A fascinating feature from the New York Times on the 801 year old St Thomas Boys Choir in Leipzig and the impact of puberty on their voices.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/where-have-all-the-sopranos-gone.html?ref=music&_r=0
‘Art for art’s sake’ is becoming an increasingly remote concept in 21st century Australia as performing arts bodies are expected to function according to business models and boost their bottom line from private sources. Are these expectations realistic – and who evaluates the bodies that make the funding decisions? The Australia Council for the Arts which…
Sir Neville Marriner, founding director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields orchestra turned 90 earlier this month. Believe it or not he apparently was beaten for ‘over- gesticulating’! He looks back on his career in this interview with Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian.
La Scala + Barenboim + Kaufmann + Garanca + Baltsa + Pape + La Scala Choir and Orchestra = a not to be missed performance of Verdi’s Requiem. Available till October 26th 2013 on SBS On Demand http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/52400195958/Verdi-Requiem
The Financial Review has published a collection of images of what the Sydney Opera House might have looked like. These are some of the entries that were displayed at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in January 1957. The Sydney landscape could have looked so different! Click here.
The influence of Peter Sculthorpe on Australian music in the 20th and 21st centuries is beyond measure. The Goldner Quartet aims to document at least some of the essence of this great life and great talent in a new documentary. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/four-score-and-19-political-quartets-later-20120424-1xj20.html
What is the secret of the enduring appeal of the music of JS Bach?! Even of you don’t like his music, the complexity of his writing, his output and his role as an innovator are unparalleled. Pianist James Rhodes claims that Bach takes us into a “fourth dimension of existence.” Read more from BBC Culture.