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Pavel Haas Quartet Wins the ‘Oscar’ of Classical Music!
Gramophone magazine announced the winners of this year’s awards at a gala event in London on Wednesday, October 7. The magazine shortlisted 66 recordings across eleven categories. The editors of Gramophone titled their article on the 2026 Chamber Award: “Thrilling Martinů String Quartets.”
Critics praise the thrilling and electrifying performances, which elevate the perception of Martinů’s string quartet works to a world-class level. For more information about the award, visit the Gramophone website:
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/.../gramophones-chamber...
For the Pavel Haas Quartet – comprising Veronika Jarůšková, Marek Zwiebel, Šimon Truszka, and Peter Jarůšek – this marks their sixth Gramophone Award! They have amassed their impressive collection of these “musical Oscars” in the past for their masterful interpretations of works by Dvořák, Smetana, Schubert, Janáček, and Pavel Haas. Dvořák’s Quartets Nos. 12 and 13 were also named Recording of the Year in 2011.
The album Martinů: String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 7 was released on September 19, 2025. The recording had previously won Gramophone magazine’s Editor’s Choice award and the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) prize in the chamber music category – marking the first time a Supraphon release had won in the history of these awards.
The last time a recording of Martinů’s works won a Gramophone Award was in 2012, when the complete cycle of six symphonies performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek won in the orchestral music category.
The Czech success at this year’s awards doesn’t end there. The title of Orchestra of the Year – the only category decided by an international public vote – went to the Bamberg Symphonic Orchestra, which has been led by chief conductor Jakub Hrůša for the past ten years. Other nominees included the London Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and Il Pomo d’Oro.
