The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music news: Gramophone magazine announces its Records of the Year and Artist of the Year.

By Jacob Stockinger

Just this week, Gramophone Magazine (below) in the UK – the gold standard of classical music magazines, though it is sometimes accused of having a pro-Brit bias  — announced its Record of the Year (along with all the recordings nominated) and  its Artist of the Year as well as its new award for Label of the Year (surprise! Wigmore Live!):

It’s a long list with a prestigious history, so I am foregoing the usual potpourri of headlines and news clips to focus on these awards.

So, Maestro – a drum roll, please!!!!

And the winners are:

Artist of the Year is the Venezuelan-American conductor Gustavo Dudamel (below).

That is great timing, since his LA PHIL LIVE series starts this Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. (at the Eastgate and Point cinemas in Madison) with an all-Mendelssohn concert.

Record of the Year is the Czech Pavel Haas String Quartet (below top) in its performances of two Dvorak’s string quartets (Nos. 13 and 14, including “The American,” at the end) on the Czech label Supraphon (below bottom):

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/gramophone-awards-2011-announced

Here is a link to the complete and official list of recording nominees and winners (click on the category to see the winners) and special awards. The lists are well worth reading to stay current with the classical music scene, and to find concerts and recordings worthy of your ears and of dollars:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/2011

And here is a link to a terrific analysis on NPR‘s “Deceptive Cadence” blog:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2011/10/06/141110545/the-gramophone-awards-2011-what-do-you-think