Post by Richard on Apr 11, 2006 8:12:20 GMT
Hello everybody! 
There is another interesting article in the Scotsman.
Critics silenced as Benedetti up for 'Oscars'
TIM CORNWELL
ARTS CORRESPONDENT
THE teenage violinist Nicola Benedetti has been nominated for two Classical Brit awards - days after hitting out at critics who said her looks had helped her to achieve success.
Her debut recording is in the running for Album of the Year, and she is one of three contenders for the Young British Classical Performer award.
The recognition by the Oscars of the classical music industry will be a welcome boost for Benedetti, 18, from West Kilbride, Ayrshire, as she prepares to launch her second UK recording this spring.
Last year, she landed a six-album, £1 million-plus record deal with Universal/Deutsche Grammophon, following her win in the BBC Young Musician of the Year contest.
But her career appears to be going through a sea change, with the appointment of Steve Abbott as her new manager.
In a recent interview, she complained of critics who paid too much attention to her looks and said her reviewers were tougher in Scotland.
"People honestly seem to forget that I actually have to stand up on stage and play the violin," she said. "Every single time I play for a new conductor, or with a new orchestra, or in a new concert hall, or for a new concert manager, or whatever, it's like another audition.
"Nobody, none of these people in the music business, will sit there and say, 'Well, she looks OK, so we'll let her off with it'."
The Album of the Year category pits Benedetti's playing of music by Szymanowski, Chausson and Saint-Saëns against some of the top names in popular classical music. The winner will be decided by listeners to the Classic FM radio station.
Others vying for the prize include the Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel for Simple Gifts, the New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra with Odyssey, former choirboy Aled Jones with New Horizons and last year's winner, Katherine Jenkins, with Living a Dream.
Other contenders include the BBC talent show winner Joseph McManners, 12, for In Dreams, the singer Robert Meadmore for After a Dream, and the Choirboys - Ben Inman, 13, Patrick Aspbury, 12, and Charles Porter-Thaw, 11 - a trio put together after a national search.
Terfel, like Benedetti, has been nominated for two awards - he is also shortlisted for Singer of the Year for his work on Benedictus and Ca Ira, the opera by Pink Floyd's bassist, Roger Waters.
The Scottish composer James MacMillan, who wrote a piece for Benedetti's second album, is in the running for the Contemporary Music Award, while the tenor Placido Domingo is to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. The winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Michael Parkinson in the Royal Albert Hall on 4 May.
This article: news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=551962006
Last updated: 11-Apr-06 01:13 BST
Richard
There is another interesting article in the Scotsman.
Critics silenced as Benedetti up for 'Oscars'
TIM CORNWELL
ARTS CORRESPONDENT
THE teenage violinist Nicola Benedetti has been nominated for two Classical Brit awards - days after hitting out at critics who said her looks had helped her to achieve success.
Her debut recording is in the running for Album of the Year, and she is one of three contenders for the Young British Classical Performer award.
The recognition by the Oscars of the classical music industry will be a welcome boost for Benedetti, 18, from West Kilbride, Ayrshire, as she prepares to launch her second UK recording this spring.
Last year, she landed a six-album, £1 million-plus record deal with Universal/Deutsche Grammophon, following her win in the BBC Young Musician of the Year contest.
But her career appears to be going through a sea change, with the appointment of Steve Abbott as her new manager.
In a recent interview, she complained of critics who paid too much attention to her looks and said her reviewers were tougher in Scotland.
"People honestly seem to forget that I actually have to stand up on stage and play the violin," she said. "Every single time I play for a new conductor, or with a new orchestra, or in a new concert hall, or for a new concert manager, or whatever, it's like another audition.
"Nobody, none of these people in the music business, will sit there and say, 'Well, she looks OK, so we'll let her off with it'."
The Album of the Year category pits Benedetti's playing of music by Szymanowski, Chausson and Saint-Saëns against some of the top names in popular classical music. The winner will be decided by listeners to the Classic FM radio station.
Others vying for the prize include the Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel for Simple Gifts, the New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra with Odyssey, former choirboy Aled Jones with New Horizons and last year's winner, Katherine Jenkins, with Living a Dream.
Other contenders include the BBC talent show winner Joseph McManners, 12, for In Dreams, the singer Robert Meadmore for After a Dream, and the Choirboys - Ben Inman, 13, Patrick Aspbury, 12, and Charles Porter-Thaw, 11 - a trio put together after a national search.
Terfel, like Benedetti, has been nominated for two awards - he is also shortlisted for Singer of the Year for his work on Benedictus and Ca Ira, the opera by Pink Floyd's bassist, Roger Waters.
The Scottish composer James MacMillan, who wrote a piece for Benedetti's second album, is in the running for the Contemporary Music Award, while the tenor Placido Domingo is to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. The winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Michael Parkinson in the Royal Albert Hall on 4 May.
This article: news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=551962006
Last updated: 11-Apr-06 01:13 BST
Richard
