
To find out more about these, and the winners of the recording category Awards, visit DG's Awards page – where you can also find out how to download six free tracks by Award winners from iTunes.
Plus, you can also stream the Awards podcast on the Gramophone website and YouTube channel - or you can download it from the iTunes page.
DVD Documentary
Carlos Kleiber: Traces to Nowhere A film by Eric Schultz Arthaus 101553
Enigmatic, charismatic, reclusive and difficult, Carlos Kleiber was “an intriguing, contradictory” figure, “made all the more alluring by his refusal to play the media game”, wrote Jeremy Nicholas. Eric Schulz takes as the starting point for his fascinating documentary Kleiber’s final journey to his home in Slovenia, including along the way recollections by such friends and colleagues as Plácido Domingo, Brigitte Fassbaender and Manfred Honeck – and the first and only interview with his sister Veronika.
Read full Gramophone review
Other awards included:
Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamelwas named Artist of the Year – chosen in Gramophone's only publicly-voted award.
Two artists who were also honoured. Dame Janet Baker, the great mezzo-soprano, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Sir John Eliot Gardiner received the Special Achievement Award for his Bach Cantata Pilgrimage project.
Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić, signed to DG, received two Awards, Young Artist of the Year, and the Specialist Classical Chart Award, given in recognition of the sales of his debut disc 'The Guitar'. Wigmore Hall Live - the in-house label launched by the London chamber music venue - received the Label of the Year Award.
To find out more about these, and the winners of the recording category Awards, visit DG's Awards page – where you can also find out how to download six free tracks by Award winners from iTunes.
Plus, you can also stream the Awards podcast on the Gramophone website and YouTube channel - or you can download it from the iTunes page.
