Review: Verdi’s Rigoletto/Opera Australia
Music critic Michael Church once noted the existence of “Those who mistakenly believe that historical operas by dead composers can only be made ‘relevant’ if they are updated and taken out of their traditional theatrical context”.* Whether or not you subscribe to this view, Opera Australia’s Roger Hodgman directed offering of Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto demonstrates…
Concert Review: ACO/Sibelius/Mahler
Australian Chamber Orchestra Sibelius 6 and Mahler 4 City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney 17 June 2014 The Australian Chamber Orchestra and director Richard Tognetti are continually exploring new territory. Two years ago they ventured into the world of large-scale symphonies with a performance of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony which was hugely successful and won Limelight…
Concert Review: Selby and Friends ‘Basically Beethoven’
Basically Beethoven. Selby and friends, 13th May 2014. Pianist Kathryn Selby with violinist Susie Park and cellist Timo-Veikko Valve performed a well-balanced program of Beethoven’s chamber music with works from each of his compositional periods. The concert began with an early Piano Trio in E flat major, WoO 38, composed in 1791 just before Beethoven…
Concert Review: A Venetian Coronation
Songs of Splendour – A Venetian Coronation The Choir of St James’/The Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral/Australian Baroque Brass Conducted by Paul McCreesh St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney 21 May 2014 It is now twenty-five years since Paul McCreesh first compiled his conjectural reconstruction of the music performed at the coronation of Doge Marino…
Concert review: ‘Love and Lamentations’ Sophia Mitchell Farewell
Love and Lamentations Sophia Mitchell’s Farewell Concert Ferguson Hall, St Stephen’s church Macquarie Street 24 May 2014 Mezzo-soprano Sophia Mitchell is following the well-trodden path of promising young Australian singers and in September she and her family, including a young child, will be re-locating to London. Having already obtained her first degree at the…
Concert Review: Deborah Humble ‘Great Australian Wagnerians In Recital’
Great Australian Wagnerians in Recital Deborah Humble Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium 28 May 2014 Last year’s performances of Wagner’s Ring der Nibelungen in Melbourne reignited interest in Wagner’s music and the singers who perform it. One of the outcomes of this revived attention is a new series of concerts entitled Great Australian Wagnerians in…
Concert Review: Plucky genius – Avi Avital with The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
It is a constant matter of wonderment to me when I see grown men and women musicians performing on instruments that seem hardly big enough to convey their virtuosity. Yet, the musician turns the instrument into a giant of expression and mandolin player Avi Avital’s opening concert with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra was a night…
CD Review: Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem, The Choir of St James’ King Street
In recording this live performance of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem(A German Requiem) opus 45 in July 2013, the Choir of St James’ King Street directed by Warren Trevelyan-Jones ventures into repertoire we would not often hear from this fine ensemble, whose focus leans towards music from both earlier and more recent times. For many…
CD review: Avi Avital Bach and Between Worlds
Mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital features on a double CD release from Deutsches Grammophon Avi Avital: Bach (June 2012)and Between Worlds (January 2014), to coincide with his tour to Australia with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. The title of the first of the two CDs Bach needs little explanation except to add the initials ‘J S’ before…