Twelve-hour Couperin recording earns top Gramophone honour
Jean Rondeau’s exploration of Louis Couperin’s music has won Recording of the Year, while Erato was named Label of the Year at the 2026 Gramophone Classical Music Awards.
A collection spanning 300 works and 12 hours of music has taken the leading recording prize at this year’s Gramophone Classical Music Awards.
French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau’s complete Louis Couperin project for Erato won both Recording of the Year and the Instrumental Award at the London ceremony on 7 October.
Released to mark the 400th anniversary of Couperin’s birth, the collection comprises 10 CDs and a DVD, using historic harpsichords and organs from across Europe.
Erato also received Label of the Year, recognising its wider recording programme. Bertrand Chamayou and Leif Ove Andsnes added a Piano Award for Schubert 4 Hands, their album of piano duets.
The results put a substantial undertaking in early music at the centre of the recording industry’s annual celebrations, alongside recognition for the label behind it.
Alain Lanceron, chairman emeritus of Warner Classics & Erato, said the projects reflected ‘the individual vision of remarkable artists and the close creative partnerships at the heart of Erato’.
Founded in 1953, Erato has been a sister label of Warner Classics since 2013.