The Australian Chamber Orchestra has combined the music of Mozart and Haydn with a new commission by Brett Dean in its latest programme. Peter McCallum reviews the concert for the Sydney Morning Herald:
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Compassion/Nigel Westlake/Lior Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics 481 0678 First published in March 2014, this review is being re-published in the light of the nomination of ‘Compassion’ by Nigel Westlake and Lior, for Orchestral Work of the Year in the APRA AMCOS Australian Music Centre Art Music Awards for 2014. In October 2013, composer Nigel Westlake was awarded the…
Messiah – GF Handel The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Brandenburg Choir and soloists City Recital Hall, Sydney February 22, 2017 It is a delicious coincidence that the debut performance of Handel’s Messiah by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra was held on the eve of Handel’s birthday. Handel set Messiah to words taken by Charles Jennens from the…
The Fairy Queen, Henry Purcell CON OPERA Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium Saturday 14 May 2016 Purcell’s stage works can present substantial difficulties for modern directors since, with the exception of Dido and Aeneas, they are all semi-operas. That is, they are plays into which music is inserted as stand-alone masques which are only loosely connected to…
Peter McCallum reviews the Australian World Orchestras concert for the Sydney Mornng Herald “……there was something about the event….. that allowed players to reach into the depth of their musicianship and draw out phrases of the keenest shape and freshest expression.” http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/orchestra-soars-to-another-world-20131006-2v27a.html
The choir has returned to performance after the COVID hiatus sounding better than before.
The sound was beautifully blended in the ensemble moments and carefully balanced in the solo passages. The Australian Haydn Ensemble a cornerstone of keeping alive the incomparable music and the elements of the Classical era.