And this is what all the fuss is about...
Revelations about Grigory Sokolov's objection to joining Norman Lebrecht as a winner of a Cremona Music Award continue apace . But, somewhat surprisingly, nobody has asked the question as to what exactly the Cremona Music Awards are. So as professional journalism, or otherwise, is at the heart of the debate, I thought I would exercise some due diligence and share my findings with readers. The Cremona Music Awards were instigated in 2014, which is when Lebrecht won his. The four annual awards have the aim of promoting "the commitment and work of artists and journalists who provided a real contribution to the ever increasing role of music in the culture of entire populations and individuals". This is a very laudable objective; but the awards also have the objective of generating interest in Cremona Mondomusica . This is an annual string music instrument fair held in Cremona in September, at which the awards are presented; after which the fair is repeated in New York .