Latest news
Simone Young interviews
Simone Young returns to Australia at the end of July to conduct the Australian Youth Orchestra in Brisbane. In this interview with the Sydney Morning Herald she talks about her tenure in Hamburg and her plans for the future: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/funding-means-its-a-long-way-between-sydney-and-hamburg-20120622-20t5k.html http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/climbing-every-mountain-with-a-bit-of-metal-20120622-20t5h.html
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra announces its Chief Conductor
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has announced that English conductor, organist and harpsichordist Sir Andrew Davis has been appointed to the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director from January 2013. Sydney audiences can take in a preview of this artistic collaboration when the MSO performs at the Sydney Opera House with its Chief Conductor elect at the end…
If it’s contemporary can it be classical?
Is the term ‘contemporary classical music’ a contradiction in terms? Tom Service of The Guardian dispels some myths: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/apr/26/five-myths-contemporary-classical-music?intcmp=239
In Bach’s own hand.
The first manuscript in Bach’s own hand to enter the public market in 16 years, was sold in London last week, one hundred and eigty three years after it was written: http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/bach-cantata-manuscript-sells-for-%C2%A3337250-at-christies-in-london
A quartet of six
It’s a dream combination. A composer in the mainstream of her creativity handpicks a string quartet to make the premiere recording of her music and then coaches them in the way she wants to the music to sound. Add to this, a recording producer who understands implicitly what the composer wants and who has the formidable reputation as…
How low can you get?
Till now, it was the All Night Vigil by Rachmaninoff that held the dubious honour of asking for the lowest note to be sung in choral music – the third B flat below middle C. This 97 year long record has now been shattered with Paul Mealor’s setting of the De Profundis in which he…
Latest reviews
SSO’s choral contrasts reviewed
David Vance reviews the SSO conducted by David Zinman: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/voices-carry-as-conductor-and-choir-shine-in-mozart-20120503-1y1kx.html
Susan Graham’s recital reviewed
David Vance commends Susan Graham’s ambitious programme: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/opera/all-stand-for-a-musical-match-made-in-heaven-20120502-1xz26.html