Today, the 72 recordings that form the second round of the Gramophone The 2022 Classical Music Awards are unveiled in a free digital magazine. From this list of famous recordings, one album will be chosen as the winner in each of 11 recording categories, and from this shortlist, only one album will be named “Recording of the Year” on October 4th.
➔ The Gramophone 2022 Classical Music Awards Shortlist
Another good year, when recorded music has still, I suspect, taken up more of our time than live – and I wonder if for many people that will be the new normal. I hope not, but that certainly wouldn’t mean a shortage in your music supply. Again, as the date of the annual meeting Gramophone With the Classical Music Awards looming – on October 4 – we reveal the field that will produce the 12 recording category winners.
After a first round based on the monthly Editor’s Choice recordings (out of the 13 issues published between June 2021 and May 2022) then supplemented by possible additions proposed by our critics (and then reduced by specialized commissions), we come to the general vote which any of our over 40 reviewers can opt into. Each category comprised six recordings and the late spring and summer were spent listening to select the winning albums that will be presented, along with artist and “special” awards, at our award ceremony on October 4 (the online stream will be released on October 7 and remain viewable for 90 days).
As always, the 72 recordings whose reviews we publish in this special digital magazine reflect the extraordinary range produced by the industry each year, from the very familiar – but perennially popular – to the very rare, including a few expertly programmed albums.
There are some interesting spotlights shone this year: Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen makes two appearances in the Contemporary category while Kirill Petrenko takes charge of three different recordings (as one of the conductors joining Frank Peter Zimmermann in the Concerto, conducting Mahler in Orchestral and Korngold in Opera – and only one recording features the Berliner Philharmoniker; the other two find him in front of his former orchestra, that of the Bavarian State Opera which this year launched its own label , earning nominations for its first three releases It’s also good to see Dame Mitsuko Uchida’s long-awaited return to the acclaimed recording studio in the Piano category, and it’s good to see an organ recording make an appearance rare this year (helped, no doubt, by our decision last year to shoot Piano in its category) Happy listening!
➔ The Gramophone 2022 Classical Music Awards Shortlist
Listen to tracks from many of this year’s shortlisted albums in our Gramophone Rewards Shortlist Playlist, exclusively on Apple Music.
