The 2011 International Classical Music Awards have been announced, celebrating the industry’s best and brightest across 20 categories with winners selected from more than five hundred CD and DVD nominees.

Among the accolades are the Lifetime Achievement Award for Beaux Arts Trio founder Menahem Pressler, Esa-Pekka Salonen as Artist of the Year, and Label of the Year for Chandos Records. A Special Achievement Award goes to Swedish label BIS for its complete Sibelius Edition, a monumental recording project. The Berlin Philharmonic’s innovative Digital Concert Hall, which broadcasts the orchestra’s concerts online, wins the Classical Website Award.

The panel consists of professional music critics from highly regarded European music magazines, online services and radio stations including Crescendo (Belgium), Fono Forum (Germany), Musica (Italy), Musik & Theater (Switzerland), Pizzicato (Luxembourg), Scherzo (Spain) and Viva Classica (Finland). “Our winners are the expression of the highest artistry and demonstrate that this jury is a stubborn holdout for nonaligned value judgments in a world of low-common-denominator commercialism,” said Remy Franck, president of the jury.

The annual award ceremony will take place this year in Tampere, Finland on April 6.

Winners: CD & DVD Categories

Recording of the Year / Opera
Mozart The Magic Flute – Akademue...