Soli Deo Gloria justly rewarded

Congratulations to Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, who have scooped the Record of the Year Award at last night's 2005 Gramophone Awards with their recording of Bach's Cantatas for the Feast of St. John the Baptist and Cantatas for the 1st Sunday after Trinity (SDG 101).

Gardiner's Bach Pilgrimage on his own Soli Deo Gloria label has been championed by On An Overgrown Path since we heard the first bars of the first recording - see my post of March this year for the full story of this fantastic project.

It has to be said that the Bach Cantatas are the only 'stand out' in what is otherwise a predictable list of winners that made sure the big advertisers in the Gramophone all went home happy from the awards bash.

But let's not spoil a good party. Let's hear it for Sir John Eliot Gardiner, his fantastic musicians, and a beautiful, beautiful recording that once again shows that the small independent labels are where it is really happening.........

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