Let me say upfront that I’m delighted with the winner of Recording of the Year, our highest accolade. I’d been wondering for some weeks, ever since I became aware of the nominations, whether the disc in question might land the big one. And that sentiment tells you all you need to know about the Gramophone Awards. Even I, editor of this parish, didn’t know who had won until the reviewers delivered their verdict. And even with the deluge of new recordings sent to these offices every month, we who work here still get excited. There’s one reason for that – performing standards are so wonderfully high.

So although I was secretly crossing my fingers for the winner, any one of the nominees would have been deserving. And there’s something marvellous about a recording industry that produces superb accounts of, respectively, the complete Byrd Consort music and the epic Striggio Mass in 40 Parts, Rossini’s Ermione with luxury cast and a Verdi Otello that combines a conductor of great experience and a first-timer in the
title-role, a Wolf Lieder survey alongside songs by Richard Rodney Bennett. To say nothing of an instrumental section that features a tremendous pianistic play-off between Murray Perahia, Nelson Freire and Steven Osborne, three of the best in the business.

Yet the Gramophone Awards are swayed neither by hype nor even by the editor’s preferences! The recordings are voted on over three seperate rounds by our esteemed panel of critics and their word is final (though I do get one vote among many for the Recording of the Year, drawn from the existing category winners). Only in the Editor’s Choice special award do I have the (guilty?) pleasure of picking my favourite. And this year I’ve gone for...but you’ll have to turn to our Awards coverage to find out.

I’m sure you’ll be keen to own as many of the recordings as your wallet will allow. To help you decide, you can download six free tracks on iTunes (about which you can read more on page 37). And you can of course hear more of the music via our online Gramophone Player. There’s an abundance of great music – enjoy!

james.inverne@haymarket.com