Gramophone Classical Music Awards

The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. The British awards are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy Awards, and referred to as the Oscars for classical music. They are widely regarded as the most influential and prestigious classical music awards in the world. According to Matthew Owen, national sales manager for Harmonia Mundi USA, "ultimately it is the classical award, especially worldwide."

The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including retailers, broadcasters, arts administrators, and musicians. Awards are usually presented in September each year in London.

1977–1980 Category 1977 1978 1979 1980 Chamber Fitzwilliam Quartet – Shostakovich: String Quartets 4 & 12 Martha Argerich, Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich, Willy Goudswaard, Michael de Roo – Bartók: Sonata for 2 Pianos; Debussy, En blanc et noir; Mozart: Andante With 5 Variations for Piano Beaux Arts Trio – Haydn: piano trios Maurizio Pollini – Brahms: Piano Quintet; Quartetto Italiano – solo Choral Philip Ledger conducting Kings College Choir, New Philharmonia Orchestra – Elgar: Coronation Ode; Parry: I was glad John Eliot Gardiner conducting Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra – Handel: Dixit Dominus Seiji Ozawa conducting Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra – Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder John Eliot Gardiner conducting Monteverdi Choir – Handel: L'Allegro, il Penseroso Concerto Neville Marriner conducting Academy of St Martin in the Fields – Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22; Alfred Brendel – solo Simon Rattle conducting London Symphony Orchestra – Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1; Andrei Gavrilov – solo Claudio Abbado conducting Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Bartók: Piano Concerto 1 & 2; Maurizio Pollini – solo Lorin Maazel conducting French National Orchestra – Ravel: Piano Concerto in G; Jean-Philippe Collard – solo Contemporary Pierre Boulez conducting London Symphony Orchestra – Berio: Concerto for Two Pianos; Luciano Berio conducting BBC Symphony Orchestra Pierre Boulez conducting Juilliard String Quartet, London Symphony Orchestra – Webern: Complete Works Simon Rattle conducting Philharmonia Orchestra – Davies: Symphony No. 1 David Atherton conducting London Sinfonietta -Birtwistle: Punch and Judy Early Music Julian Bream – Dowland: Lute Works John Eliot Gardiner conducting English Baroque Soloists – Handel: Acis and Galatea Christopher Hogwood conducting Academy of Ancient Music – Mozart: Symphonies Vol. 3 Trevor Pinnock conducting The English Concert – C. P. E. Bach: Sinfonias Engineering André Previn conducting London Symphony Orchestra – Debussy: Images pour orchestre, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune Bernard Haitink conducting Concertgebouw Orchestra – Debussy: Nocturnes, Jeux Historical The Record of Singing Charles Bruck conducting Netherlands Opera Chorus and Orchestra – Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice Record of Singing Vol. 2 Historical Vocal Gramophone Co. Recordings – Lucia Historical Non-Vocal Joseph Szigeti, Benny Goodman – Bartók: Contrasts Instrumental Maurizio Pollini – Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 27–32 Alfred Brendel – Liszt: Piano Works Peter Hurford – Bach: Organ Works Vol. 3 Krystian Zimerman – Brahms: Piano Sonatas 1 & 2 Operatic Charles Mackerras conducting Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic – Janáček: Káťa Kabanová Zubin Mehta conducting Royal Opera House Choir and Orchestra – Puccini: La fanciulla del West Pierre Boulez conducting Paris Opera Orchestra – Berg: Lulu Charles Mackerras conducting Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic – Janáček: From the House of the Dead Orchestral Adrian Boult conducting London Philharmonic Orchestra – Elgar: Symphony No. 1 Benjamin Britten conducting English Chamber Orchestra – Mozart: Symphonies 25 & 29 André Previn conducting London Symphony Orchestra – Debussy: Images pour orchestre, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune Bernard Haitink conducting Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Debussy: Nocturnes Solo Vocal Maxim Shostakovich conducting Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra – Shostakovich: Suite, Six Songs to Lyrics, etc. André Previn conducting London Symphony Orchestra – Chausson: Poème; Duparc: Melodies; Janet Baker – solo Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy – Grechaninov, etc., Five Children's Songs Graham Trew, Roger Vignoles – A Shropshire Lad

1981–1985 Category 1981 1982/1983 1984 1985 Chamber Tokyo Quartet – Bartók: String Quartets 1–6 Borodin Quartet – Borodin: String Quartets 1 & 2 Lindsay Quartet – Beethoven: Late String Quartets Alban Berg Quartett – Beethoven: Late String Quartets Choral Eric Fenby conducting Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Delius: Fenby Legacy Joshua Rifkin conducting Bach Ensemble – Bach: Mass in B minor Peter Schreier conducting Dresden State Orchestra, Margaret Price, Trudeliese Schmidt, Francisco Araiza, Theo Adam – Mozart: Requiem John Rutter conducting Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia, Caroline Ashton, Stephen Varcoe, Simon Standage, John Scott – Fauré: Requiem, Cantique de Jean Racine Concerto Carlo Maria Giulini conducting Philharmonia – Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D minor; Perlman – solo Colin Davis conducting London Symphony Orchestra – Tippett: Triple Concerto Murray Perahia conducting English Chamber Orchestra – Mozart: Piano Concertos 15, 16 Vernon Handley conducting London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nigel Kennedy – Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor Contemporary David Atherton conducting London Sinfonietta – Tippett: King Priam Pierre Boulez conducting BBC Symphony Orchestra, Phyllis Bryn-Julson – Boulez: Pli selon pli Arditti Quartet (Irvine Arditti, Levine Andrade, Lennox MacKenzie, Rohan de Saram) – Brian Ferneyhough: Quartet 2, Jonathan Harvey: Quartet 2, Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 3 Pierre Boulez conducting Ensemble InterContemporain, , Márta Fábián, John Alldis Choir – György Kurtág: , Dalos: Opus 17, Birtwistle: ...agm... Early Baroque William Christie conducting Les Arts Florissants Vocal – Charpentier: Actéon Reinhard Goebel conducting Musica Antiqua Köln – Bach: Kammermusik William Christie conducting Les Arts Florissants Vocal, Jill Feldman, Jacques Bona, Sophie Boulin, Phillipe Cantor, Agnès Mellon, Gilles Ragon – Charpentier: Médée Early Medieval Christopher Page conducting Gothic Voices – Hildegard of Bingen: A Feather on the Breath of God Early Medieval and Renaissance Paul Hillier conducting Hilliard Ensemble – Dunstaple: Motets David Hill conducting Westminster Cathedral Choir – Tomás Luis de Victoria: O quam gloriosum, Ave maris stella Early Music Cologne Music Antiqua – German Chamber Music Engineering Colin Davis conducting Royal Opera House Orchestra – Massenet: Werther Bernard Haitink conducting Concertgebouw Orchestra – Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 Engineering and Production Bryden Thomson conducting Ulster Orchestra – Bax: Symphony No. 4, Tintagel Charles Dutoit conducting Montreal Symphony Orchestra – Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Le tombeau de Couperin, Valses nobles et sentimentales Historical Non-Vocal Busch Quartet, Rudolf Serkin, Reginald Kell, Aubrey Brain – Brahms: Chamber Works Bartok: At the Piano Vol. 1 Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra – Carl Nielsen: Symphonies, Erik Tuxen, Launy Grøndahl, Thomas Jensen Historical Vocal Hugo Wolf Society Lieder Schubert – Historical Recordings of Lieder Egon Petri – Piano Sonatas No. 30, no. 31, no. 32 Claudia Muzio: The Columbia Recordings 1934–1935. Italian Opera Arias, Italian, French and German Songs Instrumental Alfred Brendel – Liszt, Piano Works Alfred Brendel – Liszt, Piano Sonata in B minor Emil Gilels – Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major Jorge Bolet – Liszt: Années de pèlerinage Operatic Herbert von Karajan conducting Deutsche Opera, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Wagner: Parsifal Charles Mackerras conducting Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic – Janáček: The Cunning Little Vixen Charles Mackerras conducting Vienna Philharmonic, Elisabeth Söderström, Wiesław Ochman, Peter Dvorský, Eva Randová, Lucia Popp – Janáček: Jenůfa Bernard Haitink conducting London Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Allen, Carol Vaness, Maria Ewing, Elizabeth Gale, Keith Lewis, Richard Van Allan, Glyndebourne Chorus – Mozart: Don Giovanni Orchestral Herbert von Karajan conducting Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Mahler: Symphony No. 9 Herbert von Karajan conducting Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Strauss: Metamorphosen Herbert von Karajan conducting Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Mahler's Symphony No. 9 Neeme Järvi conducting Scottish National Orchestra – Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Waltz Suite Solo Vocal Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Daniel Barenboim – Liszt: Lieder Kurt Masur conducting Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – Brahms: Lieder; solo: Jessye Norman Kurt Masur conducting Gewandhaus Orchestra, Jessye Norman – Strauss: Four Last Songs Tom Krause, Irwin Gage, Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy – Sibelius: Complete Songs

1986–1990