At the BBC Music Magazine Awards, one of the prizes went to Germany: Mezzo-soprano Anna Lucia Richter received the award in the vocal category on Wednesday evening. Her CD "Songs of Fate," featuring Gustav Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder" and a selection from his collection "Des Knaben Wunderhorn," was honored.

Anna Lucia Richter

The jury explained that the Cologne-born singer imbued the works with "both naturalness and artistic refinement." "Beautifully accompanied by the Gürzenich Orchestra under the direction of Jordan de Souza, her performance seemed to come 'from another dimension.'"

Other prizes were awarded to, among others, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire under Sascha Goetzel for their CD of orchestral works by Schreker, Korngold, and Krenek, and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Karina Canellakis for their recording of Béla Bartók's opera "Bluebeard's Castle." Conductor Harry Christopher, who founded the chamber choir "The Sixteen" in 1979, was honored as Personality of the Year. The Newcomer Prize went to Czech pianist Jan Schulmeister (born 2006). Awards were presented in a total of ten categories. The awards ceremony took place at Kings Place, London's cultural center.

The BBC Music Magazine Awards have been presented annually by the magazine of the same name since 2006. The winners are chosen by a panel of experts and the public from among the more than 900 albums reviewed by the magazine each year.

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