Classic BRIT Awards to honour Andrea Bocelli as nominations announced
Story by Jack Foley
ITALIAN tenor Andrea Bocelli is to be honoured with a special prize at next month’s Classic Brit Awards.
The singer will be named international artist of the year to celebrate his 20-year career.
In what promises to be a busy night for him, Bocelli has also been nominated for male artist of the year and album of the year for Concerto – One Night In Central Park.
In a prolific career, Bocelli has released 22 albums and sold more than 75 million records world-wide.
In the best album category, he faces competition from Andre Rieu, the Band of the Coldstream Guards and Russell Watson, while in the male artist award he’s up against Chinese pianist Lang Lang and honorary Liverpudlian Vasily Petrenko, the Russian conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Other artists to receive two nominations include pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and composer Ennio Morricone.
One of Morricone’s nods comes in a new category marking the single of the year, which is comprised of 10 nominees. The composer is nominated for Gabriel’s Oboe.
Other nominees in the category include Military Wives and Gareth Malone, Nessun Dorma, Jerusalem and Hans Zimmer’s Time, which was used in the film Inception.
I Giorni by Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi and Rule Britannia also make the shortlist.
And another notable nominee is British violinist Nicola Benedetti, who will perform at the ceremony on October 2, and who is in the running for female artist against trumpeter and two-time winner Alison Balsom and American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.
The nod marks Benedetti’s eighth Classic Brit nod, making her the UK’s most nominated female.
The 2012 nominees at a glance are…
Female Artist
Alison Balsom – Seraph
Joyce DiDonato – Diva Divo — Opera Arias
Nicola Benedetti – Italia
Male Artist
Andrea Bocelli – Concerto — One Night In Central Park
Lang Lang – Liszt — My Piano Hero
Vasily Petrenko – Shostakovich/Symphony No. 1 & 3
Shostakovich/Symphony No. 6 & 12
Shostakovich/Symphony No. 2 & 15
Rachmaninov/Piano Concertos 1 & 4
Rachmaninov/Symphony No. 3
MasterCard’s Breakthrough Artist Of The Year Award
Benjamin Grosvenor – Benjamin Grosvenor Plays Chopin, Liszt & Ravel
Miloš Karadaglio – Latino
Noah Stewart – Noah
Composer
Ennio Morricone – Paradiso
John Williams – War Horse/The Adventures Of TinTin
Paul Mealor – A Tender Light
Classic BRITs Single Of The Year in association with iTunes
Royal Choral Society, BBC Concert Orchestra/Wordsworth – Jerusalem
Della Jones, Royal Choral Society, BBC Concert Orchestra/Wordsworth – Rule Britannia
Ennio Morricone – Gabriel’s Oboe (The Mission — OST)
Hans Zimmer – Time (Inception — OST)
Karl Jenkins – Adiemus
Klaus Badelt – He’s a Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl — OST)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Parry – Adagio for Strings (Barber)
Luciano Pavarotti – Nessun Dorma
Ludovico Einaudi – I Giorni
Military Wives/Gareth Malone – Wherever You Are
Critics’ Award
Berlin Philharmonic/Rattle – Bruckner Symphony No.9
Benjamin Grosvenor – Chopin/Liszt/Ravel
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Belohlavek – Martinu: The 6 Symphonies
Classic FM Album Of The Year in association with MasterCard
André Rieu – And The Waltz Goes On
Andrea Bocelli – Concerto — One Night In Central Park
Band Of HM Royal Marines – Summon The Heroes
Band Of The Coldstream Guards – Pride Of The Nation
Craig Ogden – Summertime
Hayley Westenra – Paradiso
Laura Wright – The Last Rose
Miloš Karadaglić – The Guitar
Noah Stewart – Noah
Russell Watson – Anthemsl
International Artist Of The Year in association with Raymond Weil
Andrea Bocelli
Lifetime Achievement
John Williams