See the 12 recordings that have been crowned category winners at this year’s Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2014, as well as the special awards including Artist of the Year, Recording of the Year, Young Artist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award and Outstanding Achievement Award.

Gramophone Awards 2014: full list of winners

CPE Bach – Württemberg Sonatas
Mahan Esfahani
[Hyperion CDA67995]

What the judges said about this recording: “The elusive fusion of thematic intricacy, ‘Baroque’ rhetoric and ‘proto-Classical’ Sturm und Drang offered by the instrument are caught perfectly by Esfahani’s supple touch and disarming sense of rhetorical pacing.”

Baroque Vocal
CPE Bach – Magnificat, Heilig ist Gott
Soloists, RIAS Chamber Choir; Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin /
Hans Christoph Radioman
[Harmonia Mundi HMC902167]

What the judges said about this recording: “The Magnificat can sometimes outstay its welcome. Not here. Hans-Christoph Rademann and his Berlin forces make the strongest possible case for it, with fresh, athletic choral singing, playing of crackling, fizzing energy and excellent solo work.”

Chamber
Schubert – Death and the Maiden; String Quintet
Pavel Haas Quartet with Danulo Ishizaka
[Supraphon SU4110-2]

What the judges said about this recording: “The slow movement of the Quintet is aching but never emotes superficially; the way the players withdraw the sound at its close is absolutely mesmerising.”

Choral
Mozart Requiem (reconstruction of the first performance)
Dunedin Consort & Players / John Butt
[Linn CKD449]

What the judges said about this recording: “Purely on grounds of performance alone, this is one of the finest Mozart Requiems of recent years. John Butt brings to Mozart the microscopic care and musicological acumen that have made his Bach and Handel recordings so thought-provoking and satisfying.”

Concerto
Prokofiev – Piano Concertos Nos 1-5
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, BBC Philharmonic / Gianandra Noseda
[Chandos CHAN10802(2)]

What the judges said about this recording: “Throughout, Bavouzet displays a light touch and laudable levels of physical stamina, with a firm grasp of the very different personalities of each piece.”

Contemporary
Benjamin – Written on Skin
Soloists, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / George Benjamin
(Prod. Katie Mitchell)
[Opus Arte OA1125D]

What the judges said about this recording: “Katie Mitchell gives powerful visual representation to an opera that is to a large extent a drama of the mind.”

Early
Marenzio – First Book of Madrigals
La Compagnia del Madrigale
[Glossa GCD992802]

What the judges said about this recording: “My jaw dropped at both the quality of Marenzio’s cleverly varied five-voice music and the astonishing sonorities of these beguiling performances.”

Instrumental
Mompou – Piano Works
Arcadi Volodos
[Sony Classical 88765433262]

What the judges said about this recording: “You will rarely if ever hear Mompou’s introspection caught and held with greater affection and finesse.”

Opera
Ravel – L’heure espagnole & L’enfant et les sortilèges
Soloists, Glyndebourne Chorus, LPO / Kazushi Ono
(prod. Laurent Pelly)
[FRA Musica FRA008]

What the judges said about this recording: “Laurent Pelly directs the dizzying succession of scenes with a sure hand.”

Orchestral
Brahms Symphonies
Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig / Riccardo Chailly
[Decca 4785344]

“The opening sounds understated but the performance builds steadily until the coda glows white hot.”

Recital
‘Arise, my muse’
Iestyn Davies, Richard Egarr
[Wigmore Hall Live WHLive0065]

What the judges said about this recording: “This is a disc that reminds us why live recital programmes are such a valuable part of recorded repertoire…”

Solo Vocal
Schubert – Winterreise
Jonas Kaufmann, Helmut Deutsch
[Sony Classical 88883795632]