September 18, 2009. Nominations for the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards were announced yesterday at a press conference at the Conga Room at L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles. The Awards will be announced on November 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and broadcast live on the Univision Network from 8 – 11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central).
This year, artists from Naxos of America’s family of distributed labels were nominated for three awards, including BestClassical Album nominations for pianist Sonia Rubinsky for her Naxos recording Villa-Lobos: Piano Music; Guia Pratico, Albums 10 and 11; Suite Infantil Nos. 1 and 2 (Naxos8570504); and renowned cellist Andrés Díaz, for his Azica recording of Bach Cello Suites (ACD-71252).
Composer Clarice Assad also was nominated for the Best Classical Contemporary Composition award for Danças Nativas, from the Chandos recording Spirit of Brazil (Aquarelle Guitar Quartet; CHAN 10512).
Composer Nino Rota is best known for his more than 150 film scores. His thirty-year artistic relationship with Federico Fellini led him to be one of the most identified film composers of the twentieth century. Rota also worked with filmmakers such as Luchino Visconti, Eduardo De Filippo, Mario Monicelli and Francis Ford Coppola (which won him an Oscar in 1975 for “Best Original Soundtrack” for The Godfather, Part II).Recently however, a sizeable catalog of Rota’s concert music has been discovered. In June, Chandos and Concerto are releasing recordings that celebrate the discovery of Rota’s vast and newly revealed catalog of works and also to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the gifted composer’s death in 1979.
Nino Rota completed four symphonies in his lifetime. Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 are found on a recording to be released by Chandos on June 30. Performed by Marzio Conti and Orchestra Filarmonica ‘900 del Teatro Regio di Torino, Rota composed his first two symphonies simultaneously in the latter part of the 1930s. At this point in his career, Rota’s style had officially evolved into one that was unmistakably melodic. Rota purposely avoided any sort of musical extremism or experimentation in these two symphonies only hinting vaguely toward well-balanced modernism. The composer’s musical language remains neoclassical throughout while also staying true to his own ability to create a landscape in sound.
Also in June, Concerto presents three rarely-recorded Rota masterpieces performed by director Enrico Bronzi and I Musici di Parmi. The recording includes Rota’s Concerto per violoncello with Enrico Bronzi as soloist and conductor and Concerto per Archi (presented here in the revised version from 1977). The Trio con clarinetto of 1973, features Alessandro Carbonare (clarinet) Alberto Miodini (piano) and Enrico Bronzi (who form the Trio di Parma).
Founded in 2002, the Chamber Orchestra, I Musici di Parmi, brings together musicians who collaborate with the most important orchestral institutions both in Italy and abroad. Created with the intent of exploring a musical world directed at rediscovering unpublished musical scores and popularizing the work of important musicians, I Musici di Parmi has a wide-ranging repertory that runs from Baroque to Classicism, right up to the best of 19th century chamber music. Working with the I Musici di Parmi both as a soloist and as director, Maestro Enrico Bronzi’s collaboration has become stable over the years. Thanks to the originality of their programs and the musical and artistic quality of their performances, the orchestra has established itself in the Italian musical world, receiving the unanimous praise from critics and public alike.
Garnering two nominations this year, the Naxos world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man picked up a Best Classical Contemporary Composition nomination for the Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy®, and Grawemeyer award-winning composer. The album, which features conductor JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic, also brought in a nomination for the recording’s soloist, Israeli-born soprano Hila Plitmann, who received a nomination for Best Classical Vocal Performance.
The Pacifica Quartet, recently named 2009 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America, was honored with a nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance for its acclaimed Naxos recording of Elliott Carter String Quartets Nos. 1 & 5. The second volume of this series is due for release in February 2009. Renowned producer Judith Sherman picked up a nomination for Producer of the Year for her work on the Carter String Quartets on Naxos and 4 additional albums.
A Choral Performance nomination went to chorus master Henryk Wojnarowski and conductor Antoni Wit for the Naxos recording of Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. A Best Engineered Album (Classical) nomination went to engineer John Newton for his work on the Naxos recording Respighi: Church Windows, Brazilian Impressions, Rossiniana, which featured conductor JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
NAXOS OF AMERICA DISTRIBUTED LABEL ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR GRAMMYS®
Artists from British-based label Chandos received 5 nominations in multiple categories this year. Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary featuring the Phoenix Chorale, conductor Charles Bruffy, and produced by Blanton Alspaugh, was nominated for Best Classical Album (Awards to Artists and Producer). Additionally, Mr. Bruffy and the Phoenix Chorale were nominated in the Best Small Ensemble Performance category for this recording. Another Chandos choral recording, Rheinberger: Sacred Choral Works, conductor Charles Bruffy (with the Kansas City Chorale and Phoenix Bach Choir) earned nominations for Best Surround Sound Album and Best Choral Performance. Finally, a Best Orchestral Performance nomination went to conductor Rumon Gamba and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra for their Chandos recording D’Indy Orchestral Works, Volume 1.
A EuroArts production earned two nominations in the categories of Best Classical Album (Award to Artists and Producers) and Best Opera Recording (Award to Conductor, Producer, and Principal Soloists) for their DVD recording of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of The City of Mahagonny. The performance featured conductor James Conlon, soloists Anthony Dean Griffey, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald; the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and Chorus; and was produced by Fred Vogler. This is the first Grammy® Awards in which DVD recordings of operas are eligible for nomination. Only the audio portion of the DVD is considered in the nominating process.
Also in the category of Best Opera Recording nominations went to conductors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs for their CPO recording of Jean Baptiste Lully’s Psyché with the Boston Early Music Festival (Mr. O’Dette and Mr. Stubbs also were nominated last year for their CPO recording of Jean Baptiste Lully’s Thésée with the Boston Early Music Festival).
Renowned Italian conductor and Baroque-specialist, Rinaldo Alessandrini was nominated for his Naïve classique recording of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo.
Finally, violinist Elmar Oliveira earned a nomination for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra for his Artek recording of Violin Concertos by Ernst Bloch and Benjamin Lees with John McLaughlin Williams conducting the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine.
Sir Charles Mackerras is one of the leading conductors of our time. He is now 83, though he shows no sign of slowing down.
In this podcast he talks about studying the original scores of Mozart and Handel, about studying with Maestro Vaclav Talich in Prague right after the Second World War, and about the operas of Janacek and Strauss.
Richard Hickox’s lengthy association with the Chandos CD label has been incredibly fruitful.
In the past 20 years, he has made an astonishing 280 recordings. In this interview he talks about this relationship, plus his latest project, a recording of Britten’s opera Owen Wingrave.
Kenneth LEIGHTON (1929-1988) Orchestral Works, Volume 1
Organ Concerto, Op 58 / Concerto for String
Orchestra, Op 39 / Symphony for Strings, Op 3
John Scott (organ)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox
The medium of the string orchestra proved significant for Leighton throughout his life and is featured in a number of his important works. The three works in the first volume, each scored for string orchestra, accurately represent his compositional development, complementing one of his earliest student works, the Symphony for Strings, with two of his more mature ones. The Symphony for Strings was premiered by Gerald Finzi and his Newbury String Players while Leighton was still a student. The first major work by the composer for these forces, it was a considerable success, and sparked a friendship between the two composers which lasted until Finzi’s untimely death. Twelve years passed before the composition of the Concerto for String Orchestra. This gap represented a considerable advance in the development of Leighton’s musical language and style as he was exposed to the works of both neoclassical composers and members of the Second Viennese School. However, he retained the lyrical instinct of his earlier years. Completing the disc is one of Leighton’s most enduring orchestral works: the Concerto for Organ, String Orchestra and Timpani. The soloist is internationally-renowned concert organist John Scott, particularly acclaimed for his performances of works by 20th-century composers.
One of the most distinguished post-war British composers, Kenneth Leighton’s works are frequently performed both in the U.K. and abroad. His music maintains a compelling balance between Romantic tradition and early serialism. His lyrical and colorfully orchestrated works not only suggest a lively, if often dark, imagination, but also demonstrate a remarkable scope explored by few of his countrymen. Richard Hickox and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales present the first of two releases devoted to Leighton’s orchestral works.
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Piano Works, Volume 3
Children’s Corner / Suite bergamasque / Danse Bohémienne /
Nocturne / La plus que lent / Mazurka / Rêverie /
Deux Arabesques / Morceau de concours / The Little Nigar /
Hommage à Haydn / Berceuse Héroïque / Page d’Album / Élégie
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet releases the third volume in his critically acclaimed series devoted to the complete works for piano by Debussy. The recording includes the two famous collections: Children’s Corner and Suite bergamasque, as well as two rarities: La plus que lente, which foreshadows the 1915 Études, and Élégie. Élégie was written in 1915 following the composer’s move to the coast. The outbreak of the First World War had initially depressed Debussy into a state of creative sterility, but the move was most productive. The Élégie was written for a charity and dedicated to Queen Alexandra, honoring the role of women in wartime. It is rarely performed nowadays, but Roger Nichols writes, “it is one of the composer’s most extraordinary works …and we are left wondering what on earth Debussy would have written in the 1920s and beyond …”
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September 18, 2009. Nominations for the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards were announced yesterday at a press conference at the Conga Room at L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles. The Awards will be announced on November 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and broadcast live on the Univision Network from 8 – 11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central).
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