Grammy Nominations

Happy New Year, Villa-Lobos lovers!

The Grammy nominations were released today, and there are few interesting bits of news.

Nominated in the Chamber Music category was the 6th volume in the excellent series of Villa-Lobos String Quartets on the Dorian label, by the Cuarteto Latinoamericano. This CD includes the 4th, 9th and 11th quartets.

As well, the nominations include recordings by some of VL's closest friends and musical associates. Also nominated in the Chamber Music category is the DGG recording of Messiaen's Quartet For The End Of Time. As well, Teldec's recording of Messiaen's Turangalili Symphony (with the Berliner Philharmonic and conductor Kent Nagano) was nominated in the Orchestral Music category. Also in the Orchestral Music category: music by Edgard Varèse, conducted by Pierre Boulez on DGG. The Varèse CD has also been nominated for Best Classical Recording.

Varese may have been the closest of VL's musical friends - they met a number of times in Paris and New York. I love the picture of the two earnest young men, together in Paris in 1927.

For complete information on the 44th Grammy Awards, go to http://www.grammy.com. The awards will be announced on Feb. 27.