The accolades continue to pour in for Brett Dean’s Hamlet, just days after it won best World Premiere at the International Opera Awards. This time it’s received four nominations in the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, celebrating the best in British live classical music in 2017.

Dean’s work is up for best Opera and Music Theatre, best Large Scale Composition, and best conductor for Vladimir Jurowski, while its two Hamlets will battle it out for best Singer – Allan Clayton, who originated the title role when it premiered at Glyndebourne and subsequently brought it to the Adelaide Festival, and David Butt Philip, who toured the title role in the UK.

“The musical ambition and talent on display in these shortlists is extraordinary,” said John Gilhooly, Chairman of the Royal Philharmonic Society. “Professional musicians are exploring music – new and old, often side-by-side – with a fierce dynamism and breathless virtuosity, and amateur music-makers are creating works that draw on the landscape and legends of their own communities to create original, high-quality music. And it’s very noticeable that this is not happening in isolation – there’s exciting collaboration across art forms, and a dialogue between young musicians and their distinguished counterparts...