I actually drafted this for last week's SNLC, but the rollout of DK 4.0 got in the way, with all that has entailed. With modest edits to account for this being 1 week late(r), the slightly revised version follows.
Given the big news 2 Fridays ago about Egypt, what could subsequently be more low priority than the Grammy Awards ceremony the next Sunday night? Furthermore, the most marginal genre there is, of course, classical (did you really expect 3CM to write about another music genre?). So, in true SNLC spirit, self brushes aside pressing domestic and world events to dwell on something quite trivial, if not necessarily to the artists involved here. After all, anything that may boost sales helps, yes? With that....
First, extracting the classical selections from the list of this year's Grammy nominees, where you have to go all the way to Category 95 down the screen to get to the start of the classical selections, you find as follows (later note: winners in bold):
95. Best Engineered Album, Classical
(a) Michael Daugherty: Metropolis Symphony; Deus Ex Machina
Mark Donahue, John Hill & Dirk Sobotka, engineers (Giancarlo Guerrero &
Nashville Symphony Orchestra) [Naxos] (tie)
(b) "Have You Ever Been...?"
Robert Friedrich, engineer (Turtle Island Quartet, Stefon Harris & Mike
Marshall) [Telarc]
(c) Steven Mackey: Dreamhouse
Mark Donahue, David Frost, Tom Lazarus, Steven Mackey & Dirk Sobotka, engineers (Gil Rose, Rinde Eckert, Catch Electric Guitar Quartet, Synergy Vocals & Boston Modern Orchestra Project) [BMOP/sound]
(d) Quincy Porter: Complete Viola Works
Leslie Ann Jones, Kory Kruckenberg, Brandie Lane & David Sabee, engineers (Eliesha Nelson & John McLaughlin Williams) [Dorian Sono Luminus]
(e) "Vocabularies"
Steven Miller, Allen Sides & Roger Treece, engineers (Bobby McFerrin [Emarcy]
96. Producer Of The Year, Classical
(a) Blanton Alspaugh
* Corigliano: Violin Concerto 'The Red Violin' (Michael Ludwig, JoAnn Falletta & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
* Daugherty: Metropolis Symphony; Deus Ex Machina (Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
* Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 (Leonard Slatkin & Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
* Tower Of The Eight Winds - Music For Violin & Piano By Judith Shatin (Borup-Ernst Duo)
* Tyberg: Symphony No. 3; Piano Trio (JoAnn Falletta & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
* Wind Serenades (Gregory Wolynec & Gateway Chamber Ensemble)
(b) David Frost
* Britten's Orchestra (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
* Chambers, Evan: The Old Burying Ground (Kenneth Kiesler & The University Of Michigan Symphony Orchestra)
* Dorman, Avner: Concertos For Mandolin, Piccolo, Piano And Concerto Grosso (Andrew Cyr, Eliran Avni, Mindy Kaufman, Avi Avital & Metropolis Ensemble)
* The 5 Browns In Hollywood (5 Browns)
* Mackey, Steven: Dreamhouse (Gil Rose, Rinde Eckert, Catch Electric Guitar Quartet, Synergy Vocals & Boston Modern Orchestra Project)
* Meeting Of The Spirits (Matt Haimovitz)
* Two Roads To Exile (ARC Ensemble)
(c) Tim Handley
* Adams: Nixon In China (Marin Alsop, Tracy Dahl, Marc Heller, Thomas Hammons, Maria Kanyova, Robert Orth, Chen-Ye Yan, Opera Colorado Chorus & Colorado Symphony Orchestra)
* Debussy: Le Martyre De Saint Sébastien (Jun Märkl & Orchestre National De Lyon)
* Dohnányi: Variations On A Nursery Song (JoAnn Falletta, Eldar Nebolsin & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
* Harris: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 (Marin Alsop & Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)
* Hubay: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 And 2 (Chloë Hanslip, Andrew Mogrelia & Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)
* Messiaen: Poèmes Pour Mi (Anne Schwanewilms, Jun Märkl & Orchestre National De Lyon)
* Piazzolla: Sinfonía Buenos Aires (Daniel Binelli, Tianwa Yang, Giancarlo Guerro & Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
* Ries: Works For Flute And Piano (Uwe Grodd & Matteo Napoli)
* Roussel: Symphony No. 1 (Stéphane Denève & Royal Scottish National Orchestra)
* Shchedrin: Concertos For Orchestra Nos. 4 & 5 (Kirill Karabits & Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)
* Stamitz: Flute Concertos (Robert Aitken, Donatas Katkus & St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra)
* Strauss, R: Josephs-Legende; Rosenkavalier; Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Orchestral Suites) (JoAnn Falletta & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
(c) Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin
* Brubeck: Songs Of Praise (Lynne Morrow, Richard Grant, Quartet San Francisco & The Pacific Mozart Ensemble)
* Cascade Of Roses (Janice Weber)
* Gnattali: Solo & Chamber Works For Guitar (Marc Regnier)
* If I Were A Bird (Michael Lewin)
* Kletzki: Piano Concerto (Joseph Banowetz, Thomas Sanderling & Russian Philharmonic Orchestra)
* Porter, Quincy: Complete Viola Works (Eliesha Nelson & John McLaughlin Williams)
* Rubinstein: Piano Music (1852-1894) (Joseph Banowetz)
* Rubinstein: Piano Music (1871-1890) (Joseph Banowetz)
* 20th Century Harp Sonatas (Sarah Schuster Ericsson)
(d) James Mallinson
* Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Bernard Haitink, Duain Wolfe, Miah Persson, Christianne Stotijn, Chicago Symphony Chorus & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
* Prokofiev: Romeo And Juliet (Valery Gergiev & London Symphony Orchestra)
* Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer (Valery Gergiev, Evgeny Akimov, Sergei Aleksashkin, Kristina Kapustinskaya, Mariinsky Chorus & Mariinsky Orchestra)
* Strauss, R: Ein Heldenleben; Webern: Im Sommerwind (Bernard Haitink & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
* Strauss, R: Eine Alpensinfonie (Bernard Haitink & London Symphony Orchestra)
* Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations; Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante (Gautier Capuçon, Valery Gergiev & Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre)
* Wagner: Parsifal (Valery Gergiev, Gary Lehman, Violeta Urmana, René Pape, Evgeny Nikitin, Alexei Tanovitski, Nikolai Putilin, Mariinsky Chorus & Mariinsky Orchestra)
97. Best Classical Album
(a) Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Mariss Jansons, conductor; Everett Porter, producer; Everett Porter, mastering engineer (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) [RCO Live]
Daugherty: Metropolis Symphony; Deus Ex Machina
(b) Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Blanton Alspaugh, producer; Mark Donahue, John Hill & Dirk Sobotka, engineers/mixers (Terrence Wilson; Nashville Symphony Orchestra) [Naxos]
(c) Steven Mackey: Dreamhouse; Gil Rose, conductor; Rinde Eckert; Catch Electric Guitar Quartet; Mark Donahue, David Frost, producer; David Frost, Tom Lazarus, Steven Mackey & Dirk Sobotka, engineers/mixers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer; Mackey, Steven: Dreamhouse [BMOP/sound]
(d) Sacrificium, Giovanni Antonini, conductor; Cecilia Bartoli; Arend Prohmann, producer; Philip Siney, engineer/mixer (Il Giardino Armonico) [Decca]
(e) Verdi: Requiem
Riccardo Muti, conductor; Duain Wolfe, chorus master; Christopher Alder,
producer; David Frost, Tom Lazarus & Christopher Willis, engineers/mixers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Borodina, Barbara Frittoli & Mario Zeffiri; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Chorus) [CSO Resound]
98. Best Orchestral Performance
(a) Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Mariss Jansons, conductor (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) [RCO Live]
(b) Daugherty: Metropolis Symphony; Deus Ex Machina
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor (Terrence Wilson; Nashville Symphony) [Naxos]
(c) Steven Mackey: Dreamhouse
Gil Rose, conductor; Rinde Eckert (Catch Electric Guitar Quartet; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Synergy Vocals) [BMOP/sound]
(d) Salieri: Overtures & Stage Music
Thomas Fey, conductor (Mannheimer Mozartorchester) [Haenssler Classic]
(e) Stravinsky: Pulcinella; Symphony In Three Movements; Four Études
Pierre Boulez, conductor (Roxana Constantinescu, Kyle Ketelsen & Nicholas Phan; Chicago Symphony Orchestra) [CSO Resound]
99. Best Opera Recording
(a) Berg: Lulu
Antonio Pappano, conductor; Agneta Eichenholz, Jennifer Larmore, Klaus Florian Vogt & Michael Volle; David Groves, producer (Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House) [Opus Arte]
(b) Hasse: Marc Antonio E Cleopatra
Matthew Dirst, conductor; Jamie Barton & Ava Pine; Keith Weber, producer (Ars Lyrica Houston) [Dorian Sono Luminus]
(c) Saariaho: L'Amour De Loin
Kent Nagano, conductor; Daniel Belcher, Ekaterina Lekhina & Marie-Ange
Todorovitch; Martin Sauer, producer (Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Rundfunkchor Berlin) [Harmonia Mundi]
(d) Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer
Valery Gergiev, conductor; Evgeny Akimov, Sergei Aleksashkin & Kristina
Kapustinskaya; James Mallinson, producer (Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre; Chorus Of The Mariinsky Theatre) [Mariinsky]
(e) Sullivan: Ivanhoe
David Lloyd-Jones, conductor; Neal Davies, Geraldine McGreevy, James Rutherford, Toby Spence & Janice Watson; Brian Pidgeon, producer (BBC National Orchestra Of Wales; Adrian Partington Singers) [Chandos]
(Side comment: it's sort of refreshing that the most familiar opera on this list is the thoroughly 12-tone Lulu, which, in terms of its musical construction and planning, according to more than one musician who knows better than me, it certainly is, operatically.)
100. Best Choral Performance
(a) Bach: Cantatas
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor; Erwin Ortner, chorus master (Bernarda Fink, Gerald Finley, Christian Gerhaher, Werner Güra, Julia Kleiter, Christine Schäfer, Anton Scharinger & Kurt Streit; Concentus Musicau Wien; Arnold Schoenberg Chor) [Deutsche Harmonia Mundi]
(b) "Baltic Runes"
Paul Hillier, conductor (Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir) [Harmonia Mundi]
(c) Haydn: The Creation
René Jacobs, conductor; Hans-Christoph Rademann, choir director (Julia Kleiter, Maximilian Schmitt & Johannes Weisser; Freiburger Barockorchester; RIAS Kammerchor) [Harmonia Mundi]
(d) Martin: Golgotha
Daniel Reuss, conductor (Judith Gauthier, Marianne Beate Kielland, Adrian
Thompson, Mattijs Van De Woerd & Konstantin Wolff; Estonian National Symphony Orchestra; Cappella Amsterdam & Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir) [Harmonia Mundi]
(e) Verdi: Requiem
Riccardo Muti, conductor; Duain Wolfe, chorus master (Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Borodina, Barbara Frittoli & Mario Zeffiri; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Chorus) [CSO Resound]
101. Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra)
(a) Daugherty: Deus Ex Machina
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Terrence Wilson (Nashville Symphony) [Naxos]
(b) Avner Dorman: Mandolin Concerto
Andrew Cyr, conductor; Avi Avital (Metropolis Ensemble) [Naxos]
(c) Kletzki: Piano Concerto In D Minor, Op. 22
Thomas Sanderling, conductor; Joseph Banowetz (Russian Philharmonic Orchestra) [Naxos]
(d) Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 23 & 24
Mitsuko Uchida (The Cleveland Orchestra) [Decca]
(e) Quincy Porter: Concerto For Viola & Orchestra
John McLaughlin Williams, conductor; Eliesha Nelson (Northwest Sinfonia) [Dorian Sono Luminus]
102. Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra)
(a) Chopin: The Nocturnes, Nelson Freire [Decca]
(b) Hamelin: Études, Marc-André Hamelin [Hyperion Records]
(c) Messiaen: Livre Du Saint-Sacrement, Paul Jacobs [Naxos]
(d) Paganini: 24 Caprices, Julia Fischer [Decca]
(e) 20th Century Harp Sonatas, Sarah Schuster Ericsson [Dorian Sono Luminus]
103. Best Chamber Music Performance
(a) Beethoven: Complete Sonatas For Violin & Piano
Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov [Harmonia Mundi]
(b) Gnattali: Solo & Chamber Works For Guitar
Marc Regnier (Tacy Edwards, Natalia Khoma & Marco Sartor) [Dorian Sono Luminus]
(c) Ligeti: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Parker Quartet [Naxos]
(d) Quincy Porter: Complete Viola Works
Eliesha Nelson & John McLaughlin Williams (Douglas Rioth; Northwest Sinfonia) [Dorian Sono Luminus]
(e) Schoenberg: String Quartets Nos. 3 & 4
Fred Sherry String Quartet (Christopher Oldfather & Rolf Schulte) [Naxos]
104. Best Small Ensemble Performance
(a) "Ceremony And Devotion - Music For The Tudors"
Harry Christophers, conductor; The Sixteen [CORO]
(b) "Dinastia Borja"
Jordi Savall, conductor; Hespèrion XXI & La Capella Reial De Catalunya (Pascal Bertin, Daniele Carnovich, Lior Elmalich, Montserrat Figueras, Driss El Maloumi, Marc Mauillon, Lluís Vilamajó & Furio Zanasi; Pascal Bertin, Daniele Carnovich, Josep Piera & Francisco Rojas) [Alia Vox]
(c) Trondheimsolistene - In Folk Style
Øyvind Gimse & Geir Inge Lotsberg, conductors (Emilia Amper & Gjermund Larsen; TrondheimSolistene) [2L (Lindberg Lyd)]
(d) Victoria: Lamentations Of Jeremiah
Peter Phillips, conductor; The Tallis Scholars [Gimell]
(e) Eric Whitacre: Choral Music
Noel Edison, conductor; Elora Festival Singers (Carol Bauman & Leslie De'Ath) [Naxos]
105. Best Classical Vocal Performance
(a) "Ombre De Mon Amant" - French Baroque Arias
Anne Sofie Von Otter (William Christie; Les Arts Florissants) [Deutsche Grammophon]
(b) "Sacrificium"
Cecilia Bartoli (Giovanni Antonini; Il Giardino Armonico) [Decca]
(c) Turina: "Canto A Sevilla"
Lucia Duchonová (Celso Antunes; NDR Radiophilharmonie) [Haenssler Classic]
(d) Vivaldi: "Opera Arias - Pyrotechnics"
Vivica Genaux (Fabio Biondi; Europa Galante) [Virgin Classics]
(e) Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder
Measha Brueggergosman (Franz Welser-Möst; The Cleveland Orchestra [Deutsche Grammophon]
106. Best Classical Contemporary Composition
(a) Michael Daugherty: Deus Ex Machina (Giancarlo Guerrero) [Naxos]
(b) Hans Werner Henze: Appassionatamente Plus (Stefan Soltesz) [Cybele Records]
(c) Magnus Lindberg: Graffiti (Sakari Oramo) [Ondine]
(d) Arvo Pärt: Symphony No. 4 (Esa-Pekka Salonen) [ECM New Series]
(e) Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer [Mariinsky]
107. Best Classical Crossover Album
(a) "Meeting Of The Spirits"; Matt Haimovitz (Amaryllis Jarczyk, Jan Jarczyk, John McLaughlin, Dominic Painchaud, Leanna Rutt & Matt Wilson) [Oxingale Records]
(b) "Off The Map"; The Silk Road Ensemble [World Village]
(c) "Roots - My Life, My Song"; Jessye Norman (Ira Coleman, Steve Johns, Mike Lovatt, Mark Markham & Martin Williams) [Sony Classical]
(d) Tin, Christopher: Calling All Dawns; Lucas Richman, conductor (Sussan Deyhim, Lia, Kaori Omura, Dulce Pontes, Jia Ruhan, Aoi Tada & Frederica von Stade; Anonymous 4 & Soweto Gospel Choir; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) [Tin Works Publishing]
(e) "Vocabularies"; Bobby McFerrin [Emarcy/Universal]
Needless to say, being a loser, 3CM hasn't actually listened to all of the albums on display here. (He's a single loser with a lot of free time, but not that much free time.) However, even from just looking at the list, and knowing what little I do know about classical recordings over the years, some random observations may be in order.
Years ago, certain major labels dominated classical music, like Columbia and RCA in the US, and from Europe, Decca (London in the US), Deutsche Grammophon (DG) and Philips. For years, after all, the artist who won the most Grammys ever wasn't a pop star, but Sir Georg Solti, a past music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1969-1991), who recorded pretty much for a single label all his career, Decca.
But looking at this list now, those old major labels don't dominate the nominees. Decca and DG aside, Columbia and RCA have fallen into the Sony fold. The nominations are dominated by what one would call "indie" labels, in the context of classical, outside those old big names. These include labels like Harmonia Mundi and Naxos most prevalently, with small contributions from British indie classical labels Chandos and Hyperion (two of my favorite labels, BTW, NTYC), and the Finnish label Ondine. In addition, several of the labels are ones started by the organizations themselves, namely:
(1) RCO Live (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra)
(2) LSO Live (London Symphony Orchestra)
(3) CSO Resound (Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
(4) BMOP/sound (Boston Modern Orchestra Project)
(5) CORO (The Sixteen's own label)
(6) Mariinsky (Mariinsky Opera and Ballet)
The collapse in the 1990s of recording contracts of big orchestras with the old major labels (e.g. Philadelphia with EMI, Cleveland with Decca/London) was a body blow to those groups at the time, in terms of dissemination of their "brand", not to mention $ for the orchestras. This, however, did open up room for independent classical labels to fill the breach, certainly at lower costs with less "famous" names. And some orchestras, as noted, took it upon themselves to create their own labels, and stream some performances on-line.
(Start of major part of later text)
OK, so now it's one week later. Some on-line commentary from the classical blogosphere on the classical Grammys may be read (or not) from:
(a) WaPo, Anne Midgette
(b) Ionarts blog, Charles T. Downey
(c) LA Times, David Ng
Downey perhaps summarized most concisely the marginality of classical at the Grammys with this bit of snark:
"So last night they handed out the Classical Grammys in the parking lot before the show."
From the classical categories (leaving out 96 and 107), one can see that:
(a) Decca did best of the "old major" labels, with 2 Grammys (Uchida and Bartoli).
(b) Naxos, probably the biggest indie classical label around, cleaned up with 5 awards.
(c) The "big names" in the field took 4 awards, namely Muti, Uchida and Bartoli.
In trying to detect any sort of pattern, I found that I really can't detect one (so typically loser of 3CM). However, as I noted at the start, anything that might help with sales is of use to the recording, its label, and the artists in question. Cases in point:
(i) Chicago Symphony press release on the 2 wins for their Verdi Requiem recording
(ii) Nashville Symphony website post about the 3 wins for their Michael Daugherty recording
While self obviously couldn't tell which recordings would win, and thus compare pre-Grammy and post-Grammy sales status numbers on Amazon.com, here are the numbers as of earlier today:
(a) Muti/CSO, Verdi Requiem: 651
(b) Nashville SO, Daugherty Metropolis Symphony: 1298
(c) Paul Jacobs, Messiaen: 1856
(d) Cecilia Bartoli, Sacrificium: 2721
(e) Mozart/Uchida, Cleveland Orchestra: 3751
(f) Ligeti/Parker Quartet: 4933
(g) Saariaho, L'amour de loin: 32028
(h) Jordi Savall, Dinastia Borja: 69344
Actually, for a classical recording, even 69344 is pretty decent as a ranking. 3CM the loser knows this because he's occasionally bought stuff off Amazon (used, natch), where the ranking was something like 1,503,297, and buying one copy makes it jump to 128,936 or something like that.
So, now that you've had a break from reading about Wisconsin, Egypt, Bahrain, wingnuts attacking women's reproductive rights and cutting funding for intelligent media programming, time for the usual SNLC ritual below, namely your loser stories of the week.....