DG wins 3 awards at this year's Gramophone Classical Music Awards

On a great night for DG artists, Gramophone revealed the winners of the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2024 at a glittering awards ceremony in London this week. Widely regarded as the Oscars of classical music, the Awards celebrate exceptional recordings, artists and labels of the past year. Deutsche Grammophon won three awards in total including the prestigious Recording of the Year Award for a second consecutive year!

American violinist Hilary Hahn won the coveted Recording of the Year Award for her album of Ysaÿe’s solo violin sonatas on Deutsche Grammophon. In its Awards issue, Gramophone notes that “whether you are on your seventh listen or your 70th, you will notice new details and feel freshly in awe. This is not just the album of 2024; these Ysaÿe readings will remain a benchmark”. Hahn accepted the Award in-person, stating “I’ve had a summer of recovering from a nerve injury and knowing that people can hear the music when you’re not on stage is so meaningful. Recordings allow people to be heard as musicians, as composers, as performers even when we’re not in the same room. That connection with the audience becomes very personal as the people listening are choosing to listen and they’re inviting that music into their lives.”. The album was also the winner of the Instrumental category.  

Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon, said  “Hilary Hahn’s win in both the Instrumental genre as well as in the coveted Recording of the Year category is truly remarkable in many respects. Never before in the history of the Gramophone Classical Music Awards has a solo album with a melody instrument been recognized with the main prize. And, even more gratifying, Eugène Ysaÿe was the teacher of Hilary’s teacher, so this award-winning album might be her most personal to date, telling a unique story of mentorship and musical identity. Working with Hilary for the past two decades has been a huge inspiration for the Deutsche Grammophon, and we extend heartfelt congratulations to her. Also, I would like to congratulate Jonathan Tetelman who won the vocal category with his amazing tribute to Giacomo Puccini. Overall, Deutsche Grammophon has not only been again the label with the most recognitions, but has also carried the main award Recording of the Year in 3 out of the 5 most recent years. A huge shout-out to our wonderful family of artists and the brilliant team.”

Martin Cullingford, Editor of Gramophone magazine, said: “This year’s winners are a powerful demonstration of the sheer breadth of classical music-making today. We celebrate both a conductor whose decades-long career has been transformative for artists and audiences alike, and a phenomenal young pianist whose name was new to us only relatively recently. Our Recording of the Year – Hilary Hahn’s recording of Ysaÿe’s solo violin sonatas – is a truly magnificent achievement, one I believe will long stand out as a compelling example of what the art form can offer.”

In addition to Hilary Hahn’s triumph chart-topping tenor Jonathan Tetelman won the Voice and Ensemble award for his album The Great Puccini with the PKF Prague Philharmonia. In its original review of the album,  Gramophone wrote ‘What a sound! The sunniest sounding tenor since Luciano Pavarotti’. Tetelman couldn’t join the ceremony in person, but he sent a message from Los Angeles, where he’s currently performing in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the LA Opera.