Review: Bittersweet Obsessions: Monteverdi And Bach/ Australian Brandenburg Orchestra

Bittersweet Obsessions: Monteverdi and Bach Australian Brandenburg Orchestra City Recital Hall 25 October 2017 The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s Bittersweet Obsessions: Monteverdi and Bach is an engaging pastiche of early and baroque music, performed in a dramatised setting by thirteen members of the orchestra, led by concertmaster Shaun Lee-Chen. Joined by four vocal soloists – New…

Concert Review: Dido And Aeneas/ Sydney Chamber Choir/ Muffat collective

Sydney Chamber Choir/Muffat Collective Great Hall, University of Sydney 6 October 2017 Written by Wendy McLeod The Great Hall of the University of Sydney was packed out when the Sydney Chamber Choir conducted by Roland Peelman and accompanied by the Muffat Collective, presented an early music programme of love and loss which featured madrigals by…

Concert Review: Twilight Musical Dialogues – Russia/ Walker/ Cislowska/ Kats-Chernin/ Donaghoe

Our friends in Newcastle have been busy with a concert series curated by Sally Walker. David Banney tells us what he thought. Twilight Musical Dialogues –Russia Adamstown Uniting Church (Newcastle) June 23, 2017 Sally Walker (flute)/ Tamara-Anna Cislowska (piano)/ Elena Kats-Chernin (composer, narrator)/ Youth Cameo: Zachary Yoshinaga Donoghoe (clarinet) Sally Walker’s Twilight Musical Dialogues have been an innovative…

Concert Review: Winterreise/ Ferruccio Furlanetto/ Opera Australia

Winterreise, F Schubert Ferrucio Furlanetto/ Opera Australia City Recital Hall, Sydney 27 September 2017 Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto’s performance of Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise op89, D911 for Opera Australia was a masterly and deeply personal performance of a complex piece. The evening was much anticipated for several reasons, not least of which was Furlanetto’s status…

Concert Review: Revolutionary Romance/ Australian Romantic And Classical Orchestra

Revolutionary Romance, Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, Chamber Soloists, CIty Recital Hall, 17 September 2017 Written by Wendy McLeod It was a gentle spring afternoon in Sydney when the Chamber Soloists of the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra (ARCO) gathered to present Revolutionary Romance featuring chamber works by Mozart and Spohr, showcasing Australian clarinet virtuoso,…

Concert Review: Haydn, Mozart And Friends/ Australian Brandenburg Orchestra

Haydn, Mozart and Friends/ Australian Brandenburg Orchestra City Recital Hall, 13 September, 2017 In a programme anchored by two brilliantly performed favourites of the classical canon, it was as much the left-of-field inclusions that had the audience captivated, when the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra directed from the fortepiano by Paul Dyer AO, presented Haydn, Mozart and…

Concert Review: A Brahms Affair/ Omega Ensemble

A Brahms Affair Omega Ensemble City Recital Hall 7 September, 2016 At the vanguard of performing live clarinet repertoire in Sydney, Omega Ensemble presented A Brahms Affair, featuring the swoon-worthy later works of Schumann, Borodin and Brahms in configurations of 2, 4 and then 5 players. Omega Ensemble co-directors clarinettist David Rowden and pianist Maria…

Concert Review: Out Of The Shadows/ Fieri Consort

Fieri Consort  Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney August 27 2017 Written by Ria Andriani In their return visit to Sydney, the Fieri consort performed a programme of sumptuous music which explored the depths of despair as well as the hope of light. Singing in one-to-a-part formation, they combined the confidence of soloists with the sensitivity…