Classical music: The classical music nominations for the 2013 Grammy Awards provide a helpful holiday gift shopping guide. Part 1 of 2. Plus, the UW Russian Folk Orchestra, the UW Chamber Orchestra, the UW Choral Union and Madison Area Concert Handbells perform this weekend.

ALERTS: It’s another very busy weekend in the Madison area. (Here is a partial listing. You can also look at this past’s week’s postings.) Today at noon, you can hear a FREE one-hour holiday concert by the University of Wisconsin Russian Folk Orchestra (below) at the downtown Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, on the Capitol Square. For more information, visit http://www.russorch.wisc.edu.  Then at 8 p.m tonight in Mills Hall, you can hear conductors James Smith and David Grandis lead the UW Chamber Orchestra in a FREE concert featuring Kurt Weill‘s Symphony No. 2; UW composer Joseph Koykkar’s “Cosmic Code”  with video; and Franz Joseph Haydn‘s Symphony No. 99. On Sunday at 3 p.m., Madison Area Concert Handbells will perform a holiday concert at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, 5700 Pheasant Hill Road, in Monona. For more information about other performances and tickets, visit www.madisonhandbells.org. Then on Sunday at 7:30 p.m., you can hear the UW Choral Union, the UW Symphony Orchestra and soloists perform Brahms’ “German” Requiem in Mills Hall. Tickets are $15, $8 for seniors and students.

By Jacob Stockinger

On Wednesday night, the nominations for the 55^th annual Grammy Awards, to be awarded in early 2013, were announced and posted. The actual air time on the TV show goes to the more popular genres such as rock, pop, hip-hop, country and the like.

You can tell that by the numbers listed next to the various classical categories, numbers that I left in. They are a good indication of the priority of classical music to The Industry.

But as I have done in past years, I will post this list in two installments over the weekend. The nominations can help guide you to some fine holiday gifts for classical buffs. And shopping, whether in brick-and-mortar stores or on the Internet, will be in high gear this weekend and for the next several weekends, I imagine.

I won’t provide a lot of commentary on the Grammy nominations, although I will provide more detail commentary by other critics and bloggers as they appear.

But I will remark on how the Grammys seem to be getting further and further away from standard composers and works.

Similarly, the Grammys seem to be focusing on smaller and less well-known labels. Many of which are the in-house labels of the performing organizations. Of course, that is also a trend in the recording industry, and the Grammys exist to promote the recording industry.

The final awards will be announced live on Feb. 10, 2013 at 8 p.m. EST on the CBS network.

You can also find the complete list of nominations and, later, winners at www.grammy.com

Any comments or advice to others you can provide about the nominees would be appreciated. Just use the COMMENT section.

So, maestro, a drum roll, please! Here is part 1 of 2:

70. BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL

Americana: Daniel Shores, engineer; Daniel Shores, mastering engineer (Modern Mandolin Quartet); [Sono Luminus]

Beethoven: The Late String Quartets, Op. 127 & 131: Bruce Egre, engineer (Brentano String Quartet); [Aeon]

Life & Breath – Choral Works By René Clausen: Tom Caulfield & John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer; (Charles Bruffy & Kansas City Chorale); [Chandos]

Music For A Time Of War: Jesse Lewis & John Newton, engineers; Jesse Brayman, mastering engineer (Carlos Kalmar & The Oregon Symphony); [PentaTone Classics]

Souvenir: Morten Lindberg, engineer; Morten Lindberg, mastering engineer; (TrondheimSolistene); [2L (Lindberg Lyd)]

71. PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL

Blanton Alspaugh

• Chamber Symphonies (Gregory Wolynec & Gateway Chamber Orchestra)
• Davis: Río De Sangre (Joseph Rescigno, Vale Rideout, Ava Pine, John Duykers, Kerry Walsh, Guido LeBron, The Florentine Opera Company & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)
• Gjeilo: Northern Lights (Charles Bruffy & Phoenix Chorale)
• In Paradisum (Brian A. Schmidt & South Dakota Chorale)
• Life & Breath – Choral Works By René Clausen (Charles Bruffy & Kansas City Chorale)
• Music For A Time Of War (Carlos Kalmar & The Oregon Symphony)
• Musto: The Inspector (Glen Cortese & Wolf Trap Opera Company)

Tim Handley

• Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Leonard Slatkin & Orchestre National De Lyon)
• Debussy: Orchestral Works, Vol. 7 (Jun Märkl & Orchestre National De Lyon)
• Debussy: 24 Préludes (Jun Märkl & Royal Scottish National Orchestra)
• Fuchs, K.: Atlantic Riband; American Rhapsody; Divinium Mysterium (JoAnn Falletta, Paul Silverthorne, Michael Ludwig & London Symphony Orchestra)
• Gershwin: Piano Concerto In F; Rhapsody No. 2; I Got Rhythm Variations (Orion Weiss, JoAnn Falletta & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
• Hailstork: An American Port Of Call (JoAnn Falletta, Virginia Symphony Chorus & Virginia Symphony Orchestra)
• Holst: Cotswolds Symphony; Walt Whitman Overture (JoAnn Falletta & Ulster Orchestra)
• Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (Marin Alsop & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
• Roussel: Le Festin De L’Araignée (Stéphane Denève & Royal Scottish National Orchestra)
• Still: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 (John Jeter & Fort Smith Symphony)

Marina Ledin, Victor Ledin

• Americana (Modern Mandolin Quartet)
• Brubeck & American Poets (Lynne Morrow & Pacific Mozart Ensemble)
• Delibes: Sylvia; Coppélia (Martin West & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra)
• Mind Meld (ZOFO Duet)
• Rupa-Khandha (Los Angeles Percussion Quartet)
• Weigl: Isle Of The Dead; Six Fantasies; Pictures & Tales; Night Fantasies (Joseph Banowetz)

James Mallinson

• Britten: War Requiem (Gianandrea Noseda, Joseph Cullen, Alastair Tighe, Choir Of Eltham College, London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra)
• Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (Bernard Haitink & London Symphony Orchestra)
• The Greatest Film Scores Of Dimitri Tiomkin (Richard Kaufman, Whitney Claire Kaufman, Andrew Playfoot, London Voices & London Symphony Orchestra)
• Massenet: Don Quichotte (Valery Gergiev, Andrei Serov, Anna Kiknadze, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Soloists’ Ensemble Of The Mariinsky Academy Of Young Singers & Mariinsky Orchestra)
• Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances (Valery Gergiev & London Symphony Orchestra)

Dan Merceruio

• Arensky: Quartets Nos. 1 & 2; Piano Quintet, Op. 51 (Ying Quartet)
• Brasileiro – Works Of Francisco Mignone (Cuarteto Latinoamericano)
• Change Of Worlds (Ensemble Galilei)
• The Complete Harpsichord Works Of Rameau (Jory Vinikour)
• Critical Models – Chamber Works Of Mohammed Fairouz (Various Artists)
• The Kernis Project: Schubert (Jasper String Quartet)
• Le Bestiaire (Celine Ricci)
• Scarlatti: La Dirindina & Pur Nel Sonno (Matthew Dirst & Ars Lyrica Houston)
• Two Lutes – Lute Duets From England’s Golden Age (Ronn McFarlane & William Simms)
• Weill-Ibert-Berg (Timothy Muffitt & Baton Rouge Symphony Chamber Players)

Tomorrow: Best Orchestra Performance, Best Opera, Best Instrumental Solo and more.

 

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Posted in Classical music
Tags: Brentano String Quartet, Charles Bruffy, Grammy, Grammy Award, I Got Rhythm Variations, John Duykers, Kansas City Chorale, Kurt Weill, London, London Symphony Orchestra, Madison, Orchestra, René Clausen, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Wolf Trap Opera Company