This Week in Classical Music-Feb. 7, 2010

by: Randy Kinkel

February 07, 2010

Highlights from the Classical Grammys

This Week in Classical Music-Feb. 7, 2010

( Phoenix, AZ )
•MTT, SFSO sweep Classical Grammys
•Behind Classical music Charts

This Week in Classical Music- Feb 7, 2010

It’s KBAQ’s “This Week in Classical Music” --- an update on what’s happening in the classical music world… I’m Randy Kinkel.

The San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas were big winners at the Grammys last week; their recording of Mahler’s Symphony #8, and the Adagio from his unfinished Symphony #10 won three trophies, including Best Classical Album. The disc also won for best Choral performance and Best Engineered Album. The Classical Vocal performance Grammy went to Renee Fleming for her album, “Verismo Arias”. Best orchestral performance award went to James Levine and the Boston Symphony for their Disc of Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe”. Best opera recording was “Billy Budd” by Britten, with London Symphony and soloists.

We’ve all heard of a record moving to the “Top of the Charts”—but what does that really mean? Well, for classical music, apparently, not a whole lot. Sales of a few hundred discs are enough to get a classical CD the Top Spot. Violinist Hilary Hahn’s new album, “”Bach—Violin and Voice”, managed to sell 1,000 copies after her appearance on one of Conan O’Brien’s last “Tonight” shows. Last fall, Pianist Murray Perahia’ recording of Bach partitas spent six weeks in the top ten on the Soundscan charts, by selling 189 copies. Apparently, although exact figures are not always available, sales of classical discs in European and Asian countries is considerably higher—Soprano Cecilia Bartoli’s recent album “Sacrificium” is said to have sold 300,000 copies world wide; but only 12,000 in the US. It worth noting, though, that album sales in all genres have been declining for years. And its old news that Classical recordings are not the best sellers; “The classical charts have always been looked at as in the 3-percenter club," says Sony masterworks GM Alex Miller. "Three percent of total music sales are in classical music."

For more information on these and other items and events, go to the KBAQ website at KBAQ-dot-org.… be listening every week at this time for another update, and join me at noon every weekday for the Mozart Buffet, an hour of music by Mozart and his contemporaries, … I’m Randy Kinkel, for “This week in Classical Music” on 89-five KBAQ Phoenix, a service of Rio Salado College and Arizona state university.

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