Bean opera wins classical award

Marin Alsop was named favourite classical music figure

An opera set in a baked bean factory has won a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Award.

Judges praised Alban Berg's Wozzeck, performed by the Welsh National Opera, for "musical and dramatic excellence".

The awards were held at London's Dorchester Hotel to honour achievement in the field of live classical music.

BBC Radio 3 listeners voted Marin Alsop, conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, their favourite figure in classical music.

The station itself received an award for its A Bach Christmas season.

American soprano Joyce DiDonato was named best singer for her performance of Rosina in the Barber of Seville.

She had faced strong competition from three British singers - Sarah Connolly, Simon Keenlyside and Roderick Williams.

The London Sinfonietta won the audience development award for its efforts to engage with people who would not normally listen to classical music.

After performing in concert with two electronica acts, the Sinfonietta recruited "activists" to promote its concerts among dance music fans.

And tenor Andrew Kennedy took the young artist award, which last year went to Edward Gardner - recently appointed the youngest ever music director of English National Opera.

An evening dedicated to the awards will be broadcast on Radio 3 on Wednesday from 1930 BST.

Full list of winners

Audience development: London Sinfonietta for Connectors
BBC Radio 3 listeners award: Marin Alsop
Ensemble: I Fagiolini
Instrumentalist: Anthony Marwood
Large-scale composition: Julian Anderson for The Book of Hours
Opera and music theatre: Welsh National Opera for Wozzeck
Singer: Joyce DiDonato
Young artist: Andrew Kennedy
Chamber music: Leopold String Trio
Chamber-scale composition: James Dillon for String Quartet No 4
Concert series: Xenakis - Architect in Sound
Conductor: Mark Elder
Creative Communication: BBC Radio 3 for A Bach Christmas
Education: Spitalfields Festival - On Spital Fields