´óÏó´«Ã½

Veteran conductor Sir Charles Mackerras is to collect two awards at the prestigious ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards 2009 for classical recording excellence today: his recording of Mozart Symphonies 38-41 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Linn) has won both the Orchestral Award and Disc of the Year. Sir Charles will be presented with his awards by actress Jane Asher and by Lord Robert Winston, human fertility specialist and presenter of Child of Our Time.

Sir Charles Mackerras commented: "I am absolutely delighted by the success of this record – because I've spent my whole life trying to get these four symphonies right! When I think about this recording, I don't think I can do them any better – that's my final word on these marvellous works."

Other winners picking up their Awards at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards presented by James Naughtie and editor Oliver Condy include Sir John Eliot Gardiner for his Bach Cantatas Vol 27 (Choral), the British Dante Quartet for their Franck/Faure quartets (Chamber), and a host of French artists: pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet for his Debussy recordings (Instrumental), the young French quartet, Quatuor Ebène (Newcomers), soprano Patricia Petibon for her disc Amoureuses and soprano Natalie Dessay and director Laurent Pelly for Donizetti's La fille du regiment (DVD). The artistry of German baritone Christian Gerhaher wins the Vocal Award for his Schumann lieder and cutting-edge theatre composer Heiner Goebbels wins the Premiere Award for his opera Landscape with Distant Relatives.

Helen Wallace, Chair of the Jury and Consultant Editor of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine, says: "We are delighted that the public has responded so enthusiastically to one of our great musical heroes - Sir Charles Mackerras, and the brilliant Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Our list of Award-winners is a dazzling one: a reflection of the extraordinary devotion, superlative artistry and abundant variety of talent in classical music worldwide."

Oliver Condy, Editor of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine, says: "The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards are a fantastic snapshot of one of the most sensational 12 months for classical music recording in recent years – the winning discs feature extraordinary performances of both instantly familiar
repertoire and stunning lesser-known gems. And each superb recording will keep you company for the rest of your life."

Winners of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards 2009 will be announced today, 7 April, at an exclusive Awards ceremony to be held at London's new classical music venue Kings Place. Artists and representatives from across the classical music industry, alongside celebrity guests, will be attending the awards lunch and ceremony, to be held in Hall One.

A free digital magazine to promote the winners will be released today at 3pm. It will feature extracts of the winning discs, videos of the artists and links through to retailers to purchase the recordings. The digital magazine will be available to read at .

The May issue of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine, on sale 8 April 2009 priced £4.50, features full interviews with the winners of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards 2009.


NOTES TO EDITORS
The ´óÏó´«Ã½ 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 ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards are renowned in the industry as a prestigious annual event rewarding the highest achievements in international classical music recording.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards are the result of a combination of expert and public opinion unique in classical music awards. Three nominations are selected in six categories by an expert jury led by the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine team, and these nominations are put out to public vote via the official website, where visitors were able to stream extracts of the short-listed recordings, listen to a series of Awards podcasts and vote for their favourite recordings of 2008. 34,000 votes were cast between 22 January and 1 March 2009. Voters were able to purchase the nominated discs through retail partners HMV, Crotchet, Europadisc, MDT and Presto Classical alongside new partner, ArkivMusic in the States. Joined by Amazon.co.uk and iTunes, all retail partners will be continuing their support with a winners' campaign throughout April. Four Jury Awards are also selected in the categories of DVD, Newcomer, Premiere Recording and Award for Technical Excellence. Disc of the Year is chosen by the jury from the six public winners.

The winners of the Public Awards are:
• Orchestral: Sir Charles Mackerras – Mozart Symphonies 38-41, Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Linn)
• Chamber: Dante Quartet – Fauré and Franck String Quartets (Hyperion)
• Instrumental: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet – Debussy Compete Works for Piano Vol. 3 (Chandos)
• Choral: Sir John Eliot Gardiner with the Monteverdi Choir and soloists plus English Baroque Soloists – Bach Cantatas, Vol. 27 (Soli Deo Gloria)
• Opera: Patricia Petibon and Daniel Harding – Amoureuses: Arias by Haydn, Mozart & Gluck (DG)
• Vocal: Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber – Melancholie: Lieder by Robert Schumann (RCA Red Seal)

The winners of the Jury Awards are:
• Disc of the Year: Sir Charles Mackerras – Mozart Symphonies 38-41, Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Linn)
• DVD of the Year: Natalie Dessay - La Fille de Régiment by Gaetano Donizetti – Virgin Classics
• Newcomers of the Year: Quatuor Ebène – Ravel, Debussy and Fauré String Quartets – Virgin Classics
• Premiere Recording: Heiner Goebbels - Landschaft mit enfernten Verwanden - ECM
• Technical Excellence: Pieter Wispelwey - Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2 – (Channel Classics)

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine Awards 2009 are sponsored by Beet It! the organic beetroot juice from James White Drinks Ltd. Visit for details.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine is the world’s best-selling classical music monthly. Covering all aspects of live events, broadcast and recordings, each issue carries a complete ´óÏó´«Ã½ work and provides a comprehensive and expert guide to classical music. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Music Magazine has a monthly circulation of 45,144 (ABC Jan-Dec 2008) and is published by ´óÏó´«Ã½ Magazines Bristol, a trading name of Bristol Magazines Ltd., which is a subsidiary of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide Ltd.


MPR

NB The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external websites