Baroque masterpiece triumphs at Gramophone awards 2012

The Gramophone awards – the Oscars of classical music – recognised some of the recording industry's brightest and best talent on Thursday, from the distinguished 79-year-old conductor Claudio Abbado (Lifetime Achievement Award) to the astonishing young pianist Benjamin Grosvenor , whose recording of music by Chopin, Ravel and Liszt for Decca won him the best instrumental category, while the 20-year-old pianist also picked up the young artist award. The awards, presented by two of the industry's most glamorous specimens Danielle de Niese and Eric Whitacre were handed out at a ceremony in central London, and honoured both the Davids and Goliaths of the record industry. Gramophone's 47 critics whittled down over 750 new releases from the past year to name Vox Luminis ' release (on Ricercar/RSK) of Schütz's Musicalische Exequien their record of the year. The Belgian-based baroque ensemble is led by Lionel Meunier, who, in one of the ceremony's most touching moments, was genuinely lost for words at the honour. "Wow. I love London!" he said, confiding that this – his first visit to the city – would be a day he'd remember for the rest of his life. He said his approach to the text had been simple: "Respect the manuscript." No recording of Schütz's baroque masterpiece existed prior to his group's that used the instruments (two) and voices (10) that Schütz actually specified. The judges praised the work – "it embodies everything a recording of the year should be … [performed by a vocal ensemble] overendowed with impressive individual turns." French label Naïve Classique was Gramophone's 2012 Label of the Year, and British counter-tenor Iestyn Davies won in the recital category, for his Arias for Guadagni . "Sex sells," joked Davies, pointing out that rather than putting himself on the cover – " we went for pictures of two 18th-century groins ." The popular winner of the artist of year, voted for by the music magazine's readers, was the Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja ; other winners included Simon Keenlyside (solo vocal category), and Isabelle Faust for her recording of Beethoven and Berg Violin Concertos with Abbado and the Orchestra Mozart. The Guardian's Andrew Clements found the disc "simply extraordinary, and profoundly moving". Full details of the awards can be found at gramophone.co.uk/awards/2012 .