Record Label Of The Year
Gramophone Chooses ECM
"In an age of increasing standardisation, it's good to salute genuine individuality. Each year we pay tribute to a record label that demonstrates a winning blend of creativity, imagination, business acumen, style – all adding up to that word again: individuality. This year we turn the spotlight on a label that has been ploughing its particular furrow with notable success for 40 years, ECM, and more particularly for "classical music fans, its New Series... While many companies shy away from contemporary music, Manfred Eicher seeks it out – and again it’s a tribute to his taste and extraordinary judgement that many of the composers he’s championed have gone on to become familiar names: Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Valentin Silvestrov and Erkki-Sven Tüür, to name just four. And ECM, once it has found a musician to champion, does it properly, not merely with a single disc but often exploring different genres of that musician’s art. And of course that is one incentive to stay with the label and follow the lead it so obviously offers. Add to the provocative A&R, first-class musicianship, invariably demonstration-worthy recording quality and the label’s trademark design – usually black and white, always slipcased, and adorned not with a going-through-the-motions programme note but something altogether more challenging – and you have all the ingredients that have convinced us that this, of all years, belongs to Manfred Eicher and his wonderful ECM label." -James Jolly, Gramophone Editor
Explore The ECM Catalog
Neharót / Kim Kashkashian
1 CD / ECM / 2009-08-25
Works: Betty Olivero: Neharót Neharót, for viola, accordion, percussion, 2 string ensembles & tape; Tigran Mansurian: Tagh for the Funeral of the Lord, for viola & percussion; Three Arias (Sung Ou...Performers: Avraham, Lea; Elia, Ilana; Jungk, Philipp; Kashkashian, Kim; Mansurian, Tigran; Raskin, An; Schulkowsky, Robyn
Ensemble: Boston Modern Orchestra Project ; Munich Chamber Orchestra
These intense and complex compositions are also highly melodious and accessible and are tied together by Kim Kashkashian's outstanding musical personality, sensitivity and tone. Themes...continue...
Personnel: Kim Kashkashian (viola); Lea Avraham (vocals); Tigran Mansurian (piano); Robyn Schulkowsky (percussion)....continue...
Paganini: 24 Capricci / Thomas Zehetmair
1 CD / ECM / 2009-08-25
Works: Niccolò Paganini: Caprices (24) for solo violin, Op. 1, MS 25Performers: Zehetmair, Thomas
One of today's most versatile violinists presents a new account of Paganini's unsurpassed compendium of technical difficulties. Zehetmair plays the caprices as "improvised character pieces"...continue...
J.S. Bach: Six Partitas / Andras Schiff
2 CD / ECM / 2009-08-25
Works: Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita for keyboard No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 (BC L5); Partita for keyboard No. 3 in A minor, BWV 827 (BC L3); Partita for Keyboard no 1 in B flat major, BWV 825; Partita for ...Performers: Schiff, Andras
Schiff has long been recognized as one of the leading Bach interpreters on the modern piano and his playing combines spontaneity, intellectual depth, and a...continue...
Schubert: Trio in E flat, Notturno / La Gala Scienza
1 CD / ECM / 2009-08-04
Works: Franz Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, D. 929 (Op. 100); Piano Trio in E flat major ("Nocturne") (Adagio only), D. 897 (Op. posth. 148)Performers: Dahler, Jorg Ewald; Demenga, Thomas; Schneeberger, Hansheinz
Eleni Karaindrou: Dust of Time / Alexandros Myrat, et al
1 CD / ECM / 2009-06-30
Works: Eleni Karaindrou: Dust of TimePerformers: Bildea, Maria; Christopoulos, Vangelis; Hadjiiordanou, Dinos; Karaindrou, Eleni; Kazianis, Spyros; Lagos, Antonios; Nastasa, Sergiu; Ripo, Renato; Schwartz, Sergiu
Ensemble:
Eleni Karaindrou's music for Theo Angelopoulos's new movie, 'Dust of Time' starring Willem Dafoe, Irene Jacob and Michel Piccoli which premiered at the Berlin Film...continue...
Personnel: Alexandros Myrat; Maria Bildea (harp); Sergiu Nastasa (violin); Vangelis Christopoulos (oboe); Spyros Kazianis (bassoon); Eleni Karaindrou (piano); Vangelis Christopoulos, Spyros Kazianis, ...continue...
Holliger: Romancendres; C.W. Schumann: Romances / Richter, Várjon, et al
1 CD / ECM / 2009-05-19
Works: Clara Wieck Schumann: Romances (3) for Violin and Piano, Op. 22; Heinz Holliger: Romancendres, for cello & piano; Gesänge der Frühe, for chorus, orchestra & tapePerformers: Holliger, Heinz; Kessler, Thomas; Richter, Christoph; Varjon, Denes
Ensemble: Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
This concept album presents deeply felt romantic and thought-provoking modern music by Clara Schumann and Heinz Holliger juxtaposed in a way that deepens the understanding...continue...
Being Dufay
1 CD / ECM / 2009-05-05
Works: Ambrose Field: Ma belle dame souveraine, for voice & electronics; Je me complains, for voice & electronics; Being Dufay, for voice & electronics; Je vous pri, for voice & electronics; Presque quelque...Performers: Field, Ambrose; Potter, John [Tenor]
This release combines early music and contemporary sensibilities in a most attractive way. The project presents a respectful but imaginative approach to Dufay, a key...continue...
Bach: Inventionen, Sinfonien, Französische Suite no 5 / Till Fellner 
1 CD / ECM / 2009-04-14
Works: Johann Sebastian Bach: Two-Part Invention no 1 in C major, BWV 772; Three-Part Inventions (Sinfonias) (15), for keyboard BWV 787-801 (BC L42-56); French Suite no 5 in G major, BWV 816Performers: Fellner, Till
"He is clearly a lover of the modern piano and all of its capabilities, and he gives us a clean and clear presentation of these...continue...
ECM B001278902
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Canto di speranza, Violin Concerto, etc / Zehetmair, Demenga, Holliger
1 CD / ECM / 2009-03-31
Works: Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Concerto for Violin; Canto di speranza; Ich wandte mich und sah an alles Unrecht, das geschah unter der SonnePerformers: Demenga, Thomas; Schmidt, Andreas [baritone]; Zehetmair, Thomas
Ensemble: Cologne West German Radio Orchestra
Contemporary music of great emotional intensity: Zimmermann, best known for his maximalist opera "Die Soldaten" (1958/64), is the great maverick of post-war German modernism (1918-1970)....continue...
Schnittke: Symphony no 9; Raskatov: Nunc dimittis / Dennis Russell Davies, Elena Vassilieva, et al
1 CD / ECM / 2009-03-31
Works: Alfred Schnittke: Symphony no 9; Alexandr Raskatov: Nunc dimittisPerformers: Covey-Crump, Rogers; Harrold, Steven; James, David [Countertenor]; Jones, Gordon [Baritone]; Vassilieva, Elena
Ensemble: Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra ; Hilliard Ensemble
"This 2009 ECM disc containing the world premiere of Alfred Schnittke's Ninth Symphony, the composer's final work, will be mandatory listening for fans of post-modernist...continue...
ECM B001266702
Pärt: In principio, etc / Kaljuste, Estonian NSO, et al
1 CD / ECM / 2009-03-03
Works: Arvo Pärt: In principio, for mixed chorus & orchestra; La Sindone, for orchestra; Cecilia, vergine romana, for chorus & orchestra; Da Pacem Domine, for chorus & orchestra; Mein Weg, for 14 strin...Ensemble:
"Arvo Part has put his finger on something that is almost impossible to put into words – something to do with the power of music...continue...
