Concert Review: Mozart Requiem: 100 Voices/ Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
There is a delicious irony to an orchestral concert that begins with unaccompanied choral items. Indeed the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s Mozart Requiem: 100 Voices programme was well on its way before we saw the first instruments on stage. It was a night when voices took centre-stage, and those voices comprised school students culled from some…
CD Review: Amuse-Bouche/ I Fagiolini
I Fagiolini, the British vocal ensemble directed and conducted by Robert Hollingworth, celebrates its thirtieth anniversary with a new recording, Amuse-Bouche (Decca Classics 478 9394), a 29 track collection of ‘French choral delicacies’ from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, released in April 2016. To highlight the Australian connections, I Fagiolini toured Australia in 2015 for Musica…
Concert Review: Four Last Songs/ Omega Ensemble/ Lee Abrahmsen
Four Last Songs Lee Abrahmsen, soprano with Omega Ensemble City Recital Hall, April 20, 2016 An augmented Omega Ensemble was joined by soprano Lee Abrahmsen for Four Last Songs a programme of music which included original works, transcriptions and a world premiere by Andrew Ford. The programme for Four Last Songs took its name from…
CD Review: Nelson Friere Bach
Brazilian pianist Nelson Friere has added to his extensive discography with an album of selected works by JS Bach called Nelson Friere Bach. (Decca Classics 4788449). It is noteworthy because it is Friere’s first album dedicated solely to the music of Bach, it includes works written for the keyboard as well as transcriptions from other…
Concert Review: Stephen Hough/ Musica Viva
Stephen Hough Musica Viva April 16, City Recital Hall, Sydney On his third national solo tour for Musica Viva, pianist Stephen Hough presented a programme that was deeply introspective and austere in its sentiments but ultimately uplifting, inspired by the diametrically opposed inspirations of the sacred and the salon. Opening his programme was the Sonata…
Concert Review: The Russian/ The Metropolitan Orchestra/ Benjamin Kopp
‘The Russian’ The Metropolitan Orchestra/ Benjamin Kopp, piano /Sarah-Grace Williams, conductor 16 April 2016 Eugene Goossens Hall, ABC Centre, Ultimo The Metropolitan Orchestra, now in its seventh year, consists of notably young musicians whose performances display the energy and enthusiasm of youth. Their second MET concert for 2016 consisted of two major works by…
Opera Review: Turandot/ Opera Australia/ Handa Opera On Sydney Harbour
Superlative singing, sensitive staging and exquisite styling infused with the themes of Imperial China have made Turandot on Sydney Harbour arguably the most enjoyable of the productions to date. The co-production between Opera Australia and Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (HOSH) opened in Sydney last week under crystal clear skies and temperate breezes. (The first…
Concert Review: Sydney Chamber Choir/ Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana Sydney Chamber Choir, NSW Public Schools Senior Singers Wei Jiang, Megan Cronin, Belinda Montgomery – sopranos/ Miguel Iglesias – tenor/ Alexander Knight – baritone Splash Percussion/ Chris Cartner and Katherine Day – pianos Richard Gill – conductor Saturday, 19 March, 2016 City Recital Hall, Sydney In recent years the reach of the Sydney Chamber Choir’s…
CD Review: Monteverdi/ Magdalena Kožená/ La Cetra/ Andrea Marcon
Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená has added to her discography of early music with Monteverdi, a collection of 9 arias for solo voice and vocal ensemble by Claudio Monteverdi. Also on this Archiv Produktion recording are three instrumental works by Monteverdi’s contemporaries Marco Uccellini,Tarquinio Merula and Biagio Marini. Monteverdi represents a return to the style of…