Concert Review: Intrepid Voyagers/ Sydney Youth Orchestra
Intrepid Voyagers Sydney Youth Orchestra Verbrugghen Hall, The Sydney Conservatorium of Music April 2, 2017 Written by Deen Hamaker There is a constant undercurrent of commentary on the future of classical music and whether it can survive into the future as our attention spans shorten and audiences drift away from traditional art forms. In the…
Opera Review: La Traviata/ Opera Australia
La traviata, Opera Australia Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Tuesday 28 March 2017 Written by Deen Hamaker When Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata premiered at Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 1853, theatre management insisted that the opera be set in the early 18th Century. Verdi had wanted his opera in portrayed in contemporary times….
Album Review: Hooray For Song! / The Sydney Children’s Choir/ Lyn Williams And Friends
Described as a ‘singing adventure’, the Sydney Children’s Choir’s new album release Hooray for Song! is a lively collection of songs written especially with young singers in mind. Since being established in 1989 by Lyn Williams OAM, who continues to serve as Artistic Director, the choir has commissioned numerous Australian composers to write and arrange…
Concert Review: Young Handel/ Thoroughbass
Young Handel – Thoroughbass Diana Weston, harpsichord/ Shaun Ng, viola da gamba/ Anna Fraser, soprano The Independent Theatre, North Sydney/Sunday March 26th 2017 Written by Victoria Watson The Independent Theatre with its live acoustic and elegant neo-classical architecture was the perfect venue for Thoroughbass’s delightful concert dedicated to the early Italian chamber works of Georg Friedrich Handel…
Album Review: Philip Glass ˑ Piano Works / Vikingur Ólafsson
In April 2015, there was a landmark performance of Philip Glass’s Twenty Études for Piano at London’s Barbican Centre. The composer handpicked four pianists to perform with him, effectively anointing them as exponents of his art. One of these pianists was Vikingur Ólafsson, a brilliant young musician from Iceland. It is this repertoire that Ólafsson…
Concert Review: Messiah/ Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Messiah – GF Handel The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Brandenburg Choir and soloists City Recital Hall, Sydney February 22, 2017 It is a delicious coincidence that the debut performance of Handel’s Messiah by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra was held on the eve of Handel’s birthday. Handel set Messiah to words taken by Charles Jennens from the…
Opera Review: Tosca/ Opera Australia
It was a night of powerful singing and strong dramatic performances when John Bell’s production of Puccini’s Tosca for Opera Australia under revival director Roger Press, opened its third Sydney season last week. Spanish soprano Ainhoa Arteta was a compelling Tosca and Romanian tenor Teodor Ilincăi, a fine Cavaradossi. However, it was Lucio Gallo who…
Concert Review: Haydn and Mozart/Omega Ensemble
Omega Ensemble: David Rowden (Artistic Director and basset clarinet), Natsuko Yoshimoto (violin), Ike See (violin), Neil Thompson (viola), Paul Stender (cello) February 19, Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House Written by Larry Turner The Omega Ensemble’s weekend concert Haydn and Mozart was a superb performance of high calibre which suggests that it might more aptly be…
Opera Review: La Traviata/ Opera Australia
It’s everything you want opera to be. From its first trembling chromatics, the soloists dazzled, the chorus and orchestra were in fine form, Verdi’s music was impossible to resist and the tale oozed passion and tragedy. Add sumptuous and meticulously detailed costumes, sets and dramatic lighting and there you have the complete package. Opera Australia’s…