Please allow me to present ALDA, The Avoid Like Death Awards. These are sort of the evil twin to The Keep On Listening Awards (KOLA), and represent the classical music industry at its most senseless, boring, worthless, and just plain stupid and annoying. As usual, there was no shortage of candidates, but the selection in the video and list below really stood out. There are “winners” (or should we say “losers”) in four categories, or “scarves:” The White Scarf of Irredeemable Chutzpah, The Scarlet Scarf of Shame, The Taupe Scarf of Turpitude, and The Black Scarf of Lingering Stench.
The 2021 ALDAs (Avoid Like Death Awards)
The White Scarf of Irredeemable Chutzpah Recipients:
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 (Currentzis/Sony)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”) (Ensemble Cristofori/Schoonderwoerd/AVI)
The Scarlet Scarf of Shame Recipients:
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 “Romantic” (Thielemann/Sony)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” (Roth/Harmonia Mundi)
The Taupe Scarf of Turpitude Recipients:
DG Beethoven New Essential Complete Edition
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 “Romantic” (Hruša/Accentus)
The Black Scarf of Lingering Stench Recipient:
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 (Petrenko/Lawo)
