Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2026 shortlist announced

Gramophone magazine has announced the shortlisted recordings for the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2026, unveiling the 33 albums in contention for the prizes. The Awards celebrate exceptional recordings of the past year and honour artists, ensembles and record labels that have made contributions to the classical music recording industry.

On 21 August, Gramophone revealed the six nominated recordings in each of the Awards' 11 categories in a special digital magazine; these have now been narrowed to a shortlist of three. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Wednesday 7 October at London's De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, where one of the winning recordings will also be named Recording of the Year. The Awards are once again presented in association with Presto Music.

Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon – winners of last year's Choral award and Recording of the Year – are again nominated in the Choral category, this time for their recording of JS Bach's St John Passion on Harmonia Mundi. They face competition from another Bach recording, namely the premiere recordings of Johann Ludwig Bach's (cousin of Johann Sebastian) Leipzig Cantatas from Capella Sollertia and Johanna Soller. I Fagiolini's last recording in their series of premiere recordings of the music of Orazio Benevoli under director Robert Hollingworth completes the shortlist.

Music by British composer Thomas Adès features twice in the Contemporary category (sponsored by PRS/PPL) – his The Exterminating Angel Symphony and Violin Concerto performed by the Minnesota Orchestra and violinist Leila Josefowicz on Pentatone goes up against guitarist Sean Shibe's album Vesper, which features music by Adès, Birtwistle and James Dillon. Huw Watkins's Fanfare, Symphony No 2 and Concerto for Orchestra performed by the Hallé under Sir Mark Elder is also nominated. Adès's Violin Concerto also features on another nominated recording, this time in the Concerto category, with Christian Tetzlaff's disc of Adès and Elgar violin concertos with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Also nominated in the Concerto category are violinist Isabelle Faust and pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuberger for their recording of concertos by Ligeti with Les Siècles, and pianist Yuja Wang for her disc of Shostakovich piano concertos with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon.

In the Piano category, Yunchan Lim – winner of the Piano award as well as Young Artist of the Year in 2024 - is once again nominated, this time for his recording of JS Bach's Goldberg Variations; he's joined by Bertrand Chamayou and Leif Ove Andsnes for their disc of Schubert piano duets, 'Schubert 4 Hands', and Daniil Trifonov for his recording of solo works by Tchaikovsky. Harpsichordist Jean Rondeau is nominated in the Instrumental category (sponsored by Nordoff Robbins) for the complete works of Louis Couperin on Erato, alongside Chris Thile for his album of JS Bach's Sonatas and Partitas arranged for mandolin and Franz Halász's recording of the complete works for solo guitar by Villa-Lobos.

Tenor and previous Gramophone Award winner Cyrille Dubois is nominated in the Voice & Ensemble category for his album 'Landscapes' with Anne Le Bozec et al, and he is joined on the shortlist by mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg and The Mozartists for their recording of arias by Gluck and mezzo Lucile Richardot and Ensemble Correspondances for 'Northern Light: Echoes from 17th-Century Scandinavia' exploring sacred music from the Court of Stockholm. Dubois also features on another nominated recording, this time in the Opera category, as one of the soloists on Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir under György Vashegyi. Other nominees in the Opera category include Mozart's Idomeneo recorded by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and soloists Andrew Staples, Magdalena Kožená, Sabine Devieilhe and Elsa Dreisig, and the world premiere recording of Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater, performed by the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus under Esa-Pekka Salonen and soloists Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, Nicholas Phan and Christopher Purves.

In the Orchestral category (sponsored by Arcam), the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra earns its first ever Gramophone Award nomination for its recording of Pettersson's Symphonies Nos 3 and 8 under conductor Christian Lindberg, joined on the shortlist by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo's second volume of orchestral works by Bacewicz and the London Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of Mahler's Symphony No 9 under Vladimir Jurowski. The Chamber category (sponsored by Wigmore Hall) shortlist features ensembles who have all previously won Gramophone Awards – the Pavel Haas Quartet are nominated for their disc of Martinů's String Quartets Nos 2, 3, 5 & 7, facing competition from the Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin for their disc of piano quintets by Dvořák and Price, and Quatuor Ebène and Belcea Quartet for their recordings of octets by Enescu and Mendelssohn.

The Choir of New College, Oxford and its director Robert Quinney are nominated in the Early category for their disc of music by 16th-century English composer William Mundy, alongside Concerto Italiano and Rinaldo Alessandrini for 'Stravagante Pensiero: Gesualdo & Napoli' exploring madrigals in 17th-century Naples and RossoPorpora and Walter Testolin for their recording of Monteverdi's sixth book of madrigals. Finally, in the Song category, mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet is nominated for her album 'Belle Epoque!' with pianist Florian Caroubi in their first full album together; baritone Christian Gerhaher and pianist Gerold Huber are also nominated for their disc of Brahms Lieder, along with soprano Julia Lezhneva and pianist Alexander Melnikov for their album 'Visiting Rachmaninoff'.

In addition to the 11 category winners and Recording of the Year, special awards will also be announced at the ceremony including Artist of the Year, Young Artist of the Year (sponsored by Classic FM), Lifetime Achievement, Label of the Year and Orchestra of the Year – the only award to be decided by public vote. The evening will also feature performances from some of this year's winning artists.

Martin Cullingford, editor of Gramophone magazine, said: 'Once again, our shortlist reflects the extraordinary breadth of virtuosity and creativity shown by today's finest artists - it's a real privilege to be able to celebrate each and every one of them, and to encourage as many people as possible to listen to their superb recordings!'

More information on the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2026 can be found on Gramophone's website.

CHAMBER (sponsored by Wigmore Hall)

DVOŘÁK, PRICE Piano Quintets - Takács Quartet, Marc-André Hamelin (pf) (Hyperion)

ENESCU, MENDELSSOHN Octets - Quatuor Ebène, Belcea Quartet (Erato)

MARTINŮ String Quartets Nos 2, 3, 5 & 7 - Pavel Haas Quartet (Supraphon)

CHORAL

JL BACH Leipzig Cantatas - soloists, Capella Sollertia, Johanna Soller (Ricercar)

JS BACH St John Passion - soloists, Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon (Harmonia Mundi)

BENEVOLI Missae Angelus Domini & Dum complerentur - I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth (Coro)

CONCERTO

ADÈS, ELGAR Violin Concertos - Christian Tetzlaff (vn), BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds (Ondine)

LIGETI Violin Concerto, Concert Românesc, Piano Concerto - Isabelle Faust (vn), Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (pf), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth (Harmonia Mundi)

SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concertos - Yuja Wang (pf), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (Deutsche Grammophon)

CONTEMPORARY (sponsored by PRS/PPL)

ADÈS The Exterminating Angel Symphony, Violin Concerto - Leila Josefowicz (vn), Minnesota Orchestra, Thomas Søndergård (Pentatone)

ADÈS, BIRTWISTLE, DILLON 'Vesper' - Sean Shibe (gtr) (Pentatone)

WATKINS Fanfare, Symphony No 2, Concerto for Orchestra - Hallé, Sir Mark Elder (Hallé)

EARLY

'STRAVAGANTE PENSIERO: GESUALDO & NAPOLI' - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini (Naïve)

MONTEVERDI Sixth Book of Madrigals - RossoPorpora, Walter Testolin (Arcana)

MUNDY Vox patris caelestis - Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney (Linn)

INSTRUMENTAL (sponsored by Nordoff Robbins)

JS BACH Sonatas and Partitas, Vol 2 - Chris Thile (mandolin) (Nonesuch)

L COUPERIN The Complete Works - Jean Rondeau (hpd) (Erato)

VILLA-LOBOS Complete Works for Solo Guitar - Franz Halász (gtr) (BIS)

OPERA

LALO Le Roi d'Ys - soloists, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian National Choir, György Vashegyi (Bru Zane)

MOZART Idomeneo - soloists, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle (BR Klassik)

SAARIAHO Adriana Mater - soloists, San Francisco Symphony and Chorus, Esa-Pekka Salonen (Deutsche Grammophon)

ORCHESTRAL (sponsored by Arcam)

BACEWICZ Orchestral Works, Vol 2 - BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (Chandos)

MAHLER Symphony No 9 - London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (LPO)

PETTERSSON Symphonies Nos 3 and 8 - Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Christian Lindberg (BIS)

PIANO

JS BACH Goldberg Variations - Yunchan Lim (pf) (Decca)

SCHUBERT 'Schubert 4 Hands' - Bertrand Chamayou, Leif Ove Andsnes (pf duet) (Erato)

TCHAIKOVSKY Sleeping Beauty, Children's Album, Piano Sonata, Theme and Variations - Daniil Trifonov (pf) (Deutsche Grammophon)

SONG

'BELLE EPOQUE!' - Adèle Charvet (mez), Florian Caroubi (pf) (Alpha)

BRAHMS Lieder - Christian Gerhaher (bar), Gerold Huber (pf) (Sony Classical)

RACHMANINOV 'Visiting Rachmaninoff' - Julia Lezhneva (sop), Alexander Melnikov (pf) (Harmonia Mundi)

VOICE & ENSEMBLE

'NORTHERN LIGHT: ECHOES FROM 17TH-CENTURY SCANDINAVIA' - Lucile Richardot (mez), Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé (Harmonia Mundi)

GLUCK Arias - Ann Hallenberg (mez), The Mozartists, Ian Page (Signum)

Vaughan Williams 'Landscapes' - Cyrille Dubois (ten), various (NoMadMusic)

About the Gramophone Classical Music Awards

The annual Gramophone Classical Music Awards, the world's most influential classical recorded-music prizes, were launched in 1977 by Gramophone magazine (founded in 1923 by Sir Compton Mackenzie). Gramophone is available internationally and publishes a bespoke edition of the magazine for North America. Gramophone's full, searchable archive of magazines from 1923 to the latest issue is available digitally for iPad and other tablet devices, smartphone or computer. Gramophone's weekly podcasts have recently passed their 500th episode and more than 1.3 million downloads.

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