blog post Classical Grammy winners announced

While the reaction to Whitney Houston's death dominated the headlines over the weekend, the 54th Grammy Awards nevertheless forged ahead with the announcement Sunday afternoon of the winners in the seven classical music categories. Find out how CBC Music's classical Grammy predictions measure up with the results.

Here are the winners:

Best orchestral performance nominees:

1) Bowen: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2; BBC Philharmonic, Andrew Davis (Chandos.)
2) Brahms: Symphony No. 4; Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel (Deutsche Grammaphon.)
3) Haydn: Symphonies 104, 88 and 101; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan (Philharmonia Baroque Productions.)
4) Henze: Symphonies Nos. 3 to 5; Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Marek Janowski (Wergo.)
5) Martinu: The 6 Symphonies; BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jirí Belohlávek (Onyx Classics.)

CBC Music prediction Julie Nesrallah, host of Tempo on CBC Radio 2, thought Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil would win this category.

Winner Brahms: Symphony No. 4; Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel. (Julie nailed it. 1 for 1.)

Best opera recording

1) Adams: Doctor Atomic
Sasha Cooke, Richard Paul Fink and Gerald Finley; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus; Alan Gilbert (Sony Classical.)
2) Britten: Billy Budd
John Mark Ainsley, Phillip Ens and Iain Paterson; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Glyndebourne Chorus; Mark Elder (Opus Arte.)
3) Rautavaara: Kaivos
Jaakko Kortekangas, Hannu Niemelä, Johanna Rusanen-Kartano and Mati Turi; Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Kaivos Chorus; Hannu Lintu (Ondine.)
4) Verdi: La Traviata
Joseph Calleja, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson; Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House; Antonio Pappano (Opus Arte.)
5) Vivaldi: Ercole Sul Termodonte
Patrizia Ciofi, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Vivica Genaux, Philippe Jaroussky and Rolando Villazón; Europa Galante, Coro Da Camera Santa Cecilia Di Borgo San Lorenzo; Fabio Biondi (Virgin Classics.)

CBC Music prediction Bill Richardson, host of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera on CBC Radio 2, put his money on Doctor Atomic.

Winner Adams: Doctor Atomic; Sasha Cooke, Richard Paul Fink and Gerald Finley; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus; Alan Gilbert. (Congratulations Gerald Finley! 2 for 2.)

Best choral performance

1) Beyond All Mortal Dreams, American A Cappella: Choir Of Trinity College Cambridge, Stephen Layton (Hyperion Records.)
2) Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: Professional Choral Institute and Seraphic Fire, Patrick Dupré Quigley (Seraphic Fire Media.)
3) Kind: Nidaros String Quartet; Ensemble 96, Kjetil Almenning (Lindberg Lyd.)
4) Light & Gold: The King's Singers, Laudibus, Pavão Quartet and The Eric Whitacre Singers, Eric Whitacre (Decca.)
5) The Natural World Of Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: Ars Nova Copenhagen, Paul Hillier (Dacapo Records.)

CBC Music prediction Peter Togni, host, and Jeff Reilly, producer of CBC Radio 2's Choral Concert felt it was a toss-up between Beyond All Mortal Dreams and Light & Gold, giving Eric Whitacre's album Light & Gold the edge.

Winner Light & Gold: The King's Singers, Laudibus, Pavão Quartet and The Eric Whitacre Singers, Eric Whitacre. (Togni and Reilly know their stuff. 3 for 3.)

Best small ensemble performance

1) Frank: Hilos; Gabriela Lena Frank; ALIAS Chamber Ensemble (Naxos.)
2) The Kingdoms of Castille: El Mundo, Richard Savino (Sono Luminus.)
3) Mackey: Lonely Motel, Music From Slide; Eighth Blackbird, Rinde Eckert & Steven Mackey (Cedille Records.)
4) A Seraphic Fire Christmas: Seraphic Fire, Patrick Dupré Quigley (Seraphic Fire Media.)
5) Sound The Bells!: The Bay Brass (Harmonia Mundi.)

CBC Music prediction Matthew McFarlane, quizmaster on Radio 2's In Concert said the album by the Bay Brass came off as the most complete in this category.

Winner Mackey: Lonely Motel, Music From Slide; Eighth Blackbird, Rinde Eckert & Steven Mackey. (Note: For the record, Matthew McFarlane did underline the excellence of this recording, but predicted it would win best contemporary classical composition, for which it was also nominated. Nevertheless, he called the Bay Brass. 3 for 4.)

Best classical instrumental solo

1) Chinese Recorder Concertos, East Meets West: Michala Petri, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Lan Shui (OUR Recordings.)
2) Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2; Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini: Yuja Wang, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammaphon.)
3) Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 and 4; Leif Ove Andsnes, London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano (EMI Classics.)
4) Schwantner: Concerto For Percussion & Orchestra; Christopher Lamb, Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero (Naxos.)
5) Winging It, Piano Music of John Corigliano: Ursula Oppens (Cedille Records.)

CBC Music prediction For this hotly contested category, Katherine Duncan, host of In Tune on CBC Radio 2, expected eight-time Grammy nominee Leif Ove
Andsnes to take the trophy.

Winner Schwantner: Concerto For Percussion & Orchestra; Christopher Lamb, Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero. (Woah! Dark horse! 3 for 5.)

Best classical vocal solo

1) Diva Divo: Joyce DiDonato, Choeur et Orchestre De L'Opéra National De Lyon, Kazushi Ono (Virgin Classics.)
2) Grieg/Thommessen: Veslemøy Synsk: Marianne Beate Kielland, Nils Anders Mortensen, (Lindberg Lyd.)
3) Handel: Cleopatra; Natalie Dessay, Le Concert D'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm (Virgin Classics.)
4) Purcell: O Solitude; Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina, Christophe Dumaux, (Decca.)
5) Three Baroque Tenors: Ian Bostridge, The English Concert, Bernard Labadie (EMI Classics.)

CBC Music prediction Montreal music critic Lev Bratishenko viewed this cateogry as a showdown between mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and soprano Natalie Dessay, giving DiDonato the edge.

Winner Diva Divo: Joyce DiDonato, Choeur et Orchestre De L'Opéra National De Lyon, Kazushi Ono. (Called it. 4 for 6.)

Best contemporary classical composition

1) Aldridge, Robert: Elmer Gantry: Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein (Naxos.)
2) Crumb, George: The Ghosts Of Alhambra: George Crumb, track from: Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 15 (Bridge Records, Inc.)
3) Friedman, Jefferson: String Quartet No. 3: Jefferson Friedman, track from: Jefferson Friedman: Quartets (New Amsterdam Records.)
4) Mackey, Steven: Lonely Motel - Music From Slide: Steven Mackey (Cedille Records.)
5) Ruders, Poul: Piano Concerto No. 2: Poul Ruders, track from: Music of Poul Ruders, Vol. 6 (Bridge Records, Inc.)

CBC Music prediction Host Laurie Brown and producer Andy Sheppard of Radio 2's The Signal felt Jefferson Friedman would win this category, citing the "listening pleasure" his composition elicited.

Winner Aldridge, Robert: Elmer Gantry: Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein. (Interesting... 4 for 7.)

Related links

2012 Grammy Awards CBC Music livechat

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