This is a fascinating feature from the New York Times about what makes the Vienna Philharmonic sound so unique. Maestro Zubin Mehta gives his views along with some of the musicians from the orchestra.
For a start, the horns and the oboes in the orchestra are of the Viennese type and distinct from those played in other countries. The feature also contains video footage of how some of these instruments are played and sound.
A fabulous concert from Pinchgut Opera, Splendour of Venice is available to watch online. Scheduled for live performance last weekend, the concert was recorded in 2019 and is conducted from the chamber organ by Pinchgut’s Artistic Director Erin Helyard. Splendour of Venice features a vocal ensemble of 9 with 8 instrumentalists performing Renaissance gems by…
Did you know that the first compact discs were designed to record seventy-five minutes of music so that Beethoven’s the Ninth Symphony could be played through without interruption?! ” A phenomenon of dazzling and disconcerting force. (Beethoven) not only left his mark on all subsequent composers but also molded entire institutions. “ In this feature from The…
To celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2020, Musica Viva Australia is introducing a National Chamber Music Championship (NCMC) for secondary-school-aged students with support from Creative Victoria and in partnership with Melbourne Recital Centre and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). The annual championship will give secondary students from all over Australia the opportunity to…
The Australian String Quartet has announced that violinist Ioanna Tache and cellist Sharon Draper will join present members violinist Kristian Winther and violist Stephen King to form a new line – up for the ensemble. Both newcomers are graduates of the Australian National Academy of Music. The newly re-configured ensemble will perform in Sydney on…
‘Kaleidoscope’ – a word of Greek origin and a composite of kalos, meaning beauty, eidos, meaning shape, and skopeo to look or to examine. Together, they refer to the ‘observation of beautiful forms.’ It is a word, says Ian Cleworth , which has recently been used a lot in the vocabulary of TaikOz and its…
For over three decades the International Foundation for Arts and Culture (IFAC) Australian Singing Competition (ASC) has helped discover and fund career opportunities for some of our region’s finest talent in opera and classical singing. Last weekend, five young singers cams closer to realizing their dreams when they were selected to participate in the…