The results of the II International Award “Pure Sound” will be announced at the Moscow Theater “School of Modern Drama”
The voting of the final stage of the II International Award for the Best Audio Recording of Works of Russian Academic Music “Pure Sound” has ended. On September 3, at a gala evening at the School of Modern Drama Theater in Moscow, the names of the winners and prizewinners of the competition will be announced. The founder of the Award is Russian Musical Union.
The “Pure Sound” Award is held once every two years and has no analogues in Russia. The project is aimed at the development of the national school of composition, the recording industry and musical culture in general. The first awards ceremony took place in October 2019 and became the largest event for the Russian music community.
Over 150 applications from Russian and foreign copyright holders were received for the 2020–2021 competition. Based on the results of the qualifying stage, a short list of 40 releases was compiled in eight nominations: Opera, Choral Works, Orchestral Music, Chamber Vocal Music, Chamber Instrumental Ensemble Music, Chamber Instrumental Solo Music, Restoration of Archival Audio Recordings, Mixed Nomination (a collection of audio recordings with various performers).
At the final stage, the jury chaired by the composer, Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Tchaikovsky, chose the best releases. The jury included: Mikhail Bryzgalov, Director General of the Russian National Museum of Music, Honored Artist of Russia; Erdo Groot, Director of Polyhymnia International record company; Irina Gerasimova, General Director and Artistic Director of the Russian State Music TV and Radio Center; Christian Hoeppner, General Secretary of the German Music Council; Oliver Dohnanyi, guest conductor of the Ural Opera; Daniil Kramer, jazz pianist, Honored Artist of Russia; Roman Mints, violinist; Maria Soboleva, sound engineer, professor of Russian State University of Cinematography; Dmitry Sibirtsev, Director of the Meridian Center for Culture and Art; Yulian Makarov, actor, host of the Kultura TV channel; Andrey Malyutin, Head of the Music Programs Department at “Radio Russia”. The experts evaluated the content and quality of the audio recording, the artistic level of performance and interpretation of the music.
The jury members emphasize that “Pure Sound” is a completely unique competition. “Firstly, it is entirely devoted to classical music, includes many nominations and makes it possible to draw the listener’s attention to a wide variety of releases, the latest recordings of Russian performers, composers, sound engineers,” noted Maria Soboleva, a sound engineer, professor at Russian State University of Cinematography. – Secondly, this is not a highly specialized performing, composer or sound engineering competition, here wins the creative team that has the best musical result. The overall level of this year’s competition has grown dramatically. The works are so powerful that sometimes it is very difficult to make a decision by giving points.”
“I am happy to be honored to be a member of the jury for the Pure Sound Award,” says Erdo Groot, Director of Polyhymnia International record company. – Russian music and musicians are a big part of my professional life; I have been in this environment for over 30 years. And while listening to the work of my colleagues, I am again impressed by the high standards of work, performance, and recording. Fortunately, there are variations in everything, and I look forward to seeing the results.”
The names of the winners and awardees will be announced at the Award Ceremony, which will take place on September 3 in Moscow at the School of Contemporary Drama Theater. The OpensoundOrchestra contemporary music orchestra, the Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory under the direction of Professor Alexander Solovyov, the pianist, Honored Artist of Russia Ekaterina Mechetina and the opera singer, Honored Artist of the Republic of Bashkortostan Elena Terentyeva will perform on the stage at the Award Ceremony. The musicians will perform works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Dmitry Shostakovich, Alexander Borodin, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as works by contemporary composers – Alexei Aigi and Airat Ichmuratov. Actor, TV presenter Yulian Makarov and pianist Ekaterina Mechetina will host the ceremony.
The online broadcast of the event will be available on the Kultura.RF («Культура.РФ») platform and on the website of Russian Musical Union. The broadcast starts at 19:00.
The project partners: National Fund for Copyright Holders’ Support, Orpheus Radio Station, “Novy Vek” Bank, International Music Council (IMC), European Music Council (EMC), German Music Council, Neumann company, Yamaha Music Russia, CineLab studio complex, the “Radio Rossii” (Radio Russia) radio station, Russian Congress of Sound Engineers of Music Programs, the Kultura newspaper, the Kulturomania information portal, the InterMedia news agency, the Musical Life magazine, the Musical Klondike magazine.
More detailed information about the Award can be found on the official website of the project sound-pure.com.