Carreras triumphs at music awards

JOSE CARRERAS, the Catalan tenor who triumphed over leukaemia, has carried off the Independent readers' vote as Personality of the Year at the Classical Music Awards 1994. The award was presented at the Royal Albert Hall during last night's ceremony which honoured achievement in the international musical world with awards in 14 categories ranging from opera production to composition.

Given in association with Kenwood, and supported by the Independent and BBC Music Magazine, the awards also highlighted the extraordinary success of the Symphony No 3 by Henryk Gorecki, the Polish composer. The symphony topped the classical CD charts and reached the pop charts, in a version with the soprano Dawn Upshaw which was made Recording of the Year. It spent 17 weeks at number one in the Classic FM charts.

A BBC opera programme, The Vampyr, was named Television Broadcast of the Year. Among others given last night, the 12-year-old American violinist Sarah Chang was Newcomer of the Year. Cecilia Bartoli, 27, the Italian opera star, was Female Singer of the Year, and the American baritone Thomas Hampson took the male singer award.

The New York Philharmonic was named Orchestra of the Year and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor Chorus of the Year. Symphony No 4 by Polish composer Lutoslawski was Composition of the Year.

Other winners included Valery Gergiev of the Maryinsky Theatre, St Petersburg (Conductor), viola player Yuri Bashmet (Instrumentalist), the Barbican's Tender is the North (Festival), Oedipus Rex at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan (Opera Production), and the Kronos Quartet (Chamber Group).

BBC 2 broadcasts a recording tonight at 8.50. The Independent will on Monday carry a report on the awards presentation, profiling the winners.