This Week in Classical Music w/Randy Kinkel 09/23/18

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LSO East London Academy to train young talent;

Grammophone Award Winners.

 

It’s “This Week in Classical Music”, an update on what’s happening in the classical music world; I’m Randy Kinkel.

 

Sir Simon Rattle has said as he announced a new academy involving 10 east London boroughs.

music director Rattle said the initiative was the first step in trying to make the London Symphony Orchestra look more like the city itself.

Rattle said orchestras and choruses were not diverse, an issue that needed to be addressed. “I think we all realise we have to start being proactive … I think our artform depends on making an orchestra like the city.”

The LSO East London Academy will open in spring 2019 and will aim to identify and develop the potential of talented young people between 11-18. It will be a bridge between secondary schools and conservatoires. It will be free, offering training that would be beyond the financial reach of most .

Rattle also announced details of the orchestra’s 2018/19 season, his second in charge after two decades in Berlin. He promised surprises, one of his favourites being a piece he premiered in Germany by a little-known French-American composer, Betsy Jolas, now 92.

Rattle said he had known Jolas’s name since his student days but her music had passed him by. About three years ago he was sat next to her at a dinner party, having been unaware she was still alive.

She made a big impression. “I thought: this woman is extraordinary, I bet her music is extraordinary too,” he said. “The thing that’s changed is I could go home that night and go to YouTube and find all those beautiful pieces. I wrote to her and said: ‘I’m so ashamed that it’s taken so long, but better late than never.’”

Jolas wrote A Little Summer Suite, which will get its UK premiere in February. “It is stunning that a composer as remarkable as Betsy Jolas … is completely unknown here and in Germany. We missed a trick here and we wonder: how many others?”

 

this year's Gramophone Classical Music Awards were given out recently.

it was a remarkable recording of Berlioz's Les Troyens with Joyce DiDonato, and the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra with John Nelson which carried off the biggest prize of all – Gramophone's Recording of the Year.

 

The orchestra for the ceremony was the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kristjan Järvi.

And it was a special evening for the Järvi family, as Neeme Järvi (the father of Kristjan and Paavo, all three conductors) was presented with Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The winner of the Orchestra of the Year Award, the only Gramophone Award voted for by the public, was the Seattle Symphony--thriving under the directorship of Ludovic Morlot.

This year's Artist of the Year Award went to Rachel Podger, whose recent recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and her 'Grandissima Gravita' album, both for Channel Classics, won high praise this year.

It was a double celebration for Harmonia Mundi, who won the Orchestral Award for Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, and were also named Gramophone's Label of the Year.

A full list of winners can be found on our website on the TWICM page.

For more on these and other items, go to the website at kbaq.org; be listening every week for another update; find us on facebook and twitter; and don’t forget to vote for your top 100 most wanted and then listen to the most wanted hour, weekdays at noon with Linda Cassidy.  Member supported 89-five KBACH, phoenix and HD, a service of Rio Salado College, celebrating 40 years, and Arizona State University.

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The full list of Grammophone Award winners is as follows:

Lifetime Achievement Award

Neeme Järvi

Orchestra of the Year Award

Seattle Symphony

Artist of the Year Award

Rachel Podger

Young Artist of the Year Award

Lise Davidsen

Label of the Year Award

Harmonia Mundi

Recording of the Year & Opera Award

Berlioz Les Troyens: Sols incl DiDonato, Spyres, Lemieux; Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra / John Nelson (Erato) Explore the recording

Chamber Award

Dvořák Quintets: Boris Giltburg; Pavel Nikl; Pavel Haas Quartet(Supraphon) Explore the recording

Choral Award

Pärt Magnificat. Nunc dimittis Schnittke Psalms of Repentance: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir / Kaspars Putniņš (BIS) Explore the recording

Concerto Award 

Bartók Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2: Christian Tetzlaff; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu (Ondine) Explore the recording

Contemporary Award 

Dusapin String Quartets Nos 6 & 7: Arditti Quartet; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Pascal Rophé (Aeon) Explore the recording

Early Music Award 

‘Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks, Vol 5’: Blue Heron / Scott Metcalfe (Blue Heron) Explore the recording

Instrumental Award 

Brahms Piano Pieces, Opp 76, 117 & 118: Arcadi Volodos (Sony Classical) Explore the recording

Orchestral Award 

Ravel Daphnis et Chloé: Ensemble Aedes; Les Siècles / François-Xavier Roth (Harmonia Mundi) Explore the recording

 

 

Recital Award

‘Agitata’: Delphine Galou; Accademia Bizantina / Ottavio Dantone(Alpha Classics) 

Solo Vocal Award

‘Secrets’: Marianne Crebassa; Fazıl Say (Erato) Explore the recording