Bizet’s ‘Carmen’:Outstanding soloists in unflinching Andalusian style
Carmen G Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after Prosper Mérimée’s novel (1845). Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, February 3rd, 2014. According to operabase.com Bizet’s Carmen ( 1873 – 4) was the second most frequently performed opera, during the worldwide 2013-14 season, with 477 performances, coming second to La traviata (577 performances). Opera…
A Night for Everyone: Opera In The Domain
Mazda Opera in The Domain, Saturday February 1st, 2014. What’s not to like about opera? Everyday heroes and heroines, love triangles, sibling rivalry, parent-child conflict, murder and intrigue. Pile on gorgeous costumes, dazzling singing and lush melodies and surely those who argue that opera is not for everyone need to re-examine their views. Even…
Review: A Turkish Delight – Opera Australia ‘The Turk in Italy’
The Turk in Italy, G Rossini, libretto by Felice Romani after the libretto by Caterino Mazzola Opera Australia, Wednesday January 22nd If Rossini’s opera The Turk in Italy (Il Turco in Italia) were set in present times, the long sea voyage undertaken by Selim the Turk, eventually landing with his entourage on a…
Gondwana Choirs National Choral School.
Gondwana Choirs National Choral School Concerts The Concourse, Chatswood, Saturday Janury 18th,3 pm Let the politicians argue about the school curriculum. Send your children to Gondwana Choirs National Choral School – they will learn a great deal and have googols of fun. The Saturday concerts were the culmination of two weeks of workshops…
Review: ‘Dido and Aeneas’, Sydney Festival
Dido and Aeneas, Sasha Waltz and Guests, Vocal Consort Berlin, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Sydney Festival, Lyric theatre, Pyrmont, Sydney; January 16th, 2014. The production of Dido and Aeneas by Sasha Waltz and Guests, presented by the Sydney Festival is an abstraction of the opera by Purcell. Movement and singing are equal partners in…
Concert review: ‘A Hilliard Songbook’
The Hilliard Ensemble Great Hall, University of Sydney 15 January 2014 “A Hilliard Songbook” The Hilliard Ensemble was formed in 1974 by Paul Hillier, who directed their early performances. The composition of the four members of the group has changed slowly over time and now only the counter-tenor David James remains from the founding…
CD Review: ‘Dido’s Lament’- Zoë Black and Joe Chindamo
Dido’s Lament is the debut release by pianist Joe Chindamo and violinist Zoë Black on their newly formed recording label Mo’OzArt. For the ‘classically’ trained Black and Chindamo, the pianist with the reputation as a jazz musician, it is a fusion of styles which seeks to shatter pre-conceptions and create what Chindamo describes as a…
Review: Opera Australia ‘The Magic Flute’
The Magic Flute – W A Mozart, Libretto: Emmanuel Schikaneder. Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House January 10th 2014. Coinciding with the numerology of Mozart’s 1791 singspiel, there are three pillars of wisdom to be accepted in appreciating this production of The Magic Flute. First, it is sung in English not in…
Review: ‘La Boheme’, Opera Australia
La Bohème – Giacomo Puccini Opera Australia 4 January 2014 Joan Sutherland Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House. When is an operatic first night not a first night? Well, for Opera Australia, it’s when Puccini’s La Bohème opens the Sydney summer season just four days after the New Year’s Eve Gala performance of the same…