Perfectionist pianist Piotr Anderszewski wins BBC Music Magazine’s Recording of the Year with Schumann

Enigmatic Polish-Hungarian pianist Piotr Anderszewski has today [Thursday 12 April] received the coveted Recording of the Year award for his inspiring Schumann album, at the 2012 BBC Music Magazine Awards.

Anderszewski, a perfectionist who is still famous for having left the stage at the Leeds Piano Competition when he did not feel he’d played well enough, also won the Instrumental award for his recording. Voted for by the public and an expert jury of critics, this recording represents the very best of more than 1,500 albums reviewed by BBC Music Magazine in 2011.

Piotr Anderszewski commented: “I feel very honoured to win this award – it has arrived at a special time for me, as I’m currently taking some time off,
and it represents a sort of reconnection with the profession.“
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE AWARDS 2012 WINNERS

Recording of the Year (Instrumental): Piotr Anderszewski – Schumann: Humoreske; Studies for Pedal Piano (Virgin Classics)

Orchestral: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet; BBC Symphony Orchestra/Yan Pascal Tortelier – Debussy: Fantaisie; Ravel: Piano Concertos (Chandos)

Opera: Alexandrina Pendatchanska (Agrippina); Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/René Jacobs – Handel: Agrippina (Harmonia Mundi)

Choral: Tenebrae/Nigel Short – Victoria: Requiem Mass, 1605; Lobo: Lamentations (Signum Records)

Vocal: Andreas Scholl with Accademia Bizantina – Purcell: O Solitude! (Decca Classics)

Chamber: Jerusalem String Quartet – Mozart: String Quartets K.157, 458 & 589 (Harmonia Mundi)

DVD (Performance): Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Claudio Abbado – Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (Accentus Music)

Jury Awards

Newcomer of the Year: Francesco Piemontesi – Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 – Liszt Vallée D’Obermann; Handel: Suite in B, HWV 434 (Avanti Classics)
Award for technical excellence in recording: Berlioz – Grande Messe des Morts – Gabrieli Players & Consort; Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus; Ensemble Wroclaw; Chetham’s School of Music Symphonic Brass Ensemble/Paul McCreesh (Signum Records)

Award for Premiere: Birtwistle – Night’s Black Bird; The Shadow of Night; The Cry of Anubis – Owen Slade (tuba); The Hallé/Ryan Wigglesworth (NMC)
Award for DVD (Documentary): Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Could – A film by Michèle Hozer & Peter Raymont (Drakes Avenue Pictures)

Oliver Condy, Editor of BBC Music Magazine, said: “What strikes me about this year’s winning recordings is just how much dedication and passion has gone into each and every one. From Anderszewski’s years spent honing piano repertoire before entering the studio, through to hundreds of singers sourced for our winning Technical Excellence recording, it’s clear that musicians and record producers are engaging their audiences more and more.”

The winners of the 2012 BBC Music Magazine Awards were announced today, 12 April, at an exclusive Awards ceremony at Kings Place, London. The winners of the 2012 Awards feature in the May issue of BBC Music Magazine, on sale 13 April 2012.

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

The BBC Music Magazine Awards are the only classical music awards in which the main categories are voted for by the public. The magazine’s website received more than 42,000 votes to select the winners in each of the seven categories: Orchestral, Choral, Vocal, Opera, Chamber, Instrumental and DVD Performance. An expert jury selected winners in the remaining categories. www.classical-music.com/