July 20, 2010

By By Wolfgang Spahr, Berlin

The soprano Joyce DiDonato (Virgin Classics/EMI Music) and the tenor Jonas Kaufmann (Decca/Universal Music) will receive the ECHO Klassik Award 2010 of the German Phono Academy as singer of the year in their respective categories.

Pianist Lang Lang (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music), the oboe player Albrecht Mayer (Decca/Universal Music), harpsichord player Siegbert Rampe (MDG - Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm), organ player Martin Schmeding (Cybele Records) and violinist Tabea Zimmermann (Myrios Classics) are the instrumentalists of the year.

Singer Cecilia Bartoli (Decca/Universal) will receive the award for the opera recording of the year for "Sacrificium."

Some awards categories have multiple "winners." With the ECHO award "Klassik beyond all frontiers" the German phono academy will honor the Faur?-Quartett for its recording "Popsongs" (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music), Christina Pluhar and L'Arpeggiata (Virgin Classics/EMI Music) for "Via Crucis" and Milan Turkovic and his Selmer Saxharmonic for "Flying Saxophone Circus" (MDG - Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm).

Concert recording of the year will go to Christian Zacharias (MDG - Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm), Nils M?nkemeyer (Sony Classical), Peter H?rr (MDG - Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm), Arabella Steinbacher (Penta Tone Classics), Gautier Capucon (Virgin Classics/EMI Music), Janine Jansen (Decca/Universal Music) and Evgeny Kissin (EMI Classics).

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra will receive the ECHO Klassik in the category world recording of the year. The orchestra was conducted recorded by Sir Charles Mackerras (Supraphon) who died this month.

Conductor of the year is Paavo J?rvi (Sony Classical). Violonist David Garrett (DEAG Classics) will receive the award as bestseller of the year for his album "Classic Romance." Music-DVD of the year (opera) is "Rheingold" with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana /Zubin Mehta (Unitel Classica/C-Major) and the concert recording "A Russian Night" with pianist H?l?ne Grimaud (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal).

The winner of the lifetime achievement award will be presented within the next weeks.

The ECHO Klassik Awards are presented by the Deutsche Phonoakademie, the cultural institute of the German music Industry Association (BVMI) on Oct. 17, 2010 during a gala at the philharmonic hall in Essen by the German entertainer Thomas Gottschalk.

This year 61 award winners in 21 categories have been chosen by a jury that includes representatives of the phonographic industry. There have been 570 nominations for over 248 records from 59 record companies.

The awards ceremony will be shown on the TV station ZDF with a two hour delay on Oct. 17 at 10pm.

"Since 1992 the award ceremony of the German music award ECHO is one of the highlights of the music year," said BVMI's CEO Professor Dieter Gorny in a statement. "It is the acknowledgement of the great creative works. Being nominated means already to belong to the top artists. From rather modest beginnings the German music-award ECHO developed during the years into a worldwide recognized award."

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