Martha Argerich Gets OPUS KLASSIK Lifetime Award in Berlin

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Argentine pianist Martha Argerich has received the Lifetime Achievement Award at OPUS KLASSIK 2026, Germany's leading classical music prize. She was honoured at the gala at the Konzerthaus Berlin on Sunday, October 11. Désirée Nosbusch hosted the ceremony, and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin played under conductor Anna Rakitina. ZDF, the prize's media partner, broadcast the gala at 10.15pm that evening. Why Argerich was honoured BR-KLASSIK says Argerich was at the centre of the evening. The jury's citation said her playing combines "poetic depth, extraordinary tonal colours and technical brilliance with an immediate and deeply personal expressive power," as BR-KLASSIK reports it in German. Born in Buenos Aires, Argerich celebrated her 85th birthday this year. Deutsche Grammophon, her label, says she has built an exceptional discography with DG over almost six decades. "At 85, she continues to perform worldwide and champion young musicians," the label said. Frank Briegmann, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Deutsche Grammophon, said: "Martha Argerich has inspired generations for decades, while other artists are opening up new perspectives on great works today." The other winners Argerich was far from the only star in the room. BR-KLASSIK reports that tenor Jonas Kaufmann opened the gala, singing "Tanzen möcht' ich" from Emmerich Kálmán's operetta Die Csárdásfürstin with soprano Katharina Konradi. Kaufmann and pianist Helmut Deutsch won Audiovisual Music Production of the Year for Doppelgänger, an award announced in June. "I am particularly pleased that this project, which is so close to me, with songs by Schubert and Schumann, has been honoured," Kaufmann said, according to BR-KLASSIK. Two-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and composer Aleksey Igudesman won Film Music / Score of the Year for the ARD series Schwarzes Gold. Deutsche Grammophon's twelve awards Artists from Deutsche Grammophon, Decca Classics and DG partner labels CAvi-music, ECM and Myrios won twelve awards across eleven categories, DG says. They include: Female Singer of the Year: Anna Lucia Richter, Mahler – Songs of Fate Male Singer of the Year: Andrè Schuen, Mozart Instrumentalists of the Year: Sarah Willis for Cuban Christmas, and Yunchan Lim for Bach's Goldberg Variations live from Carnegie Hall Conductor of the Year: Andris Nelsons, Mendelssohn: Symphonies & Oratorios with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Symphonic Recording of the Year: Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Back to Nature: Čiurlionis & Gražinis New Classic/Neoclassic: Alice Sara Ott, Jóhann Jóhannsson – Piano Works Vocal Solo Recording of the Year: Katharina Konradi and Daniel Heide, Franz Liszt: Un Cycle Imaginaire Bestseller of the Year: Lang Lang, Piano Book 2 Producer Rainer Maillard won Innovative Listening Experience of the Year for Mikhail Pletnev's Chopin & Scriabin: Préludes, which DG calls its first entirely analogue new recording since the 1980s. Chamber Music Recording of the Year went to Pur ti miro by Wu Wei, Martin Stegner and Janne Saksala, pairing the sheng, a Chinese mouth organ, with viola and double bass. Key facts Event: OPUS KLASSIK 2026 gala Date: Sunday, October 11, 2026 Venue: Konzerthaus Berlin Host: Désirée Nosbusch Orchestra: Konzerthausorchester Berlin, conducted by Anna Rakitina Lifetime Achievement: Martha Argerich Broadcast: ZDF New prizes and a debate on AI BR-KLASSIK says the young talent awards went to pianist Alexander Malofeev and soprano Shira Patchornik. A new Music Teacher of the Year title went to Florian Aschenbrenner, and composer Gregor A. Mayrhofer won the innovation prize for sustainability for his "Recycling Concerto", played on instruments made from recycled materials. Alice Sara Ott used the stage to talk about artificial intelligence in music production and streaming. She argued for a clear line between AI as a tool and art created by people. About the prize OPUS KLASSIK has been awarded since 2018 as the successor to the Echo Klassik. An independent eleven-member jury from the music and media industry chooses the winners across 30 categories, BR-KLASSIK says. More on the genre is in our classical music hub. What's next The gala was carried by ZDF, the prize's media partner. Classical honours rarely cross over, but Lang Lang's Piano Book 2, which mixes Bach and Chopin with film, anime and gaming music, shows how wide the audience can be. Explore more classical music and awards news on Entzopedia. Sources: Deutsche Grammophon | BR-KLASSIK