MTT is conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who has racked up the latest of a string of Grammy nominations for his series of the complete Mahler symphonies with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony No. 7 — made, like the others in the series, from recordings made live in concert — is up for both Classical Album of the Year and Best Orchestral Performance.
Competing for with MTT and the SFSO for Classical Album of the Year honors are: "Martha Argerich and Friends: Live From the Lugano Festival 2005" (also nominated for Best Chamber Music Performance); Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, starring Mark Padmore and conducted by Ren_ Jacobs (up for Best Opera Recording as well); works by Peter Lieberson, including the cycle Rilke Songs performed by his late wife, the revered mezzo Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (a nominee for Best Vocal Performance); and the complete symphonies of Beethoven, performed by Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra (the only one of the five Classical Album of the Year finalists not on the shortlist for any other category).
No single title received more than two nominations. In addition to the four Classical Album of the Year candidates above, other double-nominated discs include Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar, starring Dawn Upshaw and conducted by Robert Spano (Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Contemporary Composition); a recording of Requiem settings by Herbert Howells and Ildebrando Pizzetti performed by the Austin-based choir Conspirare (Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Classical Album); and Lštigo, tangos and other dances arranged for and performed by Quartet San Francisco (Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Engineered Classical Album).
The prolific London Symphony Orchestra has three different discs in contention, each in a different category and under a different conductor: the complete Beethoven symphony set with Bernard Haitink (Classical Album of the Year), the complete Prokofiev symphonies with Valery Gergiev (Best Orchestral Performance), and baritone Bryn Terfel's release, Simple Gifts (Best Classical Crossover Album).
Mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink has nominations for two different discs: La clemenza di Tito (up for Classical Album of the Year and Best Opera Recording) and "Canciones Argentinas" (a finalist for Best Classical Vocal Performance), songs from her native country, which she performs with her brother Marcos and pianist Carmen Piazzini.
The Berlin Philharmonic performs on two nominated discs — Leif Ove Andsnes's recording of Rachmaninoff's First and Second Piano Concertos (Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra) and Ian Bostridge's rendition of Britten song cycles (Best Classical Vocal Performance) — though the orchestra is not itself a featured nominee for either release. The archrival Vienna Philharmonic is in the same situation, performing on a Traviata starring Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón and Thomas Hampson (Best Opera Recording) and Mahler's Second Symphony conducted by Pierre Boulez (Best Engineered Classical Album).
The Atlanta Symphony and its renowned chorus always do well in the Grammy nominations, but this year they and their music director, Robert Spano, are in an odd position, competing against themselves twice over in the Best Classical Contemporary Composition category. They perform in Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar, David Del Tredici's Paul Revere's Ride, and The Here and Now by Christopher Theofanidis — and the latter two works are on the same disc.
A complete list of classical nominees is below. The Grammy Awards will be presented on February 11, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Best Classical Album
- Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9
Bernard Haitink, conductor; London Symphony Orchestra
[LSO Live]
- Lieberson: Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson; Justin Brown and Donald Palma; Michaela Fukacova and William Purvis; Peter Serkin; Odense Symphony Orchestra
[Bridge Records, Inc.]
- Mahler: Symphony No. 7
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
[SFS Music]
- Martha Argerich and Friends: Live From the Lugano Festival 2005
Martha Argerich and Friends
[EMI Classics]
- Mozart: La clemenza di Tito
René Jacobs, conductor; Marie-Claude Chappuis, Bernarda Fink, Sergio Foresti, Sunhae Im, Mark Padmore and Alexandrina Pendatchanska; Freiburger Barockorchester
[Harmonia Mundi]
Best Orchestral Performance
- Bax: Tone Poems
Vernon Handley, conductor; BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
[Chandos]
- Glazunov: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7
José Serebrier, conductor; Royal Scottish National Orchestra
[Warner Classics]
- Mahler: Symphony No. 6
Iván Fischer, conductor; Budapest Festival Orchestra
[Channel Classics]
- Mahler: Symphony No. 7
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
[SFS Music]
- Prokofiev: The Complete Symphonies
Valery Gergiev, conductor; London Symphony Orchestra
[Philips]
Best Opera Recording
- Bennett: The Mines of Sulphur
Stewart Robertson, conductor; Brian Anderson, Dorothy Byrne, Beth Clayton, Kristopher Irmiter, Brandon Jovanovich, James Maddalena, Michael Todd Simpson and Caroline Worra; Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra
[Chandos]
- Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain Of Tears
Robert Spano, conductor; Kelley O'Connor and Dawn Upshaw; Women of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- Mozart: La clemenza di Tito
René Jacobs, conductor; Marie-Claude Chappuis, Bernarda Fink, Sergio Foresti, Sunhae Im, Mark Padmore and Alexandrina Pendatchanska; RIAS Kammerchor; Freiburger Barockorchester
[Harmonia Mundi]
- Smetana: The Bartered Bride
Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor; Yvette Bonner, Paul Charles Clarke, Neal Davies, Susan Gritton, Kit Hesketh-Harvey, Yvonne Howard, Robin Leggate, Diana Montague, Geoffrey Moses, Timothy Robinson and Peter Rose; Royal Opera Chorus; Philharmonia Orchestra
[Chandos Opera In English]
- Verdi: La traviata
Carlo Rizzi, conductor; Thomas Hampson, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón; Vienna State Opera Concert Chorus; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
[Deutsche Grammophon]
Best Choral Performance
- Immortal Nystedt
Øystein Fevang, conductor (Bærum Vokalensemble and Ensemble 96)
[2L]
- Mozart: "Great" Mass in C minor
Paul McCreesh, conductor; Sarah Connolly, Neal Davies, Timothy Robinson and Camilla Tilling; Gabrieli Consort and Players
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- Pärt: Da Pacem
Paul Hillier, conductor; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
[Harmonia Mundi]
- Requiem (by Howells and Pizzetti)
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor; Conspirare
[Clarion Records]
- Whitacre: Cloudburst and other choral works
Stephen Layton, conductor; Polyphony
[Hyperion]
Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra)
- Brahms: The Piano Concertos
Nelson Freire; Riccardo Chailly, conductor; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
[Decca]
- Henze: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 3
Peter Sheppard Skærved; Christopher Lyndon-Gee, conductor; Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra
[Naxos]
- Messiaen: Oiseaux exotiques
Angelin Chang; John McLaughlin Williams, conductor; Cleveland Chamber Symphony
Track from: Cleveland Chamber Symphony: Music That Dares to Explore, Vol. 6
[TNC]
- Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2
Leif Ove Andsnes; Antonio Pappano, conductor; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
[EMI Classics]
- Schmidt: Concertos
Ulla Miilmann; Ole Schmidt, conductor; Danish National Symphony Orchestra
[Dacapo Records]
Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra)
- Bach: The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo
Gidon Kremer (violin)
[ECM New Series]
- Bacheler: "The Bachelar's Delight"
Paul O'Dette (lute)
[Harmonia Mundi]
- Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Vol. II
András Schiff (piano)
[ECM New Series]
- Chopin: Nocturnes
Maurizio Pollini (piano)
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- Primrose: Viola Transcriptions
Roberto Díaz (viola); Robert Koenig (piano)
[Naxos]
Best Chamber Music Performance
- Chamber Works for Winds and Strings by Mozart
The Chicago Chamber Musicians
[Summit Records]
- Corigliano: Violin Sonata, Etude Fantasy
Andrew Russo (piano); Corey Cerovsek (violin); Steven Heyman (piano)
[Black Box]
- Intimate Voices
Emerson String Quartet
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- Martha Argerich and Friends: Live From the Lugano Festival 2005
Martha Argerich and Friends
[EMI Classics]
- Shostakovich: Piano Trios Nos. 1 and 2, Seven Romances on Verses by Alexander Blok
Beaux Arts Trio
[Warner Classics]
Best Small Ensemble Performance
- Angel Dances
12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic
[EMI Classics]
- Ikon
Harry Christophers, conductor; The Sixteen
[Decca]
- Miguel de Cervantes — Don Quijote de la Mancha — Romances y Músicas
Jordi Savall, conductor; Hespêërion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya
[Alia Vox]
- Padilla — "Sun of Justice"
Peter Rutenberg, conductor; Los Angeles Chamber Singers' Cappella
[RCM — Rubedo Canis Musica]
- Shostakovich/Sviridov/Vainberg: Chamber Symphonies
Yuri Bashmet; Moscow Soloists
[Onyx Classics]
Best Classical Vocal Performance
- Britten: Song Cycles
Ian Bostridge (with Simon Rattle, Radek Baborák, Berlin Philharmonic)
[EMI Classics]
- "Canciones Argentinas"
Bernarda Fink and Marcos Fink (with Carmen Piazzini)
[Harmonia Mundi]
- "Consider, My Soul"
Thomas Quasthoff (with Sebastian Weigle, Staatskapelle Dresden)
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- Rilke Songs
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (with Peter Serkin)
Track from: Lieberson: Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto
[Bridge Records]
- Songs of Amy Beach
Patrick Mason (with Joanne Polk)
[Bridge Records, Inc.]
Best Classical Contemporary Composition
- Elliott Carter: Boston Concerto
Track from: The Music of Elliott Carter, Vol. 7
[Bridge Records, Inc.]
- Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain of Tears
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- Christopher Theofanidis: The Here and Now
Track from: Del Tredici: Paul Revere's Ride; Theofanidis: The Here and Now; Bernstein: Lamentation
[Telarc]
- David Del Tredici: Paul Revere's Ride
Track from: Del Tredici: Paul Revere's Ride; Theofanidis: The Here and Now; Bernstein: Lamentation
[Telarc]
- James MacMillan: A Scotch Bestiary
Track from: MacMillan: A Scotch Bestiary, Piano Concerto No. 2
[Chandos]
Best Classical Crossover Album
- The Film Music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Rumon Gamba, conductor; BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
[Chandos]
- Invention and Alchemy
David Lockington, conductor; Deborah Henson-Conant; Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra
[Golden Cage Music]
- Látigo
Quartet San Francisco; John Santos
[Violinjazz Recordings]
- Simple Gifts
Bryn Terfel; London Voices; London Symphony Orchestra
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- "Song Zu Ying: The Diva Goes to the Movies"
Song Zu Ying; China National Symphony Orchestra
[JB Audiophile]
Best Engineered Album, Classical
- Elgar: "Enigma" Variations; Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Michael Bishop, engineer
(Paavo Järvi, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
[Telarc]
- Látigo
Leslie Ann Jones, engineer
(Quartet San Francisco)
[Violinjazz Recordings]
- Mahler: Symphony No. 2
Wolf-Dieter Karwatky and Rainer Maillard, engineers
(Pierre Boulez, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, et al.)
[Deutsche Grammophon]
- Requiem (by Howells and Pizzetti)
John Newton, engineer
(Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare)
[Clarion Records]
- Vaughan Williams: Mass in G minor and other a cappella works
Jack Renner, engineer
Norman Mackenzie, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus
[Telarc]
Producer of the Year, Classical
- Manfred Eicher (ECM New Series)
- Honegger/Martinê_/Bach/Pintscher/Ravel (Frank Peter Zimmermann, Heinrich Schiff)
- Kurtág: Kafka-Fragmente (Juliane Banse, András Keller)
- Nuove Musiche (Rolf Lislevand, Arianna Savall, Pedro Estevan, Bjørn Kjellemyr, Guido Morini, Marco Ambrosini, Thor-Harald Johnsen)
- Schubert: String Quartet in G major (Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica)
- Silvestrov/Pärt/Ustvolskaya: Misterioso (Alexei Lubimov, Alexander Trostiansky, Kyrill Rybakov)
- Honegger/Martinê_/Bach/Pintscher/Ravel (Frank Peter Zimmermann, Heinrich Schiff)
- Stephen Johns (EMI Classics)
- Angel Dances (12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic)
- Holst: The Planets (Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
- Schubert: Symphony No. 9 (Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
- Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1; Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 (Sarah Chang, Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
- Vivaldi: Flute Concertos (Emmanuel Pahud, Richard Tognetti, Australian Chamber Orchestra)
- Angel Dances (12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic)
- James Mallinson (LSO Live)
- Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (Bernard Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra)
- Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius (Colin Davis, Anne Sofie von Otter, Alastair Miles, David Rendall, London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra)
- Prokofiev: The Complete Symphonies (Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra)
- Sibelius: Kullervo (Colin Davis, Monica Groop, Peter Mattei, London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra)
- Smetana: Má Vlast (Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra)
- Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (Bernard Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra)
- Elaine Martone (Telarc)
- Del Tredici: Paul Revere's Ride; Theofanidis: The Here and Now; Bernstein: Lamentation (Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, et al.)
- Elgar: "Enigma Variations"; Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes (Paavo Järvi, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
- Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Michel Camilo, Ernest Martê_nez Izquierdo, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra)
- Mahler: Symphony No. 1, Songs of a Wayfarer (Benjamin Zander, Christopher Maltman, Philharmonia Orchestra)
- Renaissance Favorites for Guitar (David Russell)
- Del Tredici: Paul Revere's Ride; Theofanidis: The Here and Now; Bernstein: Lamentation (Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, et al.)
- Sid McLauchlan (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 (Gustavo Dudamel, Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela)
- Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain Of Tears (Dawn Upshaw, Kelley O'Connor, Robert Spano, Women of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)
- Italia, Ti Amo (Plácido Domingo, Eugene Kohn, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra)
- Simple Gifts (Bryn Terfel)
- Wagner: Excerpts from The Ring of the Nibelung (Ben Heppner, Peter Schneider, Burkhard Ulrich, Staatskapelle Dresden)
- Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 (Gustavo Dudamel, Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela)
