The committee of the prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize must be reading my mind. The past four years and this year they have chosen musicians who are all on my all time hit list:
2005 – John Eliot Gardiner
2006 – Yo-Yo Ma
2007 – Lars Ulrik Mortensen
2008 – Arvo Pärt
2009 – Daniel Barenboim
And next year who other than our own bravissima ragazza Cecilia Bartoli will be the prize winner. She joins a very exclusive society of singers who have received this prize: Birgit Nilsson, Boris Christoff, Dietrich Fischer-Diskau, Janet Baker, Peter Schreier, and Hildegard Behrens. And of course the composers Igor Strawinsky, Benjamin Britten, and Dmitri Shostakowich.
The committee writes:
Her timbre is outstanding, her technique unsurpassed and her scenic radiance is like Callas’s and hits you with a force and warmth you’ll never forget – Bartoli is the great diva of our day.
Just my thoughts! I am so happy that la Bartoli will receive this prize. She merits all the honours she can get! And it means we will see more of her in Copenhagen!
/anna
Annina Teatime 