Classical Music Wins at 49th Grammy Awards

On February 11, 2007, The National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences met for the 49th time to award works of excellence for recording nominees from 2006. Each year, recording artists from all over the globe meet to present the Grammy Awards for the best albums of the year. It’s nearly as glitzy as the Oscars. Classical Music is ominously omitted from the Grammy Award telecasts but not forgotten. Each year classical recordings are nominated and awards are still given behind the scenes. This year the Grammys honored the recording career legendary opera singer, Maria Callas, with a posthumous special Lifetime Achievement Award on the telecast. This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy’s National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artist significance to the field of recording.

Most of the classical winners were from Deutsche Grammophon, a big boost for this popular classical record label. Deutsche Grammophon’s recording of Osvaldo Golijov’s recent opera Ainadamar (Fountain of Tears), featuring Dawn Upshaw with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and conductor Robert Spano, was awarded Best Opera Recording; Ainadamar also took home honours as Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Deutsche Grammophon also garnered awards for Maurizio Pollini’s traversal of the Chopin Nocturnes as Best Instrumental Solo Performance (without orchestra), the Best Chamber Music Performance for the Emerson String Quartet’s “Intimate Voices” album (featuring quartets by Grieg, Nielsen and Sibelius), and Best Classical Crossover Album for Bryn Terfel’s “Simple Gifts.”

Having now celebrated 49 years of musical excellence through the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy continues its rich legacy and ongoing growth as the premier outlet for honoring achievements in the recording arts and supporting the music community. The process begins with members and record companies submitting entries, which are then screened for eligibility and category placement. The Academy’s voting members, all involved in the creative and technical processes of recording, then participate in (1) the nominating process that determines the five finalists in each category; and (2) the final voting process which determines the GRAMMY winners. The first Grammy Awards were presented in 1959 for recordings of 1958.

This year’s classical Grammy winners are:

Mahler: Symphony No. 7
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Andreas Neubronner, producer (San Francisco Symphony)
[San Francisco Symphony]

Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain Of Tears
Robert Spano, conductor; Kelley O’Connor, Jessica Rivera & Dawn Upshaw; Valérie Gross & Sid McLauchlan, producers (Women Of The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)
[Deutsche Grammophon]

Pärt: Da Pacem
Paul Hillier, conductor (Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir)
[Harmonia Mundi]

Messiaen: Oiseaux Exotiques (Exotic Birds)
John McLaughlin Williams, conductor; Angelin Chang (Cleveland Chamber Symphony)
Track from: Cleveland Chamber Symphony: Music That Dares To Explore, Vol. 6
[TNC]

Chopin: Nocturnes
Maurizio Pollini
[Deutsche Grammophon]

Intimate Voices
Emerson String Quartet
[Deutsche Grammophon]

Simple Gifts
Bryn Terfel (London Voices; London Symphony Orchestra)
[Deutsche Grammophon]

A CD is available with the 2006 pop nominees.

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