Review: Handel’s Messiah/St Mary’s Singers

Review: Handel’s Messiah/St Mary’s Singers

Handel: Messiah St Mary’s Singers St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney 6 December 2014   Performances of Handel’s Messiah are a habitual prelude to the Christmas season, with presentations in churches and concert halls throughout the country.  Musical styles are as varied as the performance locations, ranging from attempts to recreate original eighteenth century practices to massed…

CD Review: A Celtic Christmas/Australian Brandenburg Orchestra And Choir

CD Review: A Celtic Christmas/Australian Brandenburg Orchestra And Choir

With all the frisson of a live recording, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s newest release A Celtic Christmas, from their 2013 Christmas concerts at Sydney’s City Recital Hall and released on the ABC Classics label (ABC 481 1317), is a refreshing collection of seasonal music that goes beyond traditional fare. Paul Dyer’s indefatiguable capacity to curate…