Latest news
Happy Birthday to the coathanger
The Sydney Harbour Bridge turns 80 today! Eleven musicians from the brass section of the Sydney Symphony scaled the bridge to perform from the top. Guess what they played?! Check out these features: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/featurenews/view/1189848/1/.html http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/13205823/sydney-harbour-bridge-turns-80/
Seeing is believing……
The La Traviata chandelier arrives! Images by James Morgan courtsey of Opera Australia
Hot off the press….
The new look Australian String Quartet’s Sydney concert reviewed: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/spirits-high-as-new-lineup-gels-with-old-guard-20120316-1va8v.html The Guardian’s Tom Service asks if Stephen Sondheim might be our greatest composer: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2012/mar/16/sondheim-sweeney-todd-music-theatre
Hot off today’s press –
Review In Search of Haydn screening at the Hayden Orpheum and Roseville cinemas: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/in-search-of-haydn-20120314-1v39p.html John Bell talks about the competition for opera from HD cinema productions: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/opera/bell-gives-stravinsky-a-rakeover-20120315-1v82g.html and read Peter McCallum’s review of The Song Company’s Love in Venice http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/irresistible-allure-of-sensuality-with-a-light-original-approach-20120315-1v82u.html
operaquatics – a preview of Handa opera on the harbour’s production of La Traviata
We’re watching the surrounds of Sydney harbour for signs of the mega-outdoor staging of La Traviata. A preview of the preparations from Steve Meacham of the Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/about-town/sopranos-stagecraft-and-synoptic-charts-20120308-1ul84.html
accompanists hold the keys
Accompanists are the unobtrusive support behind the soloist. They are able to lead as well as to follow and perform music that is as demanding as that of a soloist. Yet, they rarely recieve the same adulation and recogntion. Tom Service of The Guardian writes: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2012/mar/04/accompanists-unsung-heroes-music
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…