Australian theatre director Benedict Andrews’ vision of Puccini’s opera La bohème opened at the English National Opera this week. The director has raised controversy again (remember his 2012 imagining of The Marriage of Figaro for Opera Australia?) with his portrayal of Mimi and Rodolfo as heroin addicts.
Read the review in The Guardian, in The Telegraph and The Times (in The Australian).
So Silvio Berlusconi has finally stepped down. Recently, Alex Ross wrote about the indifference of the Berlusconi government to supporting the arts in Italy. (1) Ross also makes reference to the unprecedented action by Riccardo Muti, conducting Nabucco halted the performance and spoke to the audience about the situation. The response from both the chorus and the…
Miriam Cosic previews the Sydney Symphony’s staged production of Tchaikovsky’s mammoth opera: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/gamblers-tale-makes-for-another-sure-bet/story-e6frg8n6-1226526044660
When Synergy Percussion under its Artistic Director Timothy Constable presents Masterpieces of Time, later this August, some of the music performed will pre-date by centuries, the instruments on which it will be performed. Herr Bach, Monsieur Couperin and Mr Handel will meet the marimba, vibraphones, bells, gongs, mechanical music boxes, prepared piano and steel drums. It doesn’t make the original versions obsolete, but…
Accompanists are the unobtrusive support behind the soloist. They are able to lead as well as to follow and perform music that is as demanding as that of a soloist. Yet, they rarely recieve the same adulation and recogntion. Tom Service of The Guardian writes: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2012/mar/04/accompanists-unsung-heroes-music
SoundsLikeSydney reports the sad loss of two luminaries of the opera world – soprano and voice coach Eilene Hannan and Opera Australia Italian language coach Renata Fresia-Verdino. Eilene Hannan passed away in London last week aged 67. Her roles for OA included the Marschallin and Katya Kabanova. She also sang the role of Natasha in Prokofiev’s War and…
The classical piano meets the silver screen in Love Story – Piano Themes From Cinema’s Golden Age – the recent album for Decca from Ukrainian born pianist Valentina Lisitsa. It’s a marked change in style for Lisitsa who started playing the piano aged 3 and used social media to launch her career. Signed to Decca in 2012,…