The Plain Dealer
By Zachary Lewis
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland’s baroque orchestra has been nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award.
On Friday, nominations for the 61st annual Grammy Awards were released, and on the list was “Songs of Orpheus,” a recent recording by tenor Karim Sulayman with Apollo’s Fire and conductor Jeannette Sorrell.
“I am beyond thrilled that my debut solo album was recognized in this way," Sulayan said via e-mail. "It’s wonderful to share this honor with such a special group of musicians.”
The album, released by Avie Records in April and featuring music by Monteverdi, Caccini, and others, was nominated in the Best Classical Solo Voice category. It is the first recording by Apollo’s Fire to receive a Grammy nomination.
The recording, produced locally by Erica Brenner, was inspired by the legend of Orpheus, the mythological poet-musician who attempts to retrieve his beloved Eurydice from Hades.
The character was famously depicted by Monteverdi in the opera, “L’Orfeo.” Apollo’s Fire presented a new production of that operastarring Sulayman in April, around the time of the album’s release.
“It’s a program on which I spent a great deal of time and conceived with a lot of love and care, so this kind of recognition is incredibly meaningful,” Sulayman said. “And I was so happy to perform and record it with Apollo’s Fire, with whom I have always loved working.”