The Gala Concert of the 2025 edition of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) will be broadcast live on Radio România Muzical.The 14th edition of these awards-among the most prestigious worldwide and often referred to as the "Oscars of classical music"-is taking place this year in Düsseldorf (capital of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia) on March 19th. For over three hours, we will follow the concert performed by the state capital's symphony orchestra, held at the Tonhalle, after the award ceremony.

During the gala, only some of the edition's winners will perform. Among them is a Romanian musician, violist Vlad Bogdănaș, a member of the Danel Quartet, who will perform alongside the ensemble.

As usual, the lineup is impressive, bringing together, this year, 11 soloists (3 vocalists and 8 instrumentalists), 1 string quartet, and 6 conductors.

Conducting the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra will be its principal conductor Ádám Fischer and Vitali Alekseenok-chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein-along with four guest conductors: Christoph Ehrenfellner, Łukasz Borowicz, Leonardo Garcia Alarcón, and Alessandro Tampieri. Both Ádám Fischer and the orchestra are among the award recipients, with each receiving a Special Achievement Award.

Soloists include: countertenor Andreas Scholl, baritones Samuel Hasselhorn and Jérôme Boutillier, pianists Can Çakmur, Can Saraç, Anna Gourari, and Oliver Triendl, violinists Gidon Kremer and Stanko Madić, as well as cellists Benjamin Kruithof and Ettore Pagano.

According to the organizers, this year's gala features the most diverse program in the history of these events, with 16 pieces covering all stylistic periods, from Baroque to contemporary, including a world premiere: Wiener Blut 200 by Christoph Ehrenfellner.

During the gala concert intermission, there will be live phone interventions from the venue. Cristina Comandașu, manager of Radio România Muzical, will attend the events in Düsseldorf, as a member of the ICMA jury since December 2020.

TheInternational Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are among the most well-known and respected awards in the international recording industry. The jury consists of professional music critics from the most important magazines, online publications, and radio stations. This year, the jury granted 10 special awards and 16 awards for audio-video productions, the latter covering works released between November 1, 2023, and October 31, 2024. The ICMA Special Awards are granted based on proposals and votes from all jury members.

I also highlight Romanian presence among this year's winners:

In the "Symphonic Music" category, the award went to the George Enescu album recorded by the Orchestre National de France, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, featuring both Romanian Rhapsodies and the first three Enescu symphonies.

In the "Chamber Music" category, the award went to the Franco-Belgian Danel Quartet, of which violist Vlad Bogdănaș is a member; the ensemble was awarded for its complete recording of Dmitri Shostakovich's string quartets.

One of the 10 ICMA 2025 Special Awards, the Special Achievement Award, went to German pianist Oliver Triendl, whose recent discography includes: Piano Concerto in C major by Radu Paladi (2022 release, recorded with the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra in Reutlingen, conducted by Eugene Tzigane) and Piano Concerto by Paul Constantinescu (2024 release, recorded with the North German Philharmonic Orchestra of Rostock, conducted by Marcus Bosch).

We invite you to tune in on Wednesday, March 19th, at 21:00, during the European Stage show on Radio România Muzical, to follow the ICMA Gala live from Düsseldorf.

(c) Susanne Diesner