The recording, by the Hungarian National Philharmonic, under the baton of Zoltán Kocsis, beat one of Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado, and another by Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the San Francisco Symphony in a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.
Hungaroton managing director Máté Hollós accepted the award at a ceremony in Cannes on behalf of Kocsis, who was unable to attend because of his tight rehearsal schedule. Kocsis did send a video message.
The MIDEM international music market fair is held in Cannes each year in January. The MIDEM Classical Awards recognise the previous year's outstanding classical music achievements in 14 categories. The winners are chosen by a jury of editors of Europe's most important music publications, including the editor of Hungary's Gramofon.
The National Philharmonic's recording of Kossuth and The Wooden Prince was named the best of the month in French classical music journal Diapason's October issue.
Diapason had high praises for Kocsis. "With an equally close understanding of Liszt as well as Debussy, Kocsis guides us through the piece with surprising confidence, achieving an unparalleled atmosphere first with pastel and then with strong colours, increasing tension with clinical precision," the magazine wrote in its review of the new recording.
The recording has been well received since its release. It was recently awarded a Supersonic prize by Pizzicato, another classical music journal published in Luxembourg, and it has been praised by German's Klassik Heute.
Source: www.fidelio.hu
