Classical Grammy Nominees for 2022 Plus Winners

BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL

• Archetypes, Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion

• Beethoven: Cello Sonatas – Hope Amid Tears, Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax

• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Manfred Honeck, Mendelssohn Choir Of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

• Chanticleer Sings Christmas, Chanticleer  WINNER
  

• Mahler: Symphony No. 8, ‘Symphony of a Thousand,’ Gustavo Dudamel, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Luke McEndarfer, Robert Istad, Grant Gershon, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus, Pacific Chorale & Los Angeles Philharmonic

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL

• Blanton Alspaugh
• Steven Epstein
• David Frost
• Elaine Martone
• Judith Sherman WINNER
  

BEST ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE

• Adams: My Father Knew Charles Ives; Harmonielehre, Nashville Symphony Orchestra

• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

• Muhly: Throughline, San Francisco Symphony

• Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, Philadelphia Orchestra, cond. Yannick Nézet-Séguin WINNER
  

• Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Scriabin: The Poem Of Ecstasy, Seattle Symphony Orchestra

BEST OPERA RECORDING ALBUM

• "Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle,” Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
• “Glass: Akhnaten,” The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus WINNER
  
• “Janáček: Cunning Little Vixen,” London Symphony Orchestra; London Symphony Chorus & LSO Discovery Voices
• “Little: Soldier Songs,” The Opera Philadelphia Orchestra
• “Poulenc: Dialogues Des Carmélites,” The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus, cond. Yannick Nézet-Séguin

BEST CHORAL PERFORMANCE

• It’s a Long Way, Jonas Budris, Carrie Cheron, Fiona Gillespie, Nathan Hodgson, Helen Karloski, Enrico Lagasca, Megan Roth, Alissa Ruth Suver & Dana Whiteside; Skylark Vocal Ensemble
• Mahler: Symphony No. 8, ‘Symphony of a Thousand,’ Leah Crocetto, Mihoko Fujimura, Ryan McKinny, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Simon O’Neill, Morris Robinson & Tamara Wilson; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus & Pacific Chorale  WINNER
  
• Rising w/ The Crossing, International Contemporary Ensemble & Quicksilver; The Crossing
• Schnittke: Choir Concerto; Three Sacred Hymns; Pärt: Seven Magnificat-antiphons, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
• Sheehan: Liturgy Of Saint John Chrysostom, Michael Hawes, Timothy Parsons & Jason Thoms; The Saint Tikhon Choir
• The Singing Guitar, Estelí Gomez; Austin Guitar Quartet, Douglas Harvey, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet & Texas Guitar Quartet; Conspirare

BEST CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

• Adams, John Luther: Lines Made By Walking, Jack Quartet
• Akiho: Seven Pillars, Sandbox Percussion
• Archetypes, Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion
• Beethoven: Cello Sonatas – Hope Amid Tears, Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax WINNER
  
• Bruits, Imani Winds

BEST CLASSICAL INSTRUMENT SOLO

• “Alone Together,” Jennifer Koh  WINNER
  
• “An American Mosaic,” Simone Dinnerstein
• “Bach: Sonatas & Partitas,” Augustin Hadelich
• “Beethoven & Brahms: Violin Concertos,” The Knights
• “Mak Bach,” Mak Grgić
• “Of Power,” Curtis Stewart

BEST CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM

• Confessions, Laura Strickling; Joy Schreier

• Dreams Of A New Day – Songs By Black Composers, Will Liverman; Paul Sánchez

• Mythologies, Sangeeta Kaur & Hila Plitmann (Virginie D’avezac De Castera, Lili Haydn, Wouter Kellerman, Nadeem Majdalany, Eru Matsumoto & Emilio D. Miler) WINNER
  

• Schubert: Winterreise, Joyce Didonato; Yannick Nézet-Séguin

• Unexpected Shadows, Jamie Barton; Jake Heggie (Matt Haimovitz)

BEST CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM ALBUM

• American Originals – A New World, A New Canon, Agave & Reginald L. Mobley; Geoffrey Silver, producer

• Berg: Violin Concerto; Seven Early Songs & Three Pieces for Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor; Jack Vad, producer

• Cerrone: The Arching Path, Timo Andres & Ian Rosenbaum; Mike Tierney, producer

• Plays, Chick Corea; Chick Corea & Birnie Kirsh, producers

• Women Warriors – The Voices Of Change, Amy Andersson, Conductor; Amy Andersson, Mark Mattson & Lolita Ritmanis, producers  WINNER
  

BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION

• Akiho: Seven Pillars, Andy Akiho, composer (Sandbox Percussion)

• Andriessen: The Only One, Louis Andriessen, composer (Esa-pekka Salonen, Nora Fischer & Los Angeles Philharmonic)

• Assad, Clarice & Sérgio, Connors, Dillon, Martin & Skidmore: Archetypes, Clarice Assad, Sérgio Assad, Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin & David Skidmore, composers (Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion)

• Batiste: Movement 11′, Jon Batiste, composer (Jon Batiste)

• Shaw: Narrow Sea, Caroline Shaw, composer (Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish & Sō Percussion) WINNER

 

2021 Opera Year in Review KK Awards

I'm not sure 2021 was any better than 2020.  I am counting only performances that took place this year or films I had never seen before this year.  This was another year aggravated by both COVID and my advancing age.  I still saw some very nice stuff.

Here is the all too short list of operas new to me this year.

• Heggie's Three Decembers, Jan 1, from San Jose *
• Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, Jan 26, from Florence *
• Saariaho's Innocence, July 23, from Aix en Provence *
  
• Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones, October 23, from the Met *
• Aucoin's Eurydice, December 18, from the Met *

• BEST NEW OPERA AWARD   It's hard to choose one.  I enjoyed most Heggie's Three Decembers from the San Jose Opera, but this was probably because the lead role was played by the always amazing Susan Graham.  The two modern operas from the Metropolitan Opera did not grab me.  I require musical interest, and not just theater.  Donizetti is famous mostly for his comic operas L’Elisir d’Amore and Don Pasquale, plus Lucia, of course.  Linda di Chamounix is very beautiful, but perhaps the plot is too dated.  It is opera seria with a happy ending, a genre we don't follow that much.  The award seems to go to Three Decembers. 
  

• BEST OF MOZART, BEETHOVEN, AND WEBER AWARD     My only Mozart was Cosi fan Tutte, November 28, from San Francisco in a lovely modern production, part 2 of their Da Ponte trilogy.  I saw two new versions of Beethoven's Fidelio this year:   Fidelio, Jan 29, from Birmingham England and some years old, and Fidelio, October 15, from San Francisco.  Weber Der Freischütz, Feb 16, from Munich. All four of these operas might be regarded as regie.  The Birmingham Fidelio features a row of washing machines.  Der Freischütz, which we see all too seldom, is in a sky scraper.  Modernizing it loses some of the mystery.  Cosi is in a Country Club which people join to play golf and tennis.  I dearly love Fidelio, but I think the most successful of this group has to be the San Francisco Cosi fan Tutte, and I award to it.

 

• BEST OF WAGNER AWARD  This turned out to be a big year for Wagner for me.  I saw two new Wagner productions:  Tristan und Isolde, August 12, from the Bayerische Staatsoper with Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros and Der fliegende Holländer, Sept 37, from Bayreuth with Asmik Grigorian, who does not touch my heart.  She's quite celebrated, but these are my opinions.   Both were regie productions.  I also finally saw the full Ring cycle from the San Francisco Opera:  Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Die Götterdämmerung.  The last two were new for me.  

The concert version of act I of Die Walküre, July 17, also from the Bayerische Staatsoper with Jonas Kaufmann and Lise Davidsen is the final entry.  This last was quite wonderful, but I find it not quite as wonderful as the amazing and surprising Tristan und Isolde, also from Munich.  It is hard to top the combination of Jonas and Anja.  Musically and theatrically they are completely in tune.  I award to that.  Lise may be turning me into a Wagnerian.

 

 

• BEST OF VERDI, MUSSORGSKY AND R. STRAUSS AWARD  The pickings in the late Romantics are pretty slim.  Lise Davidsen makes her only staged opera appearance in a rather odd Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos, Feb 4, from Aix en Province.  I say odd because in this regie production Ariadne doesn't await a god to rescue her; instead she awaits a baby because she is pregnant.  Lise frowned almost constantly.  The singing was wonderful.  Other performances in the running are Verdi Aida, February 18, from Paris and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, October 9, from the Met in a shortened version.  The Aida with Jonas Kaufmann and Sondra Radvanovsky has puppets.  None of these are anything I would want to see again, but I award to Aida.

• BEST VERISMO AWARD  The Verismo operas for this year were Korngold Die Tote Stadt, June 20, from the Bayerische Staatsoper, Janáček's Káťa Kabanová, August 2, from West Edge, and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, August 20, from Chicago.  West Edge was in a poor venue and can't really compete with the other companies.  Verismo operas are modern enough to allow for regie productions with no complaining, at least from me.  The Korngold starred Jonas Kaufmann who is hard to beat in anything.  Pagliacci starred our boy Quinn Kelsen who gave us a marvelous prologue.  The pictured performance was a television show, The Honeymooners, which I am old enough to have seen.  If you hadn't seen it, you would not get the back story.  I award to Pagliacci, for fun.
  

• SINGER OF THE YEAR   This has to go to Jonas Kaufmann, who managed to find a way onto the stage and our screens in spite of everything.  I especially loved him in the reopening of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Act I of Die Walküre with Lise Davidsen, who was glorious.  This is the most I have become emotionally involved with this scene. His fully staged operas were Aida with Sondra Radvanovsky, Die Tote Stadt with Marlis Peterson, Tosca with Anna Netrebko in Salzburg and with Sondra Radvanovsky in Spain, and the triumph that puts him above all others:  Tristan und Isolde with Anja Harteros.  I loved every bit in spite of the fact that it was very much regie.  With such great artists it doesn't seem to matter.

 It was a pretty strange year.  Let's hope for better things in the future.

International Opera Awards

CHORUS
Metropolitan Opera
 
CONDUCTOR
Kirill Petrenko
 
DESIGNER
Małgorzata Szczęśniak
 
DIRECTOR
Robert Carsen
 
EDUCATION & OUTREACH
Birmingham Opera Company
 
FEMALE SINGER
Lise Davidsen
 
FESTIVAL
Salzburg Festival
 
LEADERSHIP
(sponsored by the Good Governance Institute)
David Pountney
 
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Bernard Haitink
 
MALE SINGER
Javier Camarena
 
NEW PRODUCTION
Tale of Tsar Saltan
(Tcherniakov, La Monnaie De Munt)
 
NEWCOMER
Alpesh Chauhan
 
OPERA COMPANY
Teatro Real, Madrid
 
OPERA FOR PEACE PRIZE
Denyce Graves
 
OPERA ORCHESTRA
Bayerisches Staatsorchester / Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich
 
PHILANTHROPY
Martina Arroyo Foundation
 
RECORDING (SOLO RECITAL)
Jakub Józef Orliński: Facce d’amore (Erato)

RECORDING (COMPLETE OPERA)
Thomas: Hamlet (Naxos) [DVD]

OPERA MAGAZINE READERS’ AWARD
Jamie Barton

REDISCOVERED WORK
Moniuszko: Paria (Teatr Wielki, Poznań)
 
WORLD PREMIERE
Glanert: Oceane (Deutsche Oper, Berlin)
 
YOUNG SINGER sponsored by Mazars
Xabier Anduaga
Vasilisa Berzhanskaya

Classical Grammys for 2021 Winners

 

Here are the Classical Grammy winners for 2021.  The most import award for this year is a Lifetime Achievement Grammy awarded to Marilyn Horne. Congratulations.

Because of my own personal prejudices, I am happy for the Ives win, Porgy and Bess win (but would have also been happy for Agrippina), and a piece by Michael Tilson Thomas sung by Isabel Leonard.  I am unfamiliar with the rest.

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

• ASPECTS OF AMERICA - PULITZER EDITION
  Carlos Kalmar, conductor (Oregon Symphony)
   
• CONCURRENCE
  Daníel Bjarnason, conductor (Iceland Symphony Orchestra)
   
• COPLAND: SYMPHONY NO. 3
  Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
   
• IVES: COMPLETE SYMPHONIES
  Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
   
• LUTOSłAWSKI: SYMPHONIES NOS. 2 & 3
  Hannu Lintu, conductor (Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra)

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

• DELLO JOIO: THE TRIAL AT ROUEN
  Gil Rose, conductor; Heather Buck & Stephen Powell; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Odyssey Opera Chorus)
   
• FLOYD, C.: PRINCE OF PLAYERS
  William Boggs, conductor; Alexander Dobson, Keith Phares & Kate Royal; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Florentine Opera Chorus)
   
• GERSHWIN: PORGY AND BESS
  David Robertson, conductor; Frederick Ballentine, Angel Blue, Denyce Graves, Latonia Moore & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
   
• HANDEL: AGRIPPINA
  Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor; Elsa Benoit, Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli, Jakub Józef Orliński & Luca Pisaroni; Daniel Zalay, producer (Il Pomo D'Oro)
   
• ZEMLINSKY: DER ZWERG
  Donald Runnicles, conductor; David Butt Philip & Elena Tsallagova; Peter Ghirardini & Erwin Stürzer, producers (Orchestra Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin; Chorus Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin)

77. Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.

• CARTHAGE
  Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
   
• DANIELPOUR: THE PASSION OF YESHUAH
  JoAnn Falletta, conductor; James K. Bass & Adam Luebke, chorus masters (James K. Bass, J'Nai Bridges, Timothy Fallon, Kenneth Overton, Hila Plitmann & Matthew Worth; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus & UCLA Chamber Singers)
   
• KASTALSKY: REQUIEM
  Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Charles Bruffy, Steven Fox & Benedict Sheehan, chorus masters (Joseph Charles Beutel & Anna Dennis; Orchestra Of St. Luke's; Cathedral Choral Society, The Clarion Choir, Kansas City Chorale & The Saint Tikhon Choir)
   
• MORAVEC: SANCTUARY ROAD
  Kent Tritle, conductor (Joshua Blue, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Dashon Burton, Malcolm J. Merriweather & Laquita Mitchell; Oratorio Society Of New York Orchestra; Oratorio Society Of New York Chorus)
   
• ONCE UPON A TIME
  Matthew Guard, conductor (Sarah Walker; Skylark Vocal Ensemble)

78. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.

• CONTEMPORARY VOICES
  Pacifica Quartet
   
• HEALING MODES
  Brooklyn Rider
   
• HEARNE, T.: PLACE
  Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods & Place Orchestra
   
• HYNES: FIELDS
  Devonté Hynes & Third Coast Percussion
   
• THE SCHUMANN QUARTETS
  Dover Quartet

79. Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.

• ADÈS: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
  Kirill Gerstein; Thomas Adès, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
   
• BEETHOVEN: COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS
  Igor Levit
   
• BOHEMIAN TALES
  Augustin Hadelich; Jakub Hrůša, conductor (Charles Owen; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
   
• DESTINATION RACHMANINOV - ARRIVAL
  Daniil Trifonov; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
   
• THEOFANIDIS: CONCERTO FOR VIOLA AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
  Richard O'Neill; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)

80. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with 51% or more playing time of new material.

• AMERICAN COMPOSERS AT PLAY - WILLIAM BOLCOM, RICKY IAN GORDON, LORI LAITMAN, JOHN MUSTO
  Stephen Powell (Attacca Quartet, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lori Laitman, John Musto, Charles Neidich & Jason Vieaux)
   
• CLAIRIÈRES - SONGS BY LILI & NADIA BOULANGER
  Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist
   
• FARINELLI
  Cecilia Bartoli; Giovanni Antonini, conductor (Il Giardino Armonico)
   
• A LAD'S LOVE
  Brian Giebler; Steven McGhee, accompanist (Katie Hyun, Michael Katz, Jessica Meyer, Reginald Mobley & Ben Russell)
   
• SMYTH: THE PRISON
  Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton; James Blachly, conductor (Experiential Chorus; Experiential Orchestra)

81. Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 51% playing time of the album, if other than the artist.

• ADÈS CONDUCTS ADÈS
  Mark Stone & Christianne Stotijn; Thomas Adès, conductor; Nick Squire, producer
   
• SAARIAHO: GRAAL THÉÂTRE; CIRCLE MAP; NEIGES; VERS TOI QUI ES SI LOIN
  Clément Mao-Takacs, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer
   
• SEREBRIER: SYMPHONIC BACH VARIATIONS; LAMENTS AND HALLELUJAHS; FLUTE CONCERTO
  José Serebrier, conductor; Jens Braun, producer
   
• THOMAS, M.T.: FROM THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK & MEDITATIONS ON RILKE
  Isabel Leonard; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Jack Vad, producer
   
• WOOLF, L.P.: FIRE AND FLOOD
  Matt Haimovitz; Julian Wachner, conductor; Blanton Alspaugh, producer

82. Best Contemporary Classical 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.

• ADÈS: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
  Thomas Adès, composer (Kirill Gerstein, Thomas Adès & Boston Symphony Orchestra)
   
• DANIELPOUR: THE PASSION OF YESHUA
  Richard Danielpour, composer (JoAnn Falletta, James K. Bass, Adam Luebke, UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus)
   
• FLOYD, C.: PRINCE OF PLAYERS
  Carlisle Floyd, composer (William Boggs, Alexander Dobson, Kate Royal, Keith Phares, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)
• HEARNE, T.: PLACE
  Ted Hearne, composer (Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods & Place Orchestra)
   
• ROUSE: SYMPHONY NO. 5
  Christopher Rouse, composer (Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)

2020 Opera Year in Review KK Awards

It seems rather depressing to be suggesting awards for 2020.  Luckily I don't require that the performances reviewed be performed this year.  I only require that I saw them this year and did not see the exact same performance in a previous year.  This eliminates a lot of things, including the nightly Met streams.  

• March 30 --  Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg  Met stream
• March 31 --  Il Barbiere di Siviglia Met stream  [I liked it better this time]
  
• April 3  --  Don Carlo  Met stream
• April 8 --  La Fanciulla del West  Met stream
• April 28 -- Anna Bolena Met stream
• April 30 --  Roberto Devereux  Met stream
• May 2  --  Aida  Met stream
• May 7  --  Le Nozze di Figaro  Met stream [all time favorite]
  
• May 12 --  Werther  Met stream
• May 13  --  Ariadne auf Naxos  Met stream 
• May 20  --  Lohengrin Met stream
• May 27 --  Manon Lescaut  Met stream
• June 19  --  La Forza del Destino Met stream
• July 5  --  Die Walküre Met stream
• August 24 -- Hansel and Gretel Met stream 
• September 10 -- La Damnation de Faust  Met stream 

Though these are some of the greatest performances ever from the Metropolitan Opera, I will not consider them in the KK Awards.  Interestingly, the San Francisco Opera produced an occasional weekly stream.

• May 31 --  Lucrezia Borgia SFO
• June 14  --  Trittico from SFO
• June 23 --  Salome SFO  [far better with closeups.]
  
• July 29 -- The Makropulos Case SFO
• October 11  -- Tosca  SFO (new to me)
• October 20 -- Attila  SFO
• October 31 -- Lucia di Lammermoor  SFO
• November 22 -- Rigoletto SFO
• November 30 -- The Elixir of Love  SFO (new to me)

Two of these streams were completely new to me and should be included in the competition.  My series does not always include everything.  The logic here is that they could have been included in the KK Awards for previous seasons.  There are more performances from the Wiener Staatsoper than generally come my way due to free streaming.  Usually they charge.

Every year I list the operas that were completely new to me.  I find it interesting that these things can still happen.  In chronological order of viewing this year they are:

• Ryan Suleiman's Bones of Girls live in Sacramento
• Bartok's Judith from Munich - a mashup of the Concerto for Orchestra and Duke Bluebeard's Castle
• Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane  from Berlin
• Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton 
• Benjamin Britten's Gloriana from Madrid
• Weber's Euryanthe  from Vienna
• Walter Braunfels  Die Vögel  from Munich

• BEST NEW OPERA AWARD   Ryan Suleiman's Bones of Girls from Sacramento, Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane from Berlin, Britten's Gloriana.  I liked the Judith idea, but the film that went before Bluebeard featured Nina Stemme and would not be transferable to another performance.  I enjoyed Hamilton but find that I must award to Britten's Gloriana, a truly excellent opera that should be performed more often.

 

 
 
• BEST BAROQUE OPERA AWARD   The pickings here are rather slim.  Agrippina in HD with Joyce DiDonato, Giulio Cesare from Glyndebourne with Sarah Connolly which used the same production as the Met.  Flip a coin.  Neither one can be topped.  Because both the performance and the production were new to me, I award to Agrippina.  Joyce was exceptional.

• BEST OF BEETHOVEN, MOZART AND WEBER AWARD  Fidelio from Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Fidelio from ROH with Lise Davidsen, Cosi fan Tutte from Salzburg, Weber's Euryanthe from Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Lisette Oropesa.  This is tough.  This is a Beethoven year, and I was so looking forward to seeing Fidelio from everywhere.   I am pleased that I found 2 excellent examples.  I am torn between Lise Davidsen and Lisette Oropesa, of course.  I have actually never liked Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail before seeing this performance from Vienna.  The production is very strange, but Lisette is magnificent.  Leonora in Fidelio is a perfect role for the 6'2" Lise Davidsen.  It fits her voice and herself.  I award to this Fidelio.  It would have been Lisette's Mozart except for the production. 

• BEST BEL CANTO OPERA AWARD  Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi from the Zurich opera with Joyce DiDonato, Donizetti's The Elixir of Love from SFO with Ramon Vargas.  The rest of the bel canto repertoire was reruns.  This is tough.  One is serious, the other comedy.  I think I must choose Joyce once again in the serious opera.
  

• BEST VERDI OPERA AWARD  This is also slim pickings.  La Traviata from Philadelphia with Lisette Oropesa. Rigoletto from SFO with Željko Lučić and Aleksandra Kurzak.  This was my first experience of Aleksandra Kurzak, and I liked her very much.  But everything but the cast was a rerun.  It has to be La Traviata.  

• BEST WAGNER OPERA AWARD No entries.  All my Wagner was reruns from the Met.

 

• BEST ROMANTIC OPERA NOT VERDI OR WAGNER AWARD  Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann from Paris, Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos from Vienna with Lise Davidsen, Walter Braunfels's Die Vögel from Munich, Massenet's Werther from Vienna.  Strauss's Elektra from Salzburg.  This is a huge category, all the way from Offenbach to Strauss.  I am biased toward anything with Lise Davidsen.  I award to Ariadne for more than just Lise. 
  

BEST VERISMO OPERA AWARD   Curiously, everything in this category this year is either Tosca or La Boheme.   Tosca list:

from Vienna with Jonas and Bryn
from San Francisco with Lianna Haroutounian,
from Vienna with Sondra Radvanovsky
from Vienna with Anna Netrebko.

La Boheme list:

from ROH with Michael Fabiano, 
from Munich with Jonas Kaufmann, 

This is a wonderful selection of Puccini performances.  This is the broadest selection of a small repertoire.  Bryn is the best Scarpia.  I'm torn between Lianna and Sondra for Tosca herself.  However, the depth of my emotional reaction cannot exceed the Munich La Boheme.  They felt like friends.  There was real joy in being together even though there was no audience.  I award to this performance.

• BEST BROADWAY REVIVAL AWARD   Cats the movie,  Hamilton, Disney movie of an on stage performance.  The Cats movie was ok, but Hamilton was the real deal.  I was very pleased to have finally seen it.
  

• BEST MODERN OPERA AWARD  The nominees are Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas from Bloomington, Indiana, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess live in Met HD, Bartok's Judith from Munich,  Janácek's The Makropulos Affair from Salzburg, Britten's Gloriana from Madrid.  Gloriana has already won for best new to me opera.  This was a truly great Porgy and Bess.
  

• WORST REGIE PRODUCTION AWARD   This must go to Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Lisette Oropesa.  It's ghastly.
  

• BEST SINGING AWARD This must go to Lisette in La Traviata from Philadelphia and Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail.  These are 2 great singing operas and she aced them both.
  

• BEST OVERALL AWARD  The Munich La Boheme.  How can it be anything else?

If I think of anything else to award to, I'll add it.  We can only hope for a return to live opera in the new year.

Opera News Awards

 Janet Baker  --  Cecilia Bartoli  --  Lawrence Brownlee

These are this year's recipients of the Opera News Awards, all three artists that I love.  I'll find some music.  There will be a streamed virtual gala on April 18, 2021.

Cecilia's Grammys

I reposted this because Cecilia has just received a new Grammy nomination, at the bottom of the list. 

1992  Rossini Heroines Classical Vocal Solo Nominee
1992  Rossini Heroines  Classical Album Nominee

1995 · The Impatient Lover Classical Vocal Solo Winner

1996   La Clemenza di Tito Best Opera Recording Nominee

 

1998 · An Italian Songbook Classical Vocal Solo Winner

 

2001 · The Vivaldi Album Classical Vocal Solo Winner

2002 · Gluck Italian Arias Classical Vocal Solo Winner

2005   Opera Proibita Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

2009 · Maria Classical Vocal Solo Nominee
2009 · Maria Classical Album Nominee

2011 · Sacrificium  Classical Vocal Solo Winner
2011 · Sacrificium  Classical Album Nominee

2014 · Mission  Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

2016 · St Petersburg   Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

2016  Giulio Cesare Best Opera Recording Nominee

2021  Farinelli Best Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

According to Google November, 2019, Cecilia Bartoli has sold 12 million records.

Classical Music Grammy Nominees and Winners For 2020

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

• BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO. 9
  Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
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• COPLAND: BILLY THE KID; GROHG
  Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
   
• WINNER!  NORMAN: SUSTAIN
  Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
   
• TRANSATLANTIC
  Louis Langrée, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
   
• WEINBERG: SYMPHONIES NOS. 2 & 21
  Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor (City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Kremerata Baltica)

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

• BENJAMIN: LESSONS IN LOVE & VIOLENCE
  George Benjamin, conductor; Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare & Gyula Orendt; Raphaël Mouterde & James Whitbourn, producers (Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House)
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• BERG: WOZZECK
  Marc Albrecht, conductor; Christopher Maltman & Eva-Maria Westbroek; François Roussillon, producer (Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra; Chorus Of Dutch National Opera)
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• CHARPENTIER: LES ARTS FLORISSANTS; LES PLAISIRS DE VERSAILLES
  Paul O'Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors; Jesse Blumberg, Teresa Wakim & Virginia Warnken; Renate Wolter-Seevers, producer (Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble; Boston Early Music Festival Vocal Ensemble)
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• WINNER!  PICKER: FANTASTIC MR. FOX
  Gil Rose, conductor; John Brancy, Andrew Craig Brown, Gabriel Preisser, Krista River & Edwin Vega; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Boston Children's Chorus)
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• WAGNER: LOHENGRIN
  Christian Thielemann, conductor; Piotr Beczała, Anja Harteros, Tomasz Konieczny, Waltraud Meier & Georg Zeppenfeld; Eckhard Glauche, producer (Festspielorchester Bayreuth; Festspielchor Bayreuth) [The blue Lohengrin]   

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77. Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.

• BOYLE: VOYAGES
  Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
   
• WINNER!  DURUFLÉ: COMPLETE CHORAL WORKS
  Robert Simpson, conductor (Ken Cowan; Houston Chamber Choir)
   
• THE HOPE OF LOVING
  Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Conspirare)
   
• SANDER: THE DIVINE LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
  Peter Jermihov, conductor (Evan Bravos, Vadim Gan, Kevin Keys, Glenn Miller & Daniel Shirley; PaTRAM Institute Singers)
   
• SMITH, K.: THE ARC IN THE SKY
  Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)

78. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.

• CERRONE: THE PIECES THAT FALL TO EARTH
  Christopher Rountree & Wild Up
   
• FREEDOM & FAITH
  PUBLIQuartet
   
• PERPETULUM
  Third Coast Percussion
   
• RACHMANINOFF - HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO
  Hermitage Piano Trio
   
• WINNER!  SHAW: ORANGE
  Attacca Quartet

79. Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.

• THE BERLIN RECITAL
  Yuja Wang
   
• HIGDON: HARP CONCERTO
  Yolanda Kondonassis; Ward Stare, conductor (The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra)
   
• WINNER!  MARSALIS: VIOLIN CONCERTO; FIDDLE DANCE SUITE
  Nicola Benedetti; Cristian Măcelaru, conductor (Philadelphia Orchestra)
   
• THE ORCHESTRAL ORGAN
  Jan Kraybill
   
• TORKE: SKY, CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN
  Tessa Lark; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)

80. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with 51% or more playing time of new material.

• THE EDGE OF SILENCE - WORKS FOR VOICE BY GYÖRGY KURTÁG
  Susan Narucki (Donald Berman, Curtis Macomber, Kathryn Schulmeister & Nicholas Tolle)
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• HIMMELSMUSIK
  Philippe Jaroussky & Céline Scheen; Christina Pluhar, conductor; L’Arpeggiata, ensemble (Jesús Rodil & Dingle Yandell)
   
• SCHUMANN: LIEDERKREIS OP. 24, KERNER-LIEDER OP. 35
  Matthias Goerne; Leif Ove Andsnes, accompanist
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• WINNER!  SONGPLAY
  Joyce DiDonato; Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison, Charlie Porter & Craig Terry, accompanists (Steve Barnett & Lautaro Greco)
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• A TE, O CARA
  Stephen Costello; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra)

81. Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 51% playing time of the album, if other than the artist.

• AMERICAN ORIGINALS 1918
  John Morris Russell, conductor; Elaine Martone, producer
   
• LESHNOFF: SYMPHONY NO. 4 'HEICHALOS'; GUITAR CONCERTO; STARBURST
  Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
   
• MELTZER: SONGS AND STRUCTURES
  Paul Appleby & Natalia Katyukova; Silas Brown & Harold Meltzer, producers
   
• WINNER!  THE POETRY OF PLACES
  Nadia Shpachenko; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, producers
   
• SAARIAHO: TRUE FIRE; TRANS; CIEL D'HIVER
  Hannu Lintu, conductor; Laura Heikinheimo, producer

82. Best Contemporary Classical 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.

• BERMEL: MIGRATION SERIES FOR JAZZ ENSEMBLE & ORCHESTRA
  Derek Bermel, composer (Derek Bermel, Ted Nash, David Alan Miller, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra & Albany Symphony Orchestra)
   
• WINNER!!  HIGDON: HARP CONCERTO
  Jennifer Higdon, composer (Yolanda Kondonassis, Ward Stare & The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra)
   
• MARSALIS: VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D MAJOR
  Wynton Marsalis, composer (Nicola Benedetti, Cristian Măcelaru & Philadelphia Orchestra)
   
• NORMAN: SUSTAIN
  Andrew Norman, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
   
• SHAW: ORANGE
  Caroline Shaw, composer (Attacca Quartet)
   
• WOLFE: FIRE IN MY MOUTH
  Julia Wolfe, composer (Jaap Van Zweden, Francisco J. Núñez, Donald Nally, The Crossing, Young People's Chorus Of NY City & New York Philharmonic)

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

• WINNER!  BLANTON ALSPAUGH

• Artifacts - The Music Of Michael McGlynn (Charles Bruffy & Kansas City Chorale)
• Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Fantaisie Sur La Tempête De Shakespeare (Andrew Davis & Toronto Symphony Orchestra)
• Copland: Billy The Kid; Grohg (Leonard Slatkin & Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
• Duruflé: Complete Choral Works (Robert Simpson & Houston Chamber Choir)
• Glass: Symphony No. 5 (Julian Wachner, The Choir Of Trinity Wall Street, Trinity Youth Chorus, Downtown Voices & Novus NY)
• Sander: The Divine Liturgy Of St. John Chrysostom (Peter Jermihov & PaTRAM Institute Singers)
• Smith, K.: Canticle (Craig Hella Johnson & Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble)
• Visions Take Flight (Mei-Ann Chen & ROCO)

• JAMES GINSBURG

• Project W - Works By Diverse Women Composers (Mei-Ann Chen & Chicago Sinfonietta)
• Silenced Voices (Black Oak Ensemble)
• 20th Century Harpsichord Concertos (Jory Vinikour, Scott Speck & Chicago Philharmonic)
• Twentieth Century Oboe Sonatas (Alex Klein & Phillip Bush)
• Winged Creatures & Other Works For Flute, Clarinet, And Orchestra (Anthony McGill, Demarre McGill, Allen Tinkham & Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra)

• MARINA A. LEDIN, VICTOR LEDIN

• Bates: Children Of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem (Steven Smith, Erin R. Freeman, Richmond Symphony & Chorus)
• The Orchestral Organ (Jan Kraybill)
• The Poetry Of Places (Nadia Shpachenko)
• Rachmaninoff - Hermitage Piano Trio (Hermitage Piano Trio)

• MORTEN LINDBERG

• Himmelborgen (Elisabeth Holte, Kåre Nordstoga & Uranienborg Vokalensemble)
• Kleiberg: Do You Believe In Heather? (Various Artists)
• Ljos (Fauna Vokalkvintett)
• LUX (Anita Brevik, Trondheimsolistene & Nidarosdomens Jentekor)
• Trachea (Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl & Schola Cantorum)
• Veneliti (Håkon Daniel Nystedt & Oslo Kammerkor)

• DIRK SOBOTKA

• Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

2019 Opera Year in Review KK Awards

The KK Awards reflect my experience of opera from the virtually rural location of Sacramento, California.  We have no full time opera company, and as I get older it gets harder and harder to commute to San Francisco.  As a result, I must often work hard to keep up with international events.  I will have to be forgiven for including performances not strictly inside the 2019 calendar year.  I limit myself to things that only go back a couple of years and were first seen by me this year.

In a way this was a Cecilia Bartoli year, at least for me.  A lot of my experience of European opera depends upon finding copies to view.  In addition to two new operas, she has also released an excellent CD of the usual Farinelli focus.  This came in second in Opera News.  Because Cecilia is the manager and the star performer in Salzburg, she may sing whatever she likes in whatever production she likes.  She enjoys to present herself in a wide variety of styles and looks for our enjoyment.  The opera world is richer for it.  A standard opera manager might not wish to take such risks.

I viewed a few films of Broadway musical revivals and added an award for that. Here is a brief explanation of my categories.

There were plenty of choices for verismo, and I'm not really sure Die tote Stadt exactly qualifies, but the Bayerische Staatsoper refused to stream it.  This left us with Jonas Kaufmann only in La Forza del Destino from ROH to view from far away America.  I consider this a major scandal.  Three magnificent operas starring Anna Netrebko--Tosca, La Forza del Destino and Adraina Lecouvreur--made there way to my corner of the world.  I apologize for not revealing all of my viewing sources for fear that they will disappear.

Last year was Lisette Oropesa's year in the KK Awards, but this year she won both the Richard Tucker and Beverly Sills prizes.  Brava.

My new operas for this year are

Daniel Catán's opera Florencia en el Amazonas (1996) streamed;  Glass's Akhnaten in HD (1984) from the Met, **;  Heggie's If I Were You  (2019) live in San Francisco,   **;  Henze's The Bassarids (1966) streamed (My first Henze);  Hoiby's Bon Appétit! (2018) streamed live from Iowa,  **;  Kuusisto's Ice (2019) streamed from Finland;  Mazzoli's Breaking The Waves (2016) live in the Bay Area,  **;  Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball (1937) live,  **;  Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona (1733) on DVD;  Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard (1888) live,  **;  Verdi's I Masnadieri (1847) streamed;  Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans (1716) streamed; Wagner's Rienzi (1842) streamed on medici.tv., Abrahamsen's The Snow Queen streamed from Munich.

• BEST NEW OPERA AWARD  While I list above all the operas that are new to me this year, I only award to those that are actually relatively new to everyone.  If I were You by Jake Heggie, Hoiby's Bon Appetit, Kuusisto's Ice, Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves are all new enough to qualify. All were very good, but Bon Appetit is just a bon bon, too tiny for an opera house.  The Heggie would need a fully professional performance to evaluate.  I award to Breaking the Waves in a great production.

• BEST BAROQUE OPERA AWARD  Here the nominees are Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans from the Dutch National Opera, Handel's Orlando from San Francisco Opera and Handel's Ariodante from Salzburg (included because I saw it this year, though it was performed in 2017).  I award to Ariodante with Cecilia Bartoli who is hard to beat in anything.  Suddenly the plot becomes clear with Bartoli in the lead.  This is where we first see Cecilia in a beard.  Plus she sings and dances.  Orlando gets an honorable mention for good singing and an acceptable regie production.

Marcellina, Bartolo, Count, Curzio, Figaro 

•  BEST OF GLUCK AND MOZART AWARD  The nominees are two versions of Gluck's Orfeo, one from West Edge and one from Chicago, also Gluck's Alceste from Munich,  Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte from the Met and Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro from San Francisco. While Gluck seems to be performed more and more frequently, I think I still prefer Mozart.  I especially enjoyed Le Nozze di Figaro where everyone dressed in outfits from the American revolution and award to this. Mozart should always be performed by young singers as it was here.

• BEST BEL CANTO OPERA AWARD  The nominees are limited this year:  Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri from Salzburg with Cecilia Bartoli (included because I saw it this year though it was performed last year) and Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment from the Met.  It is hard to choose between these two glorious comedies.  Both were excellent with excellent singing and acting.  Because it brought me something completely new, I award to L'Italiana in Algeri which is rapidly becoming my favorite Bartoli film of all time.  This is the year of Cecilia who also produced a new recording and got a new job as Intendant of Opéra de Monte-Carlo. 

• BEST VERDI OPERA AWARD  Our Verdi nominees are Rigoletto from Bregenz, I Masnadieri from La Scala, La Forza del Destino from the ROH with Netrebko and Kaufmann. The Bregenz Rigoletto was extremely entertaining with its extraordinary set.  I loved I Masnadieri because it included the current new star Lisette Oropesa.  But is that really enough?  It's a terrible opera. I seem to be awarding to entertainment values which means the award goes to Rigoletto from Bregenz am Bodensee.  Such an amazing set I have never seen.  I notice they are repeating it in 2020. 

• BEST WAGNER OPERA AWARD  The nominees are Die Walküre from the Met, Tannhäuser from Bayreuth. I don't know if either one of these deserves an award.  Tannhäuser as a clown in a traveling circus stretched my credulity too far.  No award.

• BEST ROMANTIC OPERA NOT VERDI OR WAGNER AWARD  Faust from the ROH with Michael Fabiano, Manon from the Met with Lisette Oropesa and Michael Fabiano, Die Fledermaus from Vienna, Salome from Munich, Roméo et Juliette from San Francisco with Nadine Sierra.  This is a lovely set of operas.  If I have to pick just one, it has to be Manon.  Runner up is Die Fledermaus toward which I have a strong bias.

• BEST VERISMO OPERA AWARD  Tosca from Aix (Angel Blue), Tosca from La Scala (Netrebko), La Boheme (in space) from Paris, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur (Netrebko and Rachvelishvili) from the Met, La Fanciulla del West from Munich, Turandot from the Met.  There is a lot of variety of concept in this set of operas, but I simply loved Adriana Lecouvreur, especially for the spectacular singing.  The people who didn't like it seemed to be comparing it to reality, something which I regard as irrelevant in an opera production.  An opera is never a documentary.
  

• BEST BROADWAY REVIVAL AWARD  I haven't really had this category before, but this year I viewed and blogged about Broadway revivals of  Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with Audra McDonald, Cabaret with Alan Cumming and Rodgers' The King and I with Kelli O'Hara.  These happened in the last few years, but I watched them this year.  I can't give up my operatic Porgy for this Broadway version.  I think the best of the three was The King and I though it might be considered very old fashioned.

• BEST MODERN OPERA AWARD  The nominees are Poulenc's Dialogue des Carmélites from the Met, Britten's Billy Budd from San Francisco, and Glass' Akhnaten from the Met. Carmélites was just as it should be with a great performance by Isabel Leonard, but Akhnaten was simply beyond imagining.  Can I award to both?  Congratulations to all.  Both concern themselves with spiritual values which brings deeper feeling to the experience.

• BEST TRADITIONAL STAGING AWARD  This must go to Die Fledermaus from Vienna.  Everything is just as it should be.

• BEST REGIE PRODUCTION AWARD   Akhnaten.  Did it really look like Egypt?  No.  But the effect on ones psyche was overwhelming.  They successfully staged a lot of juggling.  One worried that the balls would be dropped, but it added to the hypnotic effect of anything Glass.

• WORST REGIE PRODUCTION AWARD   The nominees are Berlioz' Les Troyens from Paris, and Tannhäuser from Bayreuth where the lead character appears in a clown outfit.  If you ignore the clown outfit, it works.  But I felt genuinely offended by the Les Troyens production where Dido is in a mental hospital.  Will the disrespect of Berlioz by the French never end?

• BEST SINGING AWARD Anita Rachvelishvili in Adriana Lecouvreur.  She just gets better and better.

• BEST OPERA OF THE YEAR  This has to go to Akhnaten.  Who knew that juggling would work as an opera staging?  Or that a Philip Glass opera could go so deep?
  

Award Categories for KK Awards

First one must look at standard repertoire.  The 100 operas list of most frequently performed operas divides roughly chronologically like this:

• Mozart.  Standard opera repertoire begins with Mozart and includes 5 operas with no opera seria.  I might add any Gluck reform operas here.

• Bel canto.  The next big group is Italian bel canto by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti and includes 6 operas.

• Verdi.  He could be lumped with bel canto but is too significant for that.  By himself he counts 10 operas which is more than the other three composers combined.

• Wagner.  With 8 standard repertoire operas, he makes a group by himself.  Humperdinck with his only one opera I would lump with Wagner, since he is Wagner's only true disciple.

• Romantic not Verdi or Wagner.  We have 10 operas in this category, including operas by Gounod (1), Bizet (1), Dvorak (1), Offenbach (1), Johann Strauss (1), Tchaikovsky (2) and other composers, including Berlioz and some operetta composers.  Anyone who composes in the romantic style could be included here.

• Verismo.  This is a list of 7 operas, 5 of them by Puccini.  All of Puccini is included here whether or not the opera is truly verismo (deals with stories from the lower classes).  I am aware of the fuzzy use of terminology, and it is not done from ignorance.  For me this is a musical style that adopts features of Wagner into the larger Italian style, including making the opera through composed.  Cilea, Giordano, Mascagni, etc.  Sometimes I just call this the BEST PUCCINI AWARD.

• Strauss, R.  This is only 3 operas.  If I have seen a few operas by Richard Strauss, I include him as a separate group.  Otherwise he groups with the Romantic not Verdi or Wagner.

The 100 operas list does not include any operas before Mozart or after Richard Strauss.  Everything before Mozart is lumped into Baroque except the reform operas of Gluck.  As a young man Gluck composed in the currently popular Neapolitan opera style.  He invented reform opera which is not significant enough to be a complete category.  I lump his reform operas in with Mozart, his younger contemporary.

• Baroque.  This consists mostly of operas by Handel but extends all the way back to Monteverdi, the first significant opera composer.  Italian musicology is very active now and may produce some performable operas from this period.

That leaves us with everything after Strauss.  If I can lump all of Baroque together into a single period, why not all of modern opera?

• Modern.  Styles include Impressionism (mostly just one opera), Expressionism (mostly just two operas), Modernism (A lot of operas, none of them popular), Minimalism (Glass, Adams), English (mostly Britten), Janáček, etc.  Jazz operas appear occasionally.  People still compose atonal music.  There are never enough examples of any given style to compare a group of operas, so I stick with this large category.  

I am flexible in the observation of my categories.  This year I saw three revivals of American musicals and included a category for that.  It will probably disappear next year.  I add or remove a category whenever I like.

These are not standard musical style periods, but are the broad categories into which opera repertoire falls. The point is to try to make a basis for comparison.  If you look back, you will see that they are constantly in flux.  The KK Awards began in 2012.

Every year or at least four times:

• BEST BAROQUE OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012
• BEST MOZART OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012
• BEST BEL CANTO OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012
• BEST VERDI OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012
• BEST WAGNER OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2016, 2015, 2013
• BEST ROMANTIC OPERA NOT VERDI OR WAGNER AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013
• BEST NEW OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012
• BEST MODERN OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
• BEST RICHARD STRAUSS AWARD:  2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

Switched from Puccini to Verismo:

• BEST PUCCINI AWARD:  2014, 2013, 2012
• BEST VERISMO OPERA AWARD:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

One time only, usually special circumstances:

• BEST GRAND OPERA AWARD:  2018
• BEST JANÁČEK OPERA AWARD:  2016
• BEST LULU AWARD:  2015
• BEST FALSTAFF AWARD:  2013
• BEST FRENCH OPERA AWARD:  2012
• BEST BROADWAY REVIVAL AWARD:  2019

These are all musical categories except for the Broadway revival category which isn't really opera.  I also award for strictly theatrical reasons, but separately.