In Thursday’s (3/11) Montreal Gazette , Arthur Kaptainis writes, “Two recordings by Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra have been denied 2010 Juno nominations on the grounds that the soloists are not Canadian.” The Juno Awards are presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. “ ‘We understand that the OSM is Canadian,’ Juno spokesman Chris McDowall said yesterday from Toronto. ‘But it was in the Soloist with Large Ensemble Accompaniment (category), so the focus is on the soloist. And the soloist, not being Canadian, can’t qualify.’ The recordings at issue are of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde—The Song of the Earth—and two works by Unsuk Chin, a prominent South Korean composer. The Mahler disc, a Sony release, features tenor Klaus Florian Vogt and baritone Christian Gerhaher. The Chin disc, on the Montreal-based Analekta label, features violinist Viviane Hagner. All the soloists are German. Both recordings were submitted for consideration as Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment. … The MSO contends that Das Lied von der Erde is widely viewed as a symphonic work and submitted a description from the authoritative Grove Dictionary of Music supporting this claim.”
Posted March 12, 2010
