Nobel Prize for music

[Mischa]

Not the Nobel prize of course, but the inofficial pendant, the Polar Music Prize endowed with juicy 110.000,- €. Granted each year for a classical & pop musician for artistic development and social engagement. Peter Gabriel and (something for the Dudamelniks here) José Antonio Abreu this year.

The calls of the jury aren't even that bad in my opinion:

* 1992 Sir Paul McCartney and the Balticum
* 1993 Dizzy Gillespie and Witold Lutosławski
* 1994 Quincy Jones and Nikolaus Harnoncourt
* 1995 Sir Elton John and Mstislaw Rostropowitsch
* 1996 Joni Mitchell and Pierre Boulez
* 1997 Bruce Springsteen and Eric Ericson
* 1998 Ray Charles and Ravi Shankar
* 1999 Stevie Wonder and Iannis Xenakis
* 2000 Bob Dylan and Isaac Stern
* 2001 Burt Bacharach, Robert Moog and Karlheinz Stockhausen
* 2002 Miriam Makeba and Sofia Gubaidulina
* 2003 Keith Jarrett (wtf)
* 2004 B. B. King and György Ligeti
* 2005 Gilberto Gil and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
* 2006 Led Zeppelin and Valeri Gergijev
* 2007 Sonny Rollins and Steve Reich
* 2008 Pink Floyd and Renée Fleming
* 2009 Peter Gabriel and José Antonio Abreu

Here's a little video of the awarding: http://www.polarmusicprize.org/

[Magnificat]

Such a fascinating list. I'm imaging listening to these as pairs in alternation. Seriously Stevie Wonder and Iannis Xenakis!

Or better yet, a condition of the award should be that the two recipients produce a collaborative work. Impossible to choose, but B. B. King and György Ligeti would be amazing!

[Mischa]

Indeed - I wonder why that prize isn't more popular, it would be such a great opportunity for fascinating talks and promotion!

Thinking about it - there're quite a number of suitable and interesting couples, Cat Stevens & Gidon Kremer springs to my mind. Or imagine Zappa & Bernstein together.

[haydnguy]

Burt Bacharach -????

[Florestan]

Originally Posted by Mischa

Last edited by Mischa; 04-09-09 at 04:41 AM. Reason: Cat, not Shakin' of course

How brilliant would that be? The Nobel Prize should DEFINITELY be given to a middle-aged Welsh Elvis-impersonator.

[Florestan]

The interesting thing about the Gabriel-Abreu axis is that the rock/pop side is a harmless wishy-washy liberal do-gooder and the classical element is the founder of a seriously radical socialism-based musical movement.