Concert Review: Deborah Humble In Recital
Deborah Humble in Recital, Glebe Town Hall, Glebe, Sydney November 11, 2016 Written by Deen Hamaker On a very warm spring evening in Glebe we were given an absolute treat of a recital. It is such a joy to be able to hear a magnificent operatic voice in an intimate space and this was indeed…
Concert Review: The Tallis Scholars
The Tallis Scholars/ Peter Phillips City Recital Hall, 7.30 pm November 5, 2016 When the Tallis Scholars visit Sydney it is like welcoming back old friends. Apart from their many tours and celestial sound, their summer schools and workshops with local choirs have won them many fans. On this 2016 visit to Australia, founder and…
Concert Review: Harbour Light/ Acacia Quartet
Harbour Light Acacia Quartet Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House November 9, 2016 One of the gifts of an ensemble playing the music of a living composer is that the two are able to build a creative partnership, ensuring that the writing is suited to the musicians and in return, the composer is able to coach…
Concert Review: Three Parts Mozart/ Omega Ensemble With Paul Meyer
Three Parts Mozart Omega Ensemble, Paul Meyer, clarinet City Recital Hall November 3, 2016 Written By Deen Hamaker The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is such a fundamental part of the classical repertoire it is easy to forget that he died when he was just 35. He was an incredibly prolific, composing over 600…
Review: The Eight Wonder/ Opera Australia
The Eighth Wonder, Opera Australia Forecourt, Sydney Opera House October 28, 2016 Written by Deen Hamaker This new production of Alan John and Dennis Watkins’ opera is the first since the original 1995 production was revived in 2000 for the Olympics Arts Festival. It has been too long between outings. This is a remarkable opera…
Concert Review: Avi Avital and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Avi Avital, mandolin 26 October 2016, City Recital Hall, Angel Place Written by Larry Turner Two years ago the Israeli-born mandolin player Avi Avital gave a very successful series of concerts with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Now he has returned to a celebrity welcome from the ABO’s Artistic Director, Paul Dyer, who…
Concert Review: Hoang Pham Plays Brahms And Rachmaninoff
Hoang Pham Plays Brahms and Rachmaninoff City Recital Hall, Sydney October 16, 2016 Making his debut solo recital in Sydney, Melbourne pianist Hoang Pham, winner of the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year in 2013, mesmerised his audience with music by the great Romantics. Hoang Pham plays with the exuberance of youth but…
Concert Review: The French Flute/ The Marais Project
The Marais Project: Jennifer Eriksson (director and viola da gamba), Mikaela Oberg (baroque flute), Anna Sandström (soprano), Tommie Andersson (theorbo and baroque guitar), Anthony Hamad (harpsichord). 16 October 2016, Recital Hall West, Sydney Conservatorium, Macquarie St, Sydney Written by Larry Turner Concerts by The Marais Project often embark on little-known by-ways of music and…
Album Review: Benjamin Grosvenor Homages
When I spoke to Benjamin Grosvenor in 2012 during a brief visit to Sydney to launch his album Rhapsody in Blue, the young British pianist commented that although his repertoire embraced composers from JS Bach through Chopin and Scriabin, to Saint-Saëns, Ravel and Gershwin, the Romantics have been his first love. His favourite composer at the time…