Santa Fe Opera premiere up for two Grammys

Higdon’s ‘Cold Mountain’ nominated for best recording, composition

SANTA FE —A recording of an opera that premiered in Santa Fe in 2015 has received two Grammy nominations: one for best opera recording and another for Jennifer Higdon for best contemporary classical composition.

“We’re UP in the air,” the Santa Fe Opera tweeted about the nominations announced Tuesday for “Cold Mountain.” The recording features conductor Miguel HarthBedoya of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and singers Emily Fons, Nathan Gunn, Isabel Leonard and Jay Hunter Morris, with Elizabeth Ostrow as producer.

Higdon composed the opera and Gene Scheer wrote the libretto, which were co-commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia and Minnesota Opera in collaboration with the North Carolina Opera.

After its summer 2015 premiere in Santa Fe, the opera later was produced in February in Philadelphia. It is expected to hit the stage this year at the North Carolina Opera and in 2018 in Minnesota.

The opera received mixed reviews after its premiere in Santa Fe, with Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times complaining “the work doesn’t evoke much at all,” but T.R. Reid of The Washington Post saying it captured “all of its adventure, romance and pathos in a fresh, vibrant musical idiom.”

The opera is based on the bestselling 1997 novel by Charles Frazier that depicts a Southern soldier’s desertion from the ranks and journey home during the Civil War, as well as the hardships suffered by the woman he loves.

The live recording drawn from the Santa Fe performances was released on the Pentatone label.

In a news release, the Santa Fe Opera congratulated the other nominees, including Mason Bates, who received nominations in the categories of best contemporary classical composition and best orchestral performance. Bates composed his first opera, “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” which will premiere at the Santa Fe Opera on July 22.