The conductor Lorin Maazel has died at his home in Virginia aged 84.
“By his 11th birthday he had already shared a podium with Leopold Stokowski, while the no less legendary Arturo Toscanini was responsible for getting Maazel his first steady conducting job in 1942, when Maazel was only 12.”
Gondwana Choirs, the nation’s highly respected choral training ground is in the thick of its National Choral School. With more than 300 young singers, composers and conductors hot-housing vocal repertoire over a fortnight, you could be forgiven for expecting unbridled cacophony. On the contrary, these emerging musicians will be formed into six choirs under the…
Three new funding opportunities were recently launched by APRA AMCOS to provide much-needed support for classical, jazz and experimental composers. The largest of these is the Art Music Fund, a multi-faceted package that will dovetail into existing initiatives as well as create innovative programs to address the decline in local art music content. In the…
Roberto Alagna is coming to Sydney, and to commemorate his Australian debut next month, Deutsche Grammophon is releasing a special Australian Tour Edition of Robertissimo a 2-CD album which features Alagna at his magnetic best. The recording includes arias by Verdi, Donizetti, Massenet and Puccini as well as some lighter works from Abbalati, México and Shostakovich. Recorded in…
Soprano Jessica Pratt and tenor Michael Fabiano are the undoubted stars of Opera Australia’s current production of Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor. Along with a strong supporting cast, the Opera Australia Chorus and the Opera Australia Orchestra, audiences and critics have been both moved and amazed by the stellar musical and dramatic performances….
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra has released A Very Brandenburg Christmas, a live recording of its 2014 Noël! Noël! concert which includes the Brandenburg Choir, Larissa Kovalchuk playing bandura, Christina Leonard on saxophone and Ben Dollman, baroque violin, conducted by Artistic Director Paul Dyer, AO. Recorded at the City Recital Hall by ABC Classics, A Very Brandenburg Christmas features the five-time ARIA Award winning Australian…
Pinchgut Opera’s recent brilliant performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, was professionally filmed and recorded and is streaming now for unlimited viewing.