Gustavo Dudamel Wins Grammy Award For Best Orchestral Performance

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic won the coveted prize for Best Orchestral Performance for Charles Ives – Complete Symphonies at the 2021 Grammy Awards. The virtual ceremony of the 63rd Grammy Awards was broadcast last night by CBS in the United States and streamed internationally via Grammy.com. The Grammy, which recognises both artistic and technical achievement, is the recording industry’s most prestigious award.

Charles Ives – Complete Symphonies was recorded by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, for Deutsche Grammophon, during highly acclaimed concert performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in February 2020 and released worldwide in January 2021. The album was also nominated for Best Engineered Album, Classical, in the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Charles Ives – Complete Symphonies offers fresh insights into the music of a radical thinker, creator of what Leonard Bernstein called “his own private musical revolution.” Charles Ives was an American original, an artist ahead of his time who explored novel combinations of traditional classical forms and American vernacular music, pioneering and exploiting techniques of polytonality, polyrhythm and textural complexity.

“His symphonies are a great gift to the world”

Gustavo Dudamel’s landmark interpretations of Charles Ives’ four symphonies grew from his delight in their restless energy, myriad colours and textures, irresistible references to popular American melodies and impulsive changes of mood. “Ives was a man full of ideas and he was trying to create something unique,” the conductor explained. “When you see calm and contemplation, maybe in a moment it’s complete chaos. At the end, what Ives was doing was opening the door to the texture and the personality of music created in the United States. His symphonies are a great gift to the world. I’m delighted that we could record these amazing works for Deutsche Grammophon.”

“It’s a glorious achievement”

“It’s a glorious achievement,” noted The Guardian in their 5-star album review and Gramophone observed, “The evolution of American music is chronicled right here in this quartet of symphonies.”

“Many congratulations to Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who are celebrating their second Grammy win in a row,” said Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon. “Charles Ives – Complete Symphonies offers fresh insights into the music of a radical thinker, creator of what Leonard Bernstein called ‘his own private musical revolution’. Gustavo Dudamel’s special affinity for these rarely recorded masterworks is impressively conveyed through this brilliant rendition by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I’d like to thank everyone involved in this significant and successful project.”

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Charles Ives – Complete Symphonies can be bought here.

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