The announcement last week of nominations for the 61st annual Grammy Awards included Bay Area classical-music notables, as usual.
Awards in 84 categories will be announced on Sunday, Feb. 10, in the Staples Center, Los Angeles, beginning at 5 p.m. Pacific, and telecast live on CBS.
Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony were nominated for their recording of Robert Schumann’s complete symphonic works, released by their in-house record label, SFS Media. The nomination marks their third consecutive nomination in the Best Orchestral Performance category. Winning the award would be their first since 2013.
Mason Bates, 41, was born in Virginia, moved to the Bay Area in 2001, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a Ph.D. in composition; he has collaborated with S.F. Symphony extensively. Bates’ opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs has received three Grammy nominations. It is scheduled for a San Francisco Opera premiere in 2020.
Berkeley’s John Adams (composer and conductor) is nominated in the Best Opera Recording category for his Dr. Atomic, which had its world premiere in the War Memorial in 2005. Also for the John Adams Edition.
Among main classical categories:
Best Orchestral Performance
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1
Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Nielsen: Symphony No. 3 And Symphony No. 4
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor (Seattle Symphony)
Ruggles, Stucky and Harbison: Orchestral Works
David Alan Miller, conductor (National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic)
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1–4
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 11
Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.
Adams: Doctor Atomic
John Adams, conductor; Aubrey Allicock, Julia Bullock, Gerald Finley and Brindley Sherratt; Friedemann Engelbrecht, producer (BBC Symphony Orchestra; BBC Singers)
Bates: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Michael Christie, conductor; Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edwards Parks, Garrett Sorenson and Wei Wu; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)
Lully: Alceste
Christophe Rousset, conductor; Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro and Judith Van Wanroij; Maximilien Ciup, producer (Les Talens Lyriques; Choeur De Chambre De Namur)
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
Sebastian Weigle, conductor; Renée Fleming, Elina Garanca, Günther Groissböck and Erin Morley; David Frost, producer (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Verdi: Rigoletto
Constantine Orbelian, conductor; Francesco Demuro, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nadine Sierra; Vilius Keras and Aleksandra Keriene, producers (Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra; Men Of The Kaunas State Choir)
Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
Chesnokov: Teach Me Thy Statutes
Vladimir Gorbik, conductor (Mikhail Davydov and Vladimir Krasov; PaTRAM Institute Male Choir)
Kastalsky: Memory Eternal
Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)
Mcloskey: Zealot Canticles
Donald Nally, conductor (Doris Hall-Gulati, Rebecca Harris, Arlen Hlusko, Lorenzo Raval and Mandy Wolman; The Crossing)
Rachmaninov: The Bells
Mariss Jansons, conductor; Peter Dijkstra, chorus master (Oleg Dolgov, Alexey Markov and Tatiana Pavlovskaya; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
Seven Words From the Cross
Matthew Guard, conductor (Skylark)
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (24 or fewer members, not including the conductor). One award to the ensemble and one award to the conductor, if applicable.
Laurie Anderson: Landfall
Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet
Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Bach
The Danish String Quartet
Blueprinting
Aizuri Quartet
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Concerto for Two Pianos
Leif Ove Andsnes and Marc-André Hamelin
Visions And Variations
A Far Cry
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2
Yuja Wang; Simon Rattle, conductor (Berliner Philharmoniker)
Biber: The Mystery Sonatas
Christina Day Martinson; Martin Pearlman, conductor (Boston Baroque)
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46; Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26
Joshua Bell (The Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields)
Glass: Three Pieces in the Shape of a Square
Craig Morris
Kernis: Violin Concerto
James Ehnes; Ludovic Morlot, conductor (Seattle Symphony)
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with 51 percent or more playing time of new material.
Arc
Anthony Roth Costanzo; Jonathan Cohen, conductor (Les Violons Du Roy)
The Handel Album
Philippe Jaroussky; Artaserse, ensemble
Mirages
Sabine Devieilhe; François-Xavier Roth, conductor (Alexandre Tharaud; Marianne Crebassa and Jodie Devos; Les Siècles)
Schubert: Winterreise
Randall Scarlata; Gilbert Kalish, accompanist
Songs of Orpheus — Monteverdi, Caccini, D’India, and Landi
Karim Sulayman; Jeannette Sorrell, conductor; Apollo’s Fire, ensembles
