We won't be watching tonight’s 50th Grammy Awards, ‘cause for one, they start at like 2:00am our time; secondly, we don't get CBS on satellite (ed: the lame-0 E! channel is broadcasting the ceremony; but we're going to baed anyway); and lastly, well, they rilly rilly suck. Those lame, out-of-touch wankfests of self-lauding Hollyweird honors don’t really appeal to us (don’t get us started on this year’s embarrassing Oscar fetish for Juno), especially when we’ve seen Grammy awards handed to the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince ('Yo homes smell ya later' bwahahaha) and Lil'Kim -- although to be fair, we've also seen them handed to Cecilia Bartoli, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kissin, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. So. You know. That being said, if you must watch, the classical nominations might just get u all hawt and bothered. We’ve already picked sides and laid down the cash.
Muti, a first-time nominee, & the Bayerischen Rundfunks racked up 2 nominations for their Cherubini Missa Solemnis (Best Classical Album & Best Choral Performance), while Fleming’s Age of the Diva with Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra match Muti’s two award nominations (for Best Classical Album & Best Classical Vocal).
LH Lieberson may be awarded posthumously for three nominations of the Neruda Songs, along with husband Peter for composition, and Levine/BSO for accompaniment (in Best Classical Album, Best Vocal Performance, and Best Classical Contemporary Composition).
We’re totally rooting for Esa-Pekka and the LA Phil for Stravinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps, which is in the running for Best Orchestra Performance, while we favor Quasthoff for his Jazz Album to sweep Best Classical Crossover Album, adding this year's award to his cache of previous wins.
The awards might be worth it just to see who wins the Best Classical Vocal award, battling top divas & divos in the ring, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome stylee. Two men enter. One man leaves. Villazón’s Zarzuela Arias (with Domingo & Orquestra de Madrid *vs* Fleming’s Age of the Diva (with Gergiev & the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra) *vs* LH Lieberson’s Neruda Songs (with James Levine & the BSO) *vs* Netrebko’s Russian Album (again with Gergiev & the Mariinsky) *vs* underdog Sarah Connolly’s Sea Pictures (with Bournemouth Symphony). Unfortunately, this year’s award for Best Opera Recording is such a huge expanse of ennui that we’re not even gonna go there.
May the best classical music nerd win!!11!!!1