French Grammies, suspended by attacks, are announced online

For security reasons, the Maison de Radio France in Paris had to cancel yesterday’s awards ceremony for the 68th Grands Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros.

It decided instead to announce them tonight online.

The winner of the President of the Republic prize is the composer Edith Canat de Chizy.

Rene Jacobs receives the lifetime award.

The harpsichordist Jean Rondeau is named soloist of the year for Johann Sebastian Bach – Imagine (Erato) .

Laurence Equilbey and the Ensemble Accentus receive the repertoire award for Félicien David, Le Désert (naïve)

The contemporary music award goes to Philippe Leroux for Quid sit musicus? (Soupir éditions).

But the big winners, sharing Classical Album of 2015, are husband-and-wife Sabine Devieilhe and Raphaël Pichon.

Pichon and his Ensemble Pygmalion win for Jean-Philippe Rameau – Castor et Pollux (Harmonia Mundi), while Sabine Devieilhe’s Mozart: The Weber Sisters (Erato), with the Pygmalion ensemble conducted by Pichon, shared the prestigious award.