Latest news
ENO shuns the big screen
The move to the cinema screen is not for the English National Opera says its artistic director John Berry: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/news/live-opera-in-cinemas-no-way-says-eno-7729177.html
singing and supper
This entertaining feature from the New York Times looks at the role of food in opera: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/opera-singers-who-dine-as-part-of-the-show.html?_r=1
Head of School at ANU Music to take leave
Following the dramatic cuts to the ANU School of Music, in news just to hand, the Head of School Professor Adrian Walter has been instructed to take extended leave, returning to work only if he agrees to implement the changes announced last week. http://citynews.com.au/2012/news/music-school-chief-told-to-take-leave/
‘The Voice’ – an academic voices her thoughts.
Dr Rowena Cowley, is a senior lecturer in voice and opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and President of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing. She is also a friend of Sounds Like Sydney. She voices her thoughts on the hit Channel 9 star seeker show – The Voice: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=6&newsstoryid=9139C
Sydney’s ‘House’ in Lego
If you thought you’d seen it all when Mattel released its Opera House Barbie doll, resplendent in ocean coloured mermaid dress with swirls of white, think again. Now Lego have released its vision of the Sydney Opera House as part of its Architect series, placing the distinctive building alongside others in this collection which includes New York’s Guggenheim Museum, the Burj Khalifa…
Deconstructing the music degree at the ANU School of Music
Last week we learnt with horror of the slashes to the teaching programme at the ANU School of Music. As the School of Music’s own website acknowledges: “With over 1,200 graduates in its 45 year history, ANU School of Music alumni are scattered around Australia and the world, teaching, composing, performing and researching”. The school’s alumni…
Latest reviews
La Traviata – the verdicts are rolling in
The highly anticipated production of La Traviata staged on Sydney harbour opened on Saturday night. This production has polarised opera lovers. Without doubt the performances are superlative and the concept of an open-air opera with the spectacle of Sydney harbour as a backdrop is irresistible. As to whether it is ‘opera’ – the verdicts on that proposition are rolling in. As pure entertainment…
‘Messiah’ at St James’ King Street: a listener’s perspective
Whatever the diet of musicians in Handel’s time, his performers must certainly have had tremendous stamina. ‘Messiah’ as Handel intended, for a chamber sized ensemble is a massive test of endurance, requiring a technique that supports the power of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’, the coloratura of ‘All we like sheep’ and the hushed sostenuto of ‘Since by man came death’. After all this comes the mighty…