Latest news
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…
Hot off the press….
* More from the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s US tour: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/tognetti-adds-another-string-to-his-bow-20120504-1y46y.html * Composed in 2009 to commemorate the devastating bush fires that year, Brett Dean’s Fire Music was performed in Adelaide over the weekend. Read the review as well an interview in which Brett Dean talks to his publishers Boosey and Hawkes about Fire Music: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/music/visceral-masterpiece-conjures-up-fear-in-fire/story-fn9d2mxu-1226348104697…
Kurt Masur injured
Kurt Masur has reportedly fractured hs shoulder blade after falling off the podium during a performance in Paris: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-kurt-masur-june-20120430,0,127614.story …and in Colorado, a conductor has collapsed and died during performance of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. As this is a work for organ and not for orchestra, it is unclear whether the deceased…
Stuart Skelton in trans-Atlantic Wagner roles
Australian tenor Stuart Skelton steps in for an ailing Jonas Kauffman next week, in the Met’s production of Die Walkure. Later this month, he sings in The Flying Dutchman for the English National Opera in London. Last week, he gave his most recent interview: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/stuart-skelton-one-man-two-tenors-7687275.html
A new principal conductor for the waso
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra has appointed a new Principal Conductor to succeed Paul Daniel who ends his contract next year. Asher Fisch is no stranger to Australia having worked here in 2004, conducting Adelaide’s production of The Ring. Since 2007, Asher Fisch has been Seattle Opera’s Principal Conductor. He is a former music director…
Latest reviews
Sabine Meyer in Sydney – beyond words
Playing to a packed house last evening (Monday 7 th November) in Sydney were clarinetist Sabine Meyer and the Modigliani String Quartet. How is it ever possible to convey in words the music and the atmosphere that are experienced in a concert? Are words ever sufficient to describe the undisputed virtuoso who has performed around the world…
What’s in a name? Nicknamed music on CD
Try referring to a piece of music by its key and opus number and you can be met with a blank look until you hum the tune or refer to it by its nickname. Opus numbers and keys are an essential part of the identity of a work, but nicknames can be a welcome aide…