Sure, you probably heard about Adele’s huge sweep at last night’s Grammy awards, but there were still a few trophies that she didn’t take home. Among them, two awards for the LA Opera.
Our local company picked up the Recording Academy’s nods for both best opera recording of the year and best engineered classical album of the year, both for recordings of their recent production of The Ghosts of Versailles.
Back in 2015, LA Opera staged the West Coast premiere of The Ghosts of Versailles, a modern, American opera written by John Corigliano and William M. Hoffman in 1991. The ambitious work required the largest cast the LA Opera had ever assembled (including 41 different soloists) and was staged with a full orchestra, so it’s no surprise that the music caught a few ears when the cast recording hit the market in April of 2016.
This is the second time that LA Opera has picked up Grammy gold under the direction of their current music director, James Conlon, Broadway World reports. Previous awards were best classical album and best opera recording in 2009 for the company’s recording of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic was also nominated for a Grammy this year, for a live recording of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels, performed with Esa-Pekka Salonen, but that award for best classical compendium ultimately went to Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon a Castle.
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