The Glee Effect

The television show "Glee" seems to be having an impact on music, according to an article by Anna Pickard in The Guardian.

"In the US there has already been a rise in membership of show-choirs like the fictional one that Glee revolves around, and a live tour is planned for the cast."

As far as I'm concerned, anything that gets kids interested in music is fine with me! You can read Anna's entire article at: www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/feb/08/glee-tv-show-choir-schools

52nd annual classical music Grammy winners, Jan. 31, 2010

Here they are:

Best Classical Album

Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) if other than the Artist.

Winner

Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10

Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Ragnar Bohlin, Kevin Fox & Susan McMane, choir directors; Andreas Neubronner, producer;

Peter Laenger, engineer/mixer; Andreas Neubronner, mastering engineer (Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef, Elza van den Heever & Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Girls Chorus & San Francisco Symphony Chorus)

[SFS Media]

Best Orchestral Performance

Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.

Winner

Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloé

James Levine, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra; Tanglewood Festival Chorus)

[BSO Classics]

Best Opera Recording

Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.

Winner

Britten: Billy Budd

Daniel Harding, conductor; Ian Bostridge, Neal Davies, Nathan Gunn, Jonathan Lemalu, Matthew Rose & Gidon Saks; John Fraser, producer (London Symphony Orchestra; Gentlemen Of The London Symphony Chorus)

[Virgin Classics]

Best Choral Performance

Award to the Choral Conductor, and to the Orchestra Conductor if an Orchestra is on the recording, and to the Choral Director or Chorus Master if applicable.

Winner

Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10

Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Ragnar Bohlin, Kevin Fox & Susan McMane, choir directors

(Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Elza van den Heever, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef & Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Symphony Chorus & San Francisco Girls Chorus)

[SFS Media]

Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra)

Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor.

Winner

Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor; Evgeny Kissin (Philharmonia Orchestra)

[EMI Classics]

Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra)

Award to the Instrumental Soloist.

Winner

Journey To The New World

Sharon Isbin (Joan Baez & Mark O'Connor)

[Sony Classical]

Best Chamber Music Performance

Award to the Artists.

Winner

Intimate Letters

Emerson String Quartet

[Deutsche Grammophon]

Best Small Ensemble Performance

Award to the Ensemble (and to the Conductor.)

Winner

Lang, David: The Little Match Girl Passion

Paul Hillier, conductor; Ars Nova Copenhagen & Theatre Of Voices

[Harmonia Mundi]

Best Classical Vocal Performance

Award to the Vocal Soloist(s).

Winner

Verismo Arias

Renée Fleming (Marco Armiliato; Jonas Kaufmann; Orchestra Sinfonica Di Milano Giuseppi Verdi; Coro Sinfonica Di Milano Giuseppi Verdi)

[Decca]

Best Classical Contemporary Composition

A Composer's Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.

Winner

Higdon, Jennifer: Percussion Concerto

Jennifer Higdon (Marin Alsop)

Track from: Alsop Conducts MacMillan, Ad

[London Philharmonic Orchestra]

Best Classical Crossover Album

Award to the Artist(s) and/or to the Conductor.

Winner

Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace

Yo-Yo Ma

(Odair Assad, Sergio Assad, Chris Botti, Dave Brubeck, Matt Brubeck, John Clayton, Paquito d'Rivera, Renée Fleming, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, Natalie McMaster, Edgar Meyer, Cristina Pato, Joshua Redman, Jake Shimabukuro, Silk Road Ensemble, James Taylor, Chris Thile, Wu Tong, Alon Yavnai & Amelia Zirin-Brown)

[Sony Classical]

Best Engineered Album, Classical

An Engineer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

Winner

Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10

Peter Laenger, engineer (Michael Tilson Thomas & San Francisco Symphony)

[SFS Media]

Producer Of The Year, Classical

A Producer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

Winner

Steven Epstein

• Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony (David Robertson & Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra)
• Bernstein: Mass (Marin Alsop, Jubilant Sykes, Asher Edward Wulfman, Morgan State University Choir, Peabody Children's Chorus & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
• Corigliano: A Dylan Thomas Trilogy (Leonard Slatkin, George Mabry, Sir Thomas Allen, Nashville Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
• Fauré: Piano Quintets (Fine Arts Quartet & Cristina Oritz)
• Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace (Yo-Yo Ma & Various Artists)

Pianist Earl Wild dies

As reported by AP:

NEW YORK – Pianist Earl Wild, who learned his craft from students of Liszt and Ravel and became one of America's master keyboardists, has died. He was 94.

Wild died of congestive heart disease Saturday at his home in Palm Springs, Calif., his publicist, Mary Lou Falcone, said Monday.

Despite his advanced age, Wild continued to teach until last week. His last public performance was at age 92 at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, where he was presented with the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' Presidential Merit Award.

In 2005, he gave a robust recital at Carnegie Hall to celebrate his 90th birthday. Months earlier, his 57th recording album — "Living History" — was released. In all, Wild recorded more than 35 piano concertos and 700 solo pieces.

Hilary Hahn answers your questions

Violinist Hilary Hahn has a new back CD coming out, and on Monday, January 11th, she'll be taking your questions about Bach to celebrate.

For more information about the album and how you can submit questions, visit her publicist's blog:

www.artsjournal.com/lifesapitch

Conductor Ozawa is ill

Yet another conductor has fallen ill--this time it's Seiji Ozawa.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's most famous orchestral conductor, Seiji Ozawa, has been diagnosed with cancer and will cancel all performances for the next six months to concentrate on treatment, his office said on Thursday.

Most Listened to Classical Pieces

The BBC is reporting that the most listened to classical piece in Britain over the last 75 years is "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana. Second is Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis", and third is Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade".

The British agency that collects royalties produced the information.

It would be interesting if we could see a similar list here in the states.

More of the story can be found at: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8432499.stm

Most Provocative Classical Album Cover of 2009

When soprano Amarilli Nizza's Puccini album came out a few months ago, I suspected it would get my award for the most provocative classical album cover of 2009. I was right.

It begins innocently enough, with this photo on the outer cover.









The cover is a trifold, so when you open the first fold, you get these two photos side by side:






























And then finally, when you open the cover all the way, you get this final photo, discovering that she really is clothed.

If you know of a more provocative classical album cover of 2009, let me know!

(Photography for this blog done by Arthur Gay)

Free Steinways for all!

OK, not for all, but for one very fortunate young man...

CBC news reports:

"An accomplished teenage pianist has received an early Christmas gift from a Calgary businesswoman — a Steinway concert grand.

"Jan Lisiecki, 14, has performed in concert halls internationally and has won several major music competitions.

"He recently returned from winning a competition in Montreal to find a nine-foot Steinway in his living room. Valued at $138,000, it was a gift from Irene Besse, a piano dealer and music instructor.

"There was a beautiful card from Miss Besse with a beautiful bow tie and the piano was open. It just brought tears to my eyes, it was just so incredible," recalled Lisiecki."

Evidently Jan is quite a talented young man. The story is on the CBC web site dated yesterday (the 17th). Jan also has his own web site, www.janlisiecki.com