Grammy Award winning New Zealand born bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu (he’s sung Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni for OA in Sydney) has had to meet a new challenge – that of learning a libretto in Chinese. He talks about it in this blog.
(The Grammy Award was in 2010 for Best Opera Recording Billy Budd)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/mar/26/learning-to-sing-chinese-songs
Selby & Friends presents a third online performance, welcoming two new friends to their online series, performing Schubert’s joyous ‘Trout’ Quintet. They will perform Mozart’s final Piano Trio, Brahms’ final Piano Quartet, No 3 in C minor Op. 60 and Schubert’s inimitable Piano Quintet in A major, Op.114 Die Forelle. The entire concert along with…
Page turners are a special breed of musician. Yes, they have the opportunity to observe a musician at very close hand. However, their role is perhaps a thankless one – destined to be the bridesmaid and never the bride, they are to be discreet and possessed of impeccable timing. They leave the stage unobtrusively as the…
Sound Recordist Chris Watson has spent a year immersed in the countryside around Benjamin Britten’s home in Suffolk, recording and listening to the birdsongs which inspired the composer. Watson has incorporated these songs with the music of Britten to create a unique new piece called In Britten’s Footsteps which will premiere this February. Watson says “The spatial aspect of…
“Intensity and virtuosity are the hallmarks of this orchestra”. Read the New York Times review of the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s performance with soprano Dawn Upshaw at Carnegie Hall early this week. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/arts/music/australian-chamber-orchestra-at-carnegie-hall.html?_r=1&ref=music Benefactors, a Stradivarius and The Glide build the bottom line for the ACO: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/rare-violin-lifts-aco-bottom-line-20120502-1xz60.html http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/acos-subscription-switch-wins-surplus/story-e6frg8n6-1226345172062
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra breaks new ground with its latest album, The Romantics Grieg | Mendelssohn | Paganini, which ventures into exploring the music of three of the Romantic era’s greatest composers on period instruments. Directed by Japanese-American violin star Shunske Sato and release by ABC Classics, the Brandenburg musicians under Artistic Director Paul Dyer AO,…
Exactly a year ago, mezzo-soprano Margaret Plummer packed up her family, said ‘goodbye’ to friends and relocated to Vienna to follow her dream. A familiar face – and voice – on the Sydney opera stage, she had been awarded the Vienna State Opera Award from Opera Foundation Australia and opportunity beckoned. A graduate of the Sydney…