2007 Gramophone Best Recital CD Award

Winner of the 2007 Gramophone Award for Best Recital

The 2007 Gramophone Awards as reported in Gramophone magazine [can you spot Simon]

Simon is at the back, second from right

Simon was nominated twice in the Gramophone Awards 2007: Below, the announcement from Gramophone, October 2007, plus the three contenders in the two categories in which Simon was nominated

The votes are in, and we can now reveal the top three discs in each category to have made it to the finals of the 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Awards.

Each record company was able to nominate a proportion of its annual release, drawn from the eligible period of June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007. The long list was whittled down to just six per category by specialist voting committees. Then any of our critics could opt into the Second Round and vote in each of the 15 categories. And that has produced this list of 45. As with last year, it’s an impressive selection.

And from the looks of things, there will be some particularly hard-fought categories. Baroque Vocal, for instance, sees star names Rinaldo Alessandrini and Sir John Eliot Gardiner up against the comparatively little-known John Butt’s surprise hit Messiah with the Dunedin Consort. Historic Archive has three magnificent issues – Flagstad and Furtwangler in Strauss, the legendary live Giulini Don Carlo and the closer to Joseph Keilberth’s sensational Ring cycle. And the Recital category features three of today’s most lauded singers – Nina Stem me, Anna Netrebko and Simon Keenlyside.

Almost everywhere there are tantalising duels, fascinating contrasts and above all great testaments to what has been an excellent year for recordings.

• The final results plus details of the artist awards will be revealed in the Awards issue of Gramophone, published on October 4. Don’t forget to reserve your copy!