• The Artemis Quartet's recording of the complete Beethoven string quartets, as well as Jean-Guihen Queyras' recording of the Vivaldi Cello Concerti with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, have been chosen by Die Zeit as two of the "Best Albums of the Year."
• Kolja Blacher's recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Mari Kodama, Johannes Moser and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin under Kent Nagano will be released on 17 February 2012 by Berlin Classics (0300331BC).
• Quatuor Ebène's Mozart CD Dissonances (KV 421, 465, KV 138) - Virgin 070922 2 - got honored with the «German Record Critics' Award» as a Recording of Exceptional Artistry and selects it as one of the «Quarterly Best» of New Releases for the Fourth Quarter 2011.
• NPR (National Public Radio) announced Quatuor Ebène's "FICTION" CD to 50 best albums of 2011. The selection was made for all genres and included CD's from Adele & Jay-Z (amongst others).
More:››www.npr.org
• On top "FICTION" is one of the TOP 10 CLASSICAL albums of 2011:
More:››www.npr.org
• Isabelle Faust's recording of the Berg and Beethoven Violin Concertos with the Orchestra Mozart conducted by Claudio Abbado was named Gramophone Recording of the Month in the March issue of the Gramophone magazine. (Harmonia Mundi HMC90 2105)
More:››www.gramophone.co.uk
• Vadim Gluzman received Diapason d'or of the year 2011 and Choc de la Musique of the year 2011!
Vadim Gluzman received Diapason d'or of the year 2011 and Choc de la Musique of the year 2011 for his recent "all-Bruch" CD release (Bruch violin concert, Romance and quintet with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrew Litton).
• Hagen Quartet: "Grieg, Brahms: Introspective-Retrospective" CD with clarinetist Jörg Widmann was selected as CD of the week by Deutschlandradio (myrios classics, 4260183510079)
• Sharon Kam's recording of Mozart Clarinet Concerto KV 622 and Clarinet Quintet KV 581 (with Isabelle van Keulen, Ulrike-Anima Mathé, Volker Jacobsen und Gustav Rivinius) has been awarded Diapason d'Or of the month. The CD has been released by Berlin Classics (0016672 BC).
• Louis Lortie's release of the complete recording of Liszt's "Années de Pèlerinage" (Chandos) ...
"... this is an excellent set to be warmly recommended." (Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music Magazin, May, 2011)
"...irr outstanding..." (International Record Review, April, 2011)
More:›› www.chandos.net
His new CD with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner, featuring Lutoslawski's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra and Variations on a Theme of Paganini (CHANDOS), is also Norman Lebrecht's special recommendation and CD of the week:›› www.wcny.org
• Alexander Melnikov's recording of Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues has been selected by the BBC Magazine as one of the "50 Greatest Recordings of All Time." His recording of Shostakovich's Piano Concerti with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Teodor Currentzis for harmonia mundi will be released in February 2012
››Download the BBC Magazine article here as PDF
• Pacifica Quartet: Shostakovich cycle at Wigmore Hall.
The Pacifica Quartet recently completed a highly successful project in Chicago where they performed the complete Shostakovich string quartets over ten concerts as part of the 'Soviet Arts Experience' festival. Billed as 'the hottest ticket in Chicago classical music' by the Chicago Tribune, the concerts received rave applause from critics throughout the city. The Pacifica has been invited to perform the monumental Shostakovich cycle in a six concert series at London's Wigmore Hall during the 2011-2012 season.
• Miklós Perényi's solo CD, featuring works by Britten, Bach and Ligeti, will be released on 27 January 2012 by ECM (CD 0289 476 4166 (7)).
• Jean-Guihen Queyras received the CHOC de Classica of the month for his new recording of Vivaldi cello concertos with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. (harmonia mundi HMC 902095).
• Tokyo String Quartet: new CD release of Schubert String Quintett D956 + Quartettsatz D 703.
• Dénes Varjon's first solo CD with works by Berg, Janáček und Liszt will be released on 27 January 2012 by ECM. Further information regarding the CD, audio clips, photos, videos and tour dates can be found here:›› www.ecmrecords.com
• Alisa Weilerstein has been named a 2011 MacArthur Foundation Fellow. The prestigious prize, also dubbed the "Genius Award," recognizes Weilerstein's "originality, creativity, self-direction, and capacity to contribute importantly to society through [her] work." Weilerstein receives a cash prize of 500,000 USD.
More: ›› www.macfound.org
• Carolin Widmann and Alexander Lonquich's Schubert CD (Fantasie in C Major/ Rondo in B Minor/ Sonata in A Major) will be released on 27 January 2012 by ECM. Further information regarding the CD, audio clips, photos, videos and tour dates can be found here:›› www.ecmrecords.com
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