Nominations announced for BBC Music Magazines 2009

BBC Music Magazine ’Äì the biggest classical music title in the world ’Äì will host its annual awards ceremony this year on 7^th April at Kings Place in London. The BBC Music Magazine Awards were launched in 2006 with the aim of recognising the best in classical music worldwide, by giving the public a chance to vote for their favourite performances of the year. Now in their fourth year, the BBC Music Magazine Awards are renowned in the industry as a prestigious annual event rewarding the highest achievements in international classical music recording.

This year’Äôs star-studded nominations list balances giants of the international scene like Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Murray Perahia, Susan Graham and Sir Charles Mackerras in core repertoire, with some exciting new performers and musical discoveries by Tarik O'Regan, Peteris Vasks, Ernest Bloch, Gabriel Piernˆ© and Donizetti.

The BBC Music Magazine Awards 2009 are the only classical music awards with a selection of categories voted for by the public. Those who win not only receive esteemed industry recognition, but also the accolade of being the people’Äôs choice. Since the awards’Äô inception in 2006 voting has surged from 3,000 to over 89,000 last year.

The nominations for the Public Awards were selected from over 250 outstanding discs released in 2008, by a jury of classical music experts including Misha Donat, the former Head of Chamber Music for BBC Radio 3; Roger Nichols, author and expert on French and 20^th-century music; and Christopher Cook, BBC Radio 3 presenter and chair of the Cheltenham Music Festival. The nominees are:

Instrumental Nominees:

• Murray Perahia ’Äì Bach Partitas 2, 3 & 4 (Sony Classical)
• Steven Osborne ’Äì Tippett Piano Concerto/Sonatas (Hyperion)
• Jean-Efflam Bavouzet ’Äì Debussy Compete Works for Piano Vol. 3 (Chandos)

Chamber Nominees:

• Goldner Quartet with Piers Lane ’Äì Bloch Piano Quintets (Hyperion)
• Dante Quartet ’Äì Faurˆ© and Franck String Quartets (Hyperion)
• Trio Parnassus ’Äì Peteris Vasks (MDG)

Orchestral Nominees:

• Marin Alsop ’Äì Dvorak Symphony No. 9, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Naxos)
• Sir Charles Mackerras ’Äì Mozart Symphonies 38-41, Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Linn)
• Sir John Eliot Gardiner ’Äì Brahms Symphony No. 1, Orchestre Rˆ©volutionnaire et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir (Soli Deo Gloria)

Choral Nominees:

• Paul Hillier and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir ’Äì Tarik O’ÄôRegan’Äôs Scattered Rhymes (Harmonia Mundi)
• Sir John Eliot Gardiner with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra plus soloists ’Äì Bach Cantatas, Vol. 27 (Soli Deo Gloria)
• Antoni Wit and Iwona Hossa with the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra ’Äì Szymanowski Choral Works (Naxos)

Vocal Nominees:

• Susan Graham and Malcolm Martineau ’Äì Un Frisson Franˆßais: A Century of French Song (Onyx)
• Gerald Finley and Julius Drake ’Äì Musorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death (Wigmore Hall Live)
• Christian Gerhaher and Jerold Huber ’Äì Melancholie: Lieder by Robert Schumann (RCA Red Seal)

Opera Nominees:

• Patricia Petibon and Daniel Harding ’Äì Amoureuses: Arias by Haydn, Mozart & Gluck (DG)
• Nicole Cabell and Mark Elder ’Äì Donizetti: Imelda di Lambertazzi (Opera Rara)
• Sophie Marin-Degor, Jean-Sˆ©bastien Bou and Nicolas Chalvin ’Äì Gabriel Piernˆ©: Sophie Arnould (Timpani)

Notes to Editors:

Voting opens at www.bbcmusicmagazine.com/awards on 21^st January and closes on 1^st March 2009. The website also features the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2009 Podcasts, a series of six podcasts, which will be released weekly from 21^st January. Chaired by BBC Radio 3’Äôs Petroc Trelawny, the podcasts feature jury members Helen Wallace and Oliver Condy discussing the selection criteria, judging process and shortlist for each category, and include excerpts from the nominated discs