Gramophone Awards 2007

Editor-in-chief James Jolly on the 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Awards

Once again hours of listening, soul-searching and re-listening have resulted in many hundreds of discs reduced to just 15 category winners. As before, we canvassed the record industry for its nominations (each company was allowed a proportion of their annual release). An initial round by specialist voters reduced these long lists to just six per category. In this Second Round any critic from Gramophone’s review panel could opt into any category to vote. And from these 15 winners, a single Award of Awards was made – this was calculated from the weight of votes combined with the placing of the votes for that contending recording.

As has become traditional, the nomination period ran from June 1 last year to May 31, 2007. So what sort of 12 months has it been? Thinking back down the years through the heady 1990s – years of profligate, though not necessarily vintage productivity – I would characterise 2006-07 as a very good year; a year in which major companies and independents were evenly balanced. Indeed, certain categories are now regularly dominated by either major (Recital – the category for operatic recitals or “bleeding chunks”) or independent (the two Baroque categories).

Mention of the Recital category does point up the fact 
that we’re enjoying a rich harvest of fine and distinctive
voices – with Simon Keenlyside, Magdalena Kozená,
 Bryn Terfel, Nina Stemme, Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko in contention it’s hard to imagine a stronger field. Turn to the Instrumental category and it’s good to see Hyperion – apparently back in rude health after its expensive court battle – fielding three of the six contending discs
 (and it’s also nice to see an instrument other than the
 piano represented).

This year we have made one change to the Awards process and restored the status of Award winner to what, in the past few years, have been styled “Best of Category”. It’s an acknowledgement of the imagination and creativity of the record industry, but also the willingness of its retail arm to ensure that our Award recommendations are actively presented in a record shop near you (this year one of our partners is the UK alliance of record stores, the ICS).

The special awards this year, too, reflect the richness of “our world” – a great soprano whose legacy on stage and on record simply demanded recognition; a veteran producer who has been the midwife to so many outstanding recordings; and a young artist whose debut disc made a tremendous impact. And of course our editor, James Inverne, offers his personal choice. Our colleagues on Classic FM magazine are joining us this year to present an award for Innovation, another acknowledgement of the level of imagination and desire to reach new audiences that is increasingly evident in the world of classical music. But by far the most ambitious award this year is Artist of the Year, for which we have partnered with radio stations around the world with a combined listenership of more than 14 million.