Latest news
2013 BBC Proms programme announced
It’s on again! The world’s biggest music festival, the BBC Proms, will run for nearly 2 months in 2013 from July 12th to September 7th. Paganini and the sea feature in the famed opening night programme with Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony alongside Paganini inspired compositions by Rachmaninov and Lutoslawski….
Soli deo Gloria – Sir John Eliot Gardiner writes about the Music of J S Bach
Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s interpretations of the music of JS Bach are considered by other performers to be works of reference. In 1999 he undertook a Bach pilgrimage with the Monteverdi Choir, and just last month he conducted a Bach marathon at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In this feature from The Guardian, he writes of his…
From CD to flash drive – Teldec’s Complete Bach Edition
In a landmark innovation, Teldec releases its Complete Bach Edition on a USB stick! The 32 GB USB memory stick contains recordings of cantatas, instrumental works and PDFs of notes from the original 154 disc collection made in 2000. Click here to read the feature and review in The Guardian. Click here to order on line.
Scaling the heights of creativity – Jennifer Eriksson writes about her residency at The Banff Centre
Jennifer Eriksson, viola da gamba player, founder and Artistic Director of The Marais Project recently spent a residency at The Banff Centre in Canada, curating the ensemble’s most recent concert. It was an intensely creative and enriching time. She tells of her experiences in her own words: In January and February 2013 I undertook at short…
‘Rock your socks off’ with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Violinist Christian Tetzlaff, soloist with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Yarmila Alfonsetti is a woman with a mission. That mission is to have Sydney on a par with other international cities in its menu of live classical music concerts. As producer of classical music events for Sydney Opera House Presents, a company that is based…
Listening to new music brings rewards
If you’d prefer to listen to a much-loved classic rather than try and get your mind around a new work, think again. It may well be worth the effort of listening to something new. Scientists at Rotman Research Institute, in Toronto, found that the brain’s reward centre showed increased activity when participants heard a new piece of music. Read…
Latest reviews
Stephanie MacCallum records Alkan’s ‘Recueils de Chants’
Sydney pianist Stephanie McCallum has released the first volume of Recueils de Chants a series of tone poems for piano by Charles-Valentin Alkan. This first edition contains the first three of five books, adding a world premiere recording of Une fuse a spinning song.tone poems by Charles-Valentin Alkan. Recorded in the Recital Hall West, of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music during 2012, there is nearly 75…
Fine singing and production impel Verdi’s ‘Forza’
La Forza del Destino – Giuseppi Verdi Opera Australia 29 June 2013 Opera Australia’s Sydney Winter Season opened on Saturday 29 June with a new production of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino which is part of the company’s commemoration of the bi-centenary of Verdi’s birth. It is 16 years since the company staged this work…