Tenor Placido Domingo is to receive the lifetime achievement award at the German Echo Klassik Awards 2009.
The awards show is presented by the Deutsche Phono Akademie, the cultural institute of the German Music Industry Association (BVMI), on Oct. 18 at the Dresden Semperoper.
The awards are divided into 22 categories and winners in 2009 include violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniel Hope, pianist Lang Lang and conductor Sir Simon Rattle (Boomtown Sounds and EMI Classic/EMI), who will get two awards.
Soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazón will receive the German Echo Klassik for the opera recording of the year, Puccini’s “La Boheme” (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal).
The female and male singer of the year category awards were won by mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal) and baritone Christian Gerhaher (RCA/Sony Music).
The bestsellers of the year are the Cistercian Monks from the Austrian Stift Heiligenkreuz monastery with their production “Chant – Music For Paradise.”
The awards ceremony will be shown on ZDF TV with a two-hour delay on Oct. 18.
