After Lindy Hume’s impassioned stance last week on maintaining the integrity and relevance of opera in the 21st century, over 400 years after it emerged, the directors of the UK’s seven major opera houses give their views on why opera is still important and how they would introduce neophytes to the art form.
When SoundsLikeSydney spoke to Samuel Sakker in London, the young tenor was en route to just another day at work. For him, this entails an hour’s journey, leaving home at 7.30 in the morning and arriving at the hallowed portals of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in time for 9 o’clock. Last year,…
The Federal Minister for the Arts, The Hon Simon Crean has invited public contributions to a discussion paper that will result in the formulation of a National Cultural Policy for Australia – the first one in 20 years. Estimating the 90 % of Australians participate in the arts, the Minister aims to create a 10 year plan that will…
The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra has a new concertmaster. Laura Hamilton has taken up the position in Australia after working as Principal Associate Concertmaster at the Metropolitan Opera since 1999. Whilst there she led many of the popular “Live in HD” videocasts, including Carmen, Parsifal, Turandot, Faust, Salome, and Madama Butterfly. Laura is graduate of…
Australia’s critically acclaimed Orava Quartet returns with a second album on the prestigious global Deutsche Grammophon record label.
The musicians of Acacia Quartet will soon be packing their bags for Berlin as they begin a rare adventure discovering and performing the music of German-Jewish composer Günter Raphael. Speaking to SoundsLikeSydney, Acacia cellist Anna Martin-Scrase explained that she and her colleagues, violinists Lisa Stewart and Myee Clohessy and violist Stefan Duwe have been invited…
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic “smoked it” in their live recordings of Dvořák’s final three symphonies for Deutsche Grammophon.