Sir Neville Marriner, founding director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields orchestra turned 90 earlier this month. Believe it or not he apparently was beaten for ‘over- gesticulating’!
He looks back on his career in this interview with Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian.
The Sydney Festival is hiring an elite German orchestra to perform at the 2014 Sydney Festival, because believe it or not, it is more cost effective than employing an Australian ensemble. Substantial government subsidies are the reason behind this curious situation. Click here to read the feature in The Age.
Matthew Westwood previews opera Australia’s upcoming production. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/american-dreams/story-e6frg8n6-1226089024397
Conductor, musicologist and author Dr Paul Kildea has written a major book on the life of Benjamin Britten, to be published by Allen Lane on 7 February, 2013. In it, he claims that Britten suffered from syphilis which ultimately led to the cardiac failure from which he died. The composer apparently contracted the disease form…
This compelling 2 hour documentary is available on SBS at the link below until 3.15 pm on November 30th, 2013. Centred around the creation of Britten’s last opera Death in Venice, it contains footage of Britten, his colleagues and carers at work and being interviewed, as well as the health issues that led to his death in…
Some years ago I attended a concert at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Sopranos Montserrat Caballe and her Callas look-alike daughter Monserrat Marti gave a superb rendition of solos and duets for female voices. The hall was packed; the audience brought them out – and they graciously obliged – for three encores. On the premise that one good…
The influence of Peter Sculthorpe on Australian music in the 20th and 21st centuries is beyond measure. The Goldner Quartet aims to document at least some of the essence of this great life and great talent in a new documentary. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/four-score-and-19-political-quartets-later-20120424-1xj20.html