If you haven't already, you can watch the performance still by clicking here as it is still available from Radio 4 Jaap van Zweden Earns Prestigious Edison Award for Best Opera Recording
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Music Director Honored for Wagner’s ParsifalConducting Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Dallas, TX (May 30, 2012) – The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is proud to announce that its Music Director Jaap van Zweden has been honored for one of the best recordings of the year. On May 23, 2012 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, it was announced that Van Zweden received the prestigious 2012 Edison Award for Opera Recording for Wagner’sParsifal, which he recorded with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Radio Choir, with the State Male Choir “Latvija,” on the Challenge Classics label.
The Edison Award is given annually in The Netherlands and is one of the highest achievements in classical music, akin to the Grammy® Awards and other top honors. It is one of the oldest music awards in the world, having been presented since 1960. The Edison Awards are given for outstanding achievements in the music industry in various musical genres. The Edisons are awarded honoring both international and Dutch artists.
The 2012 Edison Award jury praised Van Zweden’s Parsifal for its skillful and natural pacing and the “simplicityand purity”of his interpretation. Reviewing the recording in Gramophone, David Patrick Stearns called the recording “exceptionally distinguished, owing partly to the rock-solid casting and [van] Zweden’s high-concentration approach to the score.
“I never even imagined a Parsifal like this – much less heard one,” Stearns wrote.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Edison Award, an important recognition in The Netherlands and throughout the music industry,” Jaap van Zweden said from his home in Amsterdam. “This Edison Award I share not only with the wonderful singers and brilliant musicians who performed Parsifal, but with everyone with whom I work. A conductor is nothing without his orchestras; I cannot make music without them. I am grateful to the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, to my colleagues around the world, and to the jurors of the Edison Award for this amazing prize.”
Parsifal was recorded live in concert at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in December, 2010, and features the stellar cast of Klaus Florian Vogt (Parsifal), Katarina Dalayman (Kundry), Robert Holl (Gurnemanz), Falk Struckmann (Amfortas), and Julia Westendorp (First Squire). Choirs were conducted by Eberhard Friedrich.
“Everyone at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is thrilled and excited over Jaap’s newest accolade, and send him warmest congratulations,” said Blaine L. Nelson, Chairman of the DSO’s Board of Governors. “We are so gratified the Edison Award jury recognized and experienced what Dallas Symphony patrons have known since he first ascended the podium here – that Jaap van Zweden is a singular talent and an extraordinary musician who inspires orchestras, singers and audiences to exalted heights of excitement and expression.”