Classical Music Awards: Festival or Concert Series of the Year - Wien Modern 1991: Artists strike triumphant note on big awards night

IN ITS fourth season, the festival - under the artistic directorship of Claudio Abbado - concentrated on the work of Alfred Schnittke, Olivier Messiaen, and particularly Harrison Birtwistle. The last-named's opera, Punch and Judy, received its Austrian premiere, and some 20 other works of his were peformed, including Secret Theatre, with Pierre Boulez conducting the Ensemble Inter-Contemporain, and the Clarinet Quintet with Alan Hacker and the Arditti Quartet. The festival has made a rapid mark on Viennese musical life: it takes pride in its larger aim of integrating new music into the normal repertoire of classical performers and the general experience of listeners.