CD Review: Pictures At An Exhibition/ Simon Tedeschi
On his new recording Pictures at an Exhibition for ABC Classics, pianist Simon Tedeschi combines two works from the Russian piano repertoire which share their status as masterworks, but which are at opposite ends of the spectrum of complexity. First on the CD is Mussorgsky’s suite of 10 pieces, from which the recording takes its…
Concert Review: Modigliani Quartet/ Musica Viva
The ‘Fab Four’ of chamber music, France’s Modigliani Quartet, returned to Sydney to perform under the auspices of Musica Viva earlier this week. Hamstrung by an injury to resident cellist François Kieffer on the rain washed streets of Paris during the week before they left for Australia, the tour was salvaged by friend and colleague…
Concert Review: Australian Haydn Ensemble/Celeste Lazarenko
Australian Haydn Ensemble with Celeste Lazarenko Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House 26 September 2015 Erin Helyard, Director and Harpsichord/ Skye McIntosh, Artistic Director and Violin/ Matthew Greco, Violin/ James Eccles, Viola/Anthony Albrecht, Cello/Jacqueline Dossor, Double Bass/ Melissa Farrow, Flute. Although formed only four years ago, the Sydney-based Australian Haydn Ensemble has established itself as a…
Concert Review: From Chamber To Charleston/Omega Ensemble/Maria Raspopova
Omega Ensemble From Chamber to Charleston Thursday 17 September 7.30, City Recital Hall, Sydney. In spite of an eleventh-hour personnel change (pianist Daniel de Borah unfortunately having to withdraw from the concert, replaced by Maria Raspopova), the latest addition to Omega Ensemble’s 2015 series was a polished affair. Clarinettist David Rowden’s company of chamber music…
Concert Review: Baroque To Broadway/ Yvonne Kenny/Choir Of St James’
Baroque to Broadway Yvonne Kenny and the Choir of St James’ King Street directed by Warren Trevelyan-Jones St James’ King Street September 10, 2015 It was a marvellous opportunity to hear soprano Yvonne Kenny in the intimate sanctuary of St James’ King Street, when she joined its choir to perform music from Baroque to Broadway….
Concert Review: Mozart’s Fortepiano/Kristian Bezuidenhout/Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
It was an evening when the gentlest of instruments took centre stage. The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, performed music for fortepiano and period flute by Mozart and his contemporaries. Upstaged by its more precocious descendent the pianoforte, the fortepiano is infrequently heard as a solo instrument, often being relegated to the role of an accompanying instrument….
CD Review: Chiaroscuro/Sheldon And Kanga
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music was the venue for the concert launch last month of the CD Chiaroscuro, Modern works for soprano and piano a debut collaboration between soprano Jane Sheldon and pianist Zubin Kanga, two forward-looking Australian musicians with busy international careers. Chiaroscuro is an anthology of works spanning the works of major Australian…
Concert Review: Six Times Three/ Sydney Chamber Choir
Six Times Three Sydney Chamber Choir Great Hall Sydney University September 6, 2015 In its final concert for 2015, celebrating its 40th year, the Sydney Chamber Choir welcomed its newly appointed Music Director Richard Gill OAM, as conductor, in a (mostly) a capella, numerologically themed program of music by six Antipodean composers – three men…
CD Review: Brandenburg celebrates/Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Commemorating twenty-five years of performance since its inception in January 1990, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra has released Brandenburg Celebrates a new studio recording of Baroque exemplars which showcases the talents of the ensemble as well as the more challenging task of snapping a cross-section of its repertoire over this time. Artistic Director and Co-Founder…