In the studio

We're happy that members of Camerata San Antonio stopped by the studios to play music by Martinu on their concert this weekend. Listen for them tomorrow afternoon at 2pm on Classical Spotlight and here for a HD video of their Madrigal.

Lang Lang moves

From Bloomberg - The richest headhunt ever seen in classical music has ended with the world’s most coveted pianist switching teams at a critical moment for the industry.

The Chinese musician Lang Lang, 27, has signed for Sony Classical for $3 million, an executive familiar with the move at his old label Deutsche Grammophon told me. A Sony spokeswoman in London said that the company wouldn’t comment.

Lang Lang is credited with an explosion of music teaching in his own country, where more than 40 million children are said to be taking private piano lessons. A tinkling of Ravel can be heard from high-rises in boomtown Tianjin.

He has been a star in the west and an Elvis-like figure back home ever since he sold out Carnegie Hall, performing the Grieg concerto at the age of 19 in 2001. He was mobbed on his first return to Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra that year. The pianist signed a record contract with Deutsche Grammophon, part of Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group.

He released his first disc in 2003 featuring concertos by Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

Since then, Lang Lang has regularly topped the classical charts and, on occasion, achieved sales of pop music dimensions. In a specialist genre where releases sell in a few hundreds, Lang Lang sells in the hundreds of thousands.

Opening the Beijing Olympics in July 2008 on a snow-white piano, he was watched by more than five billion viewers and achieved bigger worldwide recognition than any classical hero since Luciano Pavarotti. A piano manufacturer created the Lang Lang Steinway. The Prince of Wales asked him to premiere a concerto he had commissioned in memory of his grandmother, the Queen Mother. Lang Lang had the world at his feet and was accustomed to getting his own way.

At the rarified Deutsche Grammophon, which shelters such media-averse pianists as Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini and Krystian Zimerman, Lang Lang’s noisy populism was never an easy fit. When he demanded the dismissal of Yundi Li, the first Chinese winner of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, the label acquiesced immediately, according to a dissenting producer. (Yundi Li has put a softer spin on his departure). Lang Lang was the one artist no label could afford to lose.

So when Sony rebooted its classical wing last April after a long dormancy, the new chief Bogdan Roscic was given an open checkbook and told: “Get Lang Lang.”

Last week, at the Midem Festival in Cannes, France, the industry was abuzz with leaks and executive rumors that Sony Classical had signed Lang Lang for $3 million -- peanuts for a footballer but so huge for a classical artist that the Sony Corp. provided funds from outside the classical budget. The U.K. magazine Gramophone reported the move on Jan. 26, without giving a figure.

Although Sony has refused to comment on either the signing or the sum involved, an executive at Deutsche Grammophon confirmed both the signing and the fee in an e-mail to me.

Lang Lang wasn’t immediately available for comment. He was playing in Madrid at the weekend in the national auditorium. Lang Lang is also involved in raising funds for Haiti as a Unicef ambassador. His responsiveness to world affairs is another source of value to the music industry. He signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with Sony in April 2008 to promote its hardware products globally.

The implications of his transfer extend far beyond the cloisters of classical music. Sony has scored a blow against the market leader while Universal has been caught in transition, with its chairman Doug Morris due to step down this summer.

At stake is the last frontier for western classical music -- the burgeoning middle-classes of the east Asia economies. In China, recorded music is routinely pirated and consumers are unused to paying for their stars. Those habits can only be changed by an artist of Lang Lang’s compelling attraction --and all labels are aware of that.

EMI has just signed Yundi Li on the rebound, while Deutsche Grammophon has Yuja Wang in the offing -- with support from conductor Claudio Abbado, who chose her to open his Lucerne Festival last summer.

Still, the capture of Lang Lang gives Sony a decisive advantage.

Musical Oscars

And the nominees are: Music (Original Score):
“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
“Up” Michael Giacchino

YOSA: Daron Hagen premiere

The world premiere performance of Daron Hagen's Northern Lights with YOSA Philharmonic and Troy Peters.

Daron Hagen: Northern Lights from Classical Spotlight on Vimeo.

Grammy winners

Congratulations to the winners (showing categories you could hear on KPAC & KTXI)!
Best Musical Show Album
Award to the Album Producer(s), and to the Lyricist(s) & Composer(s) of 51% or more of a new score. (Artist, Lyricist & Composer names appear in parentheses.)

WINNER
West Side Story
David Caddick & David Lai, producers (Leonard Bernstein, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist) (New Broadway Cast with Matt Cavenaugh, Josefina Scaglione & Others)
[Masterworks Broadway]

Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current legitimate motion picture, television show or series or other visual media.

WINNER
Up
Michael Giacchino, composer
[Walt Disney Records]

Best Instrumental Composition
A Composer's Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.

WINNER
Married Life (From Up)
Michael Giacchino, composer (Michael Giacchino)
Track from: Up - Soundtrack
[Walt Disney Records]


Best Instrumental Arrangement
An Arranger's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

WINNER
West Side Story Medley
Bill Cunliffe, arranger (Resonance Big Band)
Track from: Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute To Oscar Peterson
[Resonance Records]

Best Surround Sound Album
For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.

WINNER
Transmigration
Michael Bishop, surround mix engineer; Michael Bishop, surround mastering engineer; Elaine Martone, surround producer (Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Choruses)
[Telarc]

Best Engineered Album, Classical
An Engineer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

WINNER
Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10
Peter Laenger, engineer (Michael Tilson Thomas & San Francisco Symphony)
[SFS Media]

Producer Of The Year, Classical
A Producer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

WINNER
Steven Epstein
Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony (David Robertson & Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra)
Bernstein: Mass (Marin Alsop, Jubilant Sykes, Asher Edward Wulfman, Morgan State University Choir, Peabody Children's Chorus & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
Corigliano: A Dylan Thomas Trilogy (Leonard Slatkin, George Mabry, Sir Thomas Allen, Nashville Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
Fauré: Piano Quintets (Fine Arts Quartet & Cristina Oritz)
Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace (Yo-Yo Ma & Various Artists)

Best Classical Album
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) if other than the Artist.

WINNER
Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Ragnar Bohlin, Kevin Fox & Susan McMane, choir directors; Andreas Neubronner, producer;
Peter Laenger, engineer/mixer; Andreas Neubronner, mastering engineer (Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef, Elza van den Heever & Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Girls Chorus & San Francisco Symphony Chorus)
[SFS Media]

Best Orchestral Performance
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.

WINNER
Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloé
James Levine, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra; Tanglewood Festival Chorus)
[BSO Classics]

Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.

WINNER
Britten: Billy Budd
Daniel Harding, conductor; Ian Bostridge, Neal Davies, Nathan Gunn, Jonathan Lemalu, Matthew Rose & Gidon Saks; John Fraser, producer (London Symphony Orchestra; Gentlemen Of The London Symphony Chorus)
[Virgin Classics]

Best Choral Performance
Award to the Choral Conductor, and to the Orchestra Conductor if an Orchestra is on the recording, and to the Choral Director or Chorus Master if applicable.

WINNER
Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Ragnar Bohlin, Kevin Fox & Susan McMane, choir directors
(Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Elza van den Heever, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef & Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Symphony Chorus & San Francisco Girls Chorus)
[SFS Media]

Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra)
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor.

WINNER
Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3
Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor; Evgeny Kissin (Philharmonia Orchestra)
[EMI Classics]

Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra)
Award to the Instrumental Soloist.

WINNER
Journey To The New World
Sharon Isbin (Joan Baez & Mark O'Connor)
[Sony Classical]

Best Chamber Music Performance
Award to the Artists.

WINNER
Intimate Letters
Emerson String Quartet
[Deutsche Grammophon]

Best Small Ensemble Performance
Award to the Ensemble (and to the Conductor.)

WINNER
Lang, David: The Little Match Girl Passion
Paul Hillier, conductor; Ars Nova Copenhagen & Theatre Of Voices
[Harmonia Mundi]

Best Classical Vocal Performance
Award to the Vocal Soloist(s).

WINNER
Verismo Arias
Renée Fleming (Marco Armiliato; Jonas Kaufmann; Orchestra Sinfonica Di Milano Giuseppi Verdi; Coro Sinfonica Di Milano Giuseppi Verdi)
[Decca]

Best Classical Contemporary Composition
A Composer's Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.

WINNER
Higdon, Jennifer: Percussion Concerto
Jennifer Higdon (Marin Alsop)
Track from: Alsop Conducts MacMillan, Ad
[London Philharmonic Orchestra]

Best Classical Crossover Album
Award to the Artist(s) and/or to the Conductor.

WINNER
Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace
Yo-Yo Ma
(Odair Assad, Sergio Assad, Chris Botti, Dave Brubeck, Matt Brubeck, John Clayton, Paquito d'Rivera, Renée Fleming, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, Natalie McMaster, Edgar Meyer, Cristina Pato, Joshua Redman, Jake Shimabukuro, Silk Road Ensemble, James Taylor, Chris Thile, Wu Tong, Alon Yavnai & Amelia Zirin-Brown)
[Sony Classical]

BPO Winds in Kerrville

The Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet gave their second performance at the Cailloux Theater last night for the Kerrville Performing Arts Society (KPAS). Their program of Mozart, Reicha, Milhaud and Nielsen was captivating! Horn player Fergus McWilliam said the Berlin Philarmonic has only played two repeat concerts while on tour - in Carnegie Hall in NYC and the Cailloux Theater in Kerrville! He was glib and charming, giving information about the composers, quintet and their recordings! All in all a delightful evening in the Hill Country.

Earlier in the day, they gave a masterclass - and were also busy in Austin on Wednesday, teaching and performing. Today they fly out to Chicago to continue their North American tour. Read more about the quintet here. Listen to John Clare's interview with McWilliam on Classical Spotlight here.

Treasures Galore from the SAIPC

The Piano is into the 5th week of highlights from the recent San Antonio International Piano Competition. On the program two twentieth century Russian Piano Sonatas, another Ballade of Chopin, a scary song of Schubert transcribed by Liszt and Karl Czerny's variations on La Ricordenza.

The Piano, Sunday afternoons at 5 on KPAC and KTXI.

host, Randy Anderson

Goings on

Tonight in San Antonio there is a chance to hear some amazing Baroque music at St Luke's Episcopal Church, and I will be in Kerrville as emcee, hearing the 2nd performance of the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet for KPAS. Tomorrow the SA Symphony is led by the brilliant Scott Yoo in music by Irving Fine, Dvorak and Grieg. Saturday the Synergy Brass are at Round Top, and there are two great concerts Sunday with YOSA and HOTCB!
Learn about all of these concerts on Classical Spotlight, this afternoon (and each Thursday throughout the concert season) at 2pm on KPAC & KTXI.
-afternoon host John Clare

Remember to play your best!

On the Piano this Sunday, more from the semi-finals of the San Antonio International Piano Competition. Contestants perform two big and difficult sonatas of Rachmaninoff and Samuel Barber; there are some evocative Preludes of Claude Debussy and to round out the hour the last Ballade of Frederic Chopin.

The Piano, this Sunday afternoon at 5 on KPAC and KTXI.

host, Randy Anderson

Award winnin' composer

The ASCAP Foundation has announced that Martin Kennedy has been named the recipient of The ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize. The Prize was awarded for Trivial Pursuits, an 8-minute work for violin and orchestra. The work was selected from over 220 submissions. Kennedy receives a $5,000 cash prize.
Dr. Rudolf Nissim, former head of ASCAP's International Department and a devoted friend of contemporary composers, established this annual prize through a bequest to The ASCAP Foundation. The Prize is presented annually to an ASCAP concert composer for a work requiring a conductor that has not been performed professionally. A jury of conductors selects the winning score.
Born in England and raised in the United States, composer/pianist Martin Kennedy is an Assistant Professor of composition and Theory at Washington University in Saint Louis.
His compositions have been featured by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Bloomington (IN) Camerata, the Haddonfield (NJ) Symphony, the Polish National Chamber Orchestra of Slupsk, the Shenandoah (VA) Symphony, and the Tuscaloosa Symphony among others. An active pianist, he regularly performs with members of the Saint Louis Symphony. He has also toured with violinist Lara St. John and with flutist Thomas Robertello, with whom he recorded Souvenir: Works by Fauré and Kennedy. Kennedy received his doctorate in composition from The Juilliard School, and his Master's and Bachelor's degrees from Indiana University. His music is published by the Theodore Presser Company.
www.martinkennedy.com
The Nissim Jury also recognized the following composers for Special Distinction: Clint Needham (Bloomington, IN) for the Body Electric, a 9-minute work for orchestra; and Matthew Peterson (Grand Forks, ND) for Reflections on the Death of the Beloved, a 15–minute work for Symphonic Band.
The judges for this year’s Nissim Prize were: Delta David Gier, Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra; Ryan McAdams, Music Director of the New York Youth Symphony; and Diane Wittry, Music Director of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra (PA) and the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra (CT).