Double win for veteran conductor

MacKerras began his professional career in the 1940s

Veteran conductor Sir Charles Mackerras has won two BBC Music Magazine awards.

His recording of Mozart Symphonies 38-41 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra won the orchestral award and disc of the year awards.

"I am absolutely delighted... I've spent my whole life trying to get these four symphonies right!", said Mackerras, 83.

French quartet Quatuor Ebene picked up the newcomers of the year prize at the event in London's King's Place.

The award nominees are chosen by leading music experts. The public then vote for the winners via the magazine's official website.

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"We are delighted that the public has responded so enthusiastically to one of our great musical heroes - Sir Charles Mackerras, and the brilliant Scottish Chamber Orchestra," said Helen Wallace, chair of the jury and consultant editor of BBC Music Magazine.

Other winners include Sir John Eliot Gardiner, who was awarded the choral prize for his Bach Cantatas Volume 27 with the Monteverdi Choir and soloists.

The British Dante Quartet won best chamber orchestra for their Franck/Faure quartets, while theatre composer Heiner Goebbels won the premiere award for his opera Landscape with Distant Relatives.

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