Another ‘Movember’ has come and nearly gone with thousands of men nursing luxuriant and not- so- luxuriant hirsute additions to their profiles. Had they been alive, no doubt some composers would have scored handsomely in the Movember stakes —
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.
Seven of Britain’s opera houses including the Royal Opera House, the Welsh National Opera and the English National Opera, get together for a behind the scenes look at opera this Saturday May 10th. The four-hour event Inside Opera will be live streamed on YouTube. Read more. Inside Opera: Live will be livestreamed at theguardian.com/classical and…
Toi-toi to Australian mezzo-soprano Helen Sherman, one of four soloists who along with her pianist has qualified for the finals of the prestigious 2013 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition. The grand finale and prize-giving will be held on September 3rd. Founded in the traditions of Lied, the biennial competition is open to elite singers and pianists aged 33…
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…
ABC and Symphony Australia have announced the three Grand Finalists in the 2013 Young Performers Awards. They are 28 year old pianist Stefan Cassomenos, 15 year old oboeist Andrew Kawai, and pianist Hoang Pham also 28. All three finalists are from Victoria. Each contestant will perform a concerto of their choice with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christopher Seaman. The three grand…
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.