The honours include a host of top string players, including violinist Tianwa Yang, cellist Kian Soltani, double bassist Dominik Wagner and the Armida Quartet
The Opus Klassik awards have been announced for 2022. The prizes, which celebrate classical music excellence in Germany, will be presented at an awards ceremony on 8 October at the Berlin Concert Hall.
Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang received the honour of ‘Instrumentalist of the year’ for her Naxos recording of Prokofiev Violin Concertos no.1 and 2. No stranger to awards and achievements, Yang was winner of an ECHO Klassik prize in 2015 for ‘Instrumentalist of the year’, for her recording of Ysaÿe’s Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, and was the youngest violinist to record Paganini’s 24 Caprices at the age of 13.
Cellist Kian Soltani won the award of ’Innovative listening experience’, for his recent album Cello Unlimited. The recording for Deutsche Grammophon comprised Soltani’s arrangements of music from Hollywood blockbuster films, multitracking several layers of cello lines. Double bassist Dominik Wagner won ’Young talent of the year’ for his recording Bottesini - Revolution of Bass.
The Armida Quartet won an award for its recording of Mozart String Quartets, vol.4. Featured in The Strad’s August issue Masterclass, the quartet is an ambassador for the ’Orchestras of Change’ initiative, working within guidelines to establish sustainability and climate protection in the cultural sector.
The 2022 jury consisted of jury spokesmen Dr. Kerstin Schüssler-Bach (composer manager Boosey & Hawkes) and Michael Becker (Intendant Tonhalle Düsseldorf), as well as Michael Brüggemann (vice president Sony Classical Germany), Arnt Cobbers (Journalist), Tobias Feilen (editorial manager Music and Theater ZDF), Manfred Görgen (managing director CLASS), Stephanie Haase (director classics Warner Music), Kleopatra Sofroniou (general manager Classics Deutsche Grammophon) and Julia Spinola (journalist).
Succeeding the ECHO Klassik awards, Opus Klassik prizes have been awarded annually since 2018. Last year’s string winners included violinist Augustin Hadelich and cellist Pablo Ferrández. The full list of winners can be found here.
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