Grammy ‘Atlanta Bloc’ Takes Its Knocks

After the Atlanta Symphony, as predicted, took five of the 11 classical recording awards at the recent Grammy presentations, some record-buyers, as well as some members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences which votes on the awards, were heard once again to criticize the system by which Grammy winners are chosen.

The “Atlanta bloc” is the term some have used to describe some 300 voting NARAS members from the Atlanta classical music community--members of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus and Orchestra.

While not actually accusing the awards system of being fixed, some have said it is a sham.

Shortly after the awards ceremony, NARAS member Joseph Dash, who is senior vice president and general manager of CBS Masterworks in New York, told a reporter, “It takes very few votes to win a classical Grammy, because the number of people who vote is small.”

Dash went on to comment, “NARAS should do something about (the Atlanta bloc) as soon as possible, before the value of a Grammy is reduced to zero.”

Reached at his CBS Masterworks office a few days later, Dash declined to comment further, except to say that “this is not a one-man crusade. Other (NARAS) members may decide to do something, if they’re interested, and I know they’re interested.”

Back in Georgia, Linda Moxley, acting as spokesman for the Atlanta Symphony, told The Times, “I think that the people who listen to the records would be the best to judge whether the Grammies were deserved or not.”

EXCLUSIVITY: The recent cancellation of Montserrat Caballe’s next Ambassador Auditorium recital--originally scheduled for March 21--had nothing to do with scheduling difficulties, as first announced. The real problem, Wayne Shilkret, executive director of the Ambassador Foundation, acknowledged last week, was that the Spanish soprano unwittingly broke the exclusivity clause of her contract with the foundation when she appeared in a public recital at UCLA, Jan. 25.

Neither Caballe nor her New York agents were available for comment--Larry Tucker of Columbia Artists Management Inc., referred The Times back to the Ambassador Foundation--but Shilkret explained the sequence of events.

“We had been informed that Mme. Caballe had agreed to sing a closed performance in Royce Hall--a private recital not open to the public--for one of the Spanish airlines. We had no problem with that. But when, for whatever reasons, the performance became public and large ads appeared, we began to wonder what was going on. Then, when we read the review, we realized that Caballe had, without meaning to, perhaps, violated her contract with us.”

At that point, Shilkret said, he and CAMI agreed “that the best course of action was to postpone Caballe’s Ambassador appearance to a later season. Since she is not scheduled to return to the United States next season, we now plan to present her at Ambassador in 1990-91.”

PEOPLE: William Preucil will become first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet as of July 1, the ensemble has announced. Preucil will replace founding member Donald Weilerstein at the end of this, the group’s 20th anniversary season. Preucil has held concertmaster positions in the orchestras of Nashville, Utah, and most recently, Atlanta, where in addition to his other assignments, he played more than 60 concerto engagements. Weilerstein says he is ready to focus on teaching and on free-lance chamber music playing--with, among others, his wife, pianist Vivian Hornik Weilerstein. Both Weilersteins will join the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music in September. . . . Bernard Rands will be composer in residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra for two seasons, beginning in September. . . . Guitarist David Tanenaum, a member of the San Francisco Conservatory faculty, will give evening performances during a whitewater river trip down the Green River in Lodore Canyon in Utah, Aug. 19-22 . . . Composer Mel Powell, head of the composition department at CalArts, will receive the 1989 Creative Arts Award Medal in music from Brandeis University in ceremonies at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in May. . . . Tap-dancer Charles “Honi” Coles will lead “the first creative residency for tap every held anywhere,” when the Colorado Dance Festival hosts its third Tap Festival, June 25-July 8, in Boulder. Information: (303) 442-7666.

Calendar intern Frank Fisher contributed to the research for this column.