The Nonesuch Records release of Louis Andriessen's Grawemeyer Award–winning opera La Commedia has been given this year's Caecilia Prize by the association of Belgium's classical music press. The award was announced in an event at La Monnaie/ De Munt opera house in Brussels last night. The album was released on a two CD plus DVD collection last year. The film opera, a collaboration with director Hal Hartley, is based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, with additional texts from the 16th-century German theologian Sebastian Brant, the 17th-century Dutch dramatist Joost van den Vondel, and the Old Testament’s "Song of Songs."

This recording of La Commedia is a finalist in the 2015 International Opera Awards' DVD category; the winners will be announced at the ceremony in London on April 26.

The Dutch National Opera production on the recording features the Asko and Schönberg Ensembles, led by Reinbert de Leeuw, with vocal soloists Claron McFadden (Beatrice), Cristina Zavalloni (Dante), Jeroen Willems (Lucifer/Cacciaguida), and Marcel Beekman (Casella), as well as Synergy Vocals, led by Micaela Haslam. The children’s choral parts are sung by Waterland’s Kinderkoor De Kickers, conducted by Jan Maarten Koeman.

The Washington Post says La Commedia is "an exciting, powerful and rich piece that shows Andriessen at the top of his game." The Los Angeles Times called it "the greatest opera of the century so far."

To pick up a copy of La Commedia, head to Amazon or the Nonesuch Store, where CD/DVD orders include a digital download of the audio portion of the set at checkout. The audio is also available to purchase on iTunes and in the Nonesuch Store.