The Gramophone Awards 2020: Recording of the Year, winning artists and how to watch

6 October 2020, 17:56 | Updated: 7 October 2020, 16:25

Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2020

The Gramophone Awards are online for 2020 – here’s everything you need to know about this year’s winners, performers and featured artists, as well as how to watch the awards.

Every year, Gramophone hosts the Gramophone Awards to celebrate the very best artists, pieces and recordings in classical music.

And on Tuesday 6 October, Gramophone announced the winners of the 2020 Gramophone Classical Music Awards – including the coveted Recording of the Year prize, which was awarded to Classic FM’s Orchestra in the Midlands, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla for their Weinberg Symphonies on DG.

Artist of the Year went to brilliant pianist Igor Levit, and violinist Itzhak Perlman was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, in the virtual gala concert streamed by Medici and on the Gramophone website, as well as Classic FM’s Facebook Page.

Ten category winners in the Gramophone Awards 2020 were revealed before that – with pianists Benjamin Grosvenor and Igor Levit, Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan, and The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla among the brilliant artists being honoured in this year’s classical music awards.

You can catch up on the ceremony above if you missed it. And view the full list of winners below.

Read more: Watch behind-the-scenes exclusives from the Gramophone Awards 2019 >

Gramophone Awards 2020: Recording of the Year, Artist of the Year, and other special awards

1. Recording of the Year: Weinberg Symphonies – CBSO/Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla

   

2. Artist of the Year: Igor Levit

   

3. Orchestra of the Year: Philadelphia Orchestra

   

4. Beethoven 250 Award: Martin Helmchen, DSO Berlin/Andrew Manze

   

5. Lifetime Achievement Award: Itzhak Perlman

   

6. Special Achievement Award: Robert von Bahr

   

7. Young Artist of the Year: Natalya Romaniw

   

8. Label of the Year Award: Alpha Classics

   

9. Concept Album: ‘From the Ground Up: Chaconnes’

   

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The Gramophone Awards are online for 2020 – join us for all the glitz and excitement of ‘the Oscars of classical music' at 7pm tonight on classicfm.com and our Facebook page. @gramophonemagazine #GramoAwards

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Gramophone Awards 2020: Full list of category winners

1. Chamber – winner

   Bartók: Piano Quintet • Veress: String Trio

   Vilde Frang; Barnabás Kelemen; Lawrence Power; Nicolas Altstaedt; Alexander Lonquich

   Alpha Classics

   

2. Choral – winner

   Bach: St Matthew Passion

   Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki

   BIS

   

3. Concerto – winner

   Chopin: Piano Concertos

   Benjamin Grosvenor; Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Elim Chan

   Decca

   

4. Contemporary – winner

   Adès: Piano Concerto • Totentanz

   Kirill Gerstein; Mark Stone; Christianne Stotijn; Boston Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Adès

   Deutsche Grammophon

   

5. Early Music – winner

   Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo

   Les Arts Florissants / Paul Agnew

   Harmonia Mundi

   

6. Instrumental – winner

   Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas

   Igor Levit

   Sony Classical

   

7. Opera – winner

   Handel: Agrippina

   Joyce DiDonato; Elsa Benoit; Luca Pisaroni; Franco Fagioli; Jakub Józef Orliński; Andrea Mastroni; Carlo Vistoli; Biagio Pizzuti; Marie-Nicole Lemieux; Il Pomo d'Oro / Maxim Emelyanychev

   Erato

   

8. Orchestral – winner

   Weinberg: Symphonies Nos 2 & 21

   City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica / Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla

   Deutsche Grammophon

   

9. Recital – winner

   ‘Si J’ai aimé’

   Sandrine Piau; Le Concert de la Loge / Julien Chauvin

   Alpha Classics

   

10. Solo Vocal – winner

    Janáček: The diary of one who disappeared

    Nicky Spence; Julius Drake

    Hyperion

    

How to watch the Gramophone Awards online

The Gramophone Awards 2020 ceremony was broadcast at 7pm BST on Tuesday 6 October – on Medici.tv, the Gramophone website and Classic FM’s Facebook Page. You can watch the ceremony on demand on those platforms, or in the video above.

The online gala is free to watch and was hosted by Gramophone’s editor-in-chief, James Jolly, and mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsay. The digital event was broadcast from Glyndebourne, and featured special filmed performances from pianists Bertrand Chamayou and Benjamin Grosvenor, soprano Carolyn Sampson, the Bach Collegium Musicum and Stile Antico – as well as the announcement of the Artist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Orchestra of the Year, and Recording of the Year awards, among others.

James Jolly said: “What a line-up of fantastic recordings – a wonderful reminder of the power and variety of classical music. 2020’s crop is truly vintage and the range of music and music-making is inspiring.

“A number of artists are returning to the Awards but it’s good to see some fine artists recognised for the first time, including two terrific women conductors.”

The Gramophone Awards 2020 virtual gala took place at 7pm on Tuesday 6 October. Visit www.gramophone.co.uk to find out more.