“Because we live in a culture…… where visual stimuli are in the ascendant, sometimes at the cost of sound. Sound is no longer enough…… that music is a worthy pursuit in and of itself is…..being casually dismissed. Classical music now must aspire to offer spectacle – whether a particular piece can take it or not.
Philip Clark writes in Gramophone magazine.
Young Australian pianist Jayson Gillham presents his third album on ABC Classics, featuring the music of two Russian friends and piano virtuosi: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 – one of the most enduring pieces of classical music – and the rarely performed Piano Concerto No.1 by Nikolai Medtner, written just 15 years later. For these recordings,…
During this year’s Lucerne Festival mestro Bernard Haitink conducts master classes for aspiring young professionals. The festival has been running since 1938 when the concerts in its first series were conducted by Toscanini. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/bernard-haitink-a-maestro-passes-on-his-baton-to-the-next-generation-7873227.html
Acclaimed conductor David Zinman conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra during May this year in two programmes. Zinman is the Music Director of the Tonhalle in Zurich to which he was appointed in 1995. Renowned for his creative programming, he has also appeared as guest conductor with the major orchestras of the world – the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony,…
Opera Australia: Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner Second Cycle State Theatre, Melbourne 27 November – 4 December 2013 During November and December Opera Australia presented the first staging of Wagner’s Ring on the east coast of Australia for 100 years. The individual operas of the first cycle have been perceptively reviewed on this website…
How well do you know Aussie movie music? Challenge yourself with these teasers on this substantial and brilliant topic! Name the singer and the 1977 disco song written by George Young and Harry Vanda which is the centrepiece of the movie Strictly Ballroom. The song was a worldwide hit in 1978, peaking at No. 3 on…
The name Stradivarius is associated with the very best in violins and now, the Australia Chamber Orchestra is the proud owner of one of these instruments. The ACO has announced that Chairman Guido Belgiorno-Nettis AM and Michelle Belgiorno-Nettis have purchased a 1726 Stradivarius violin and will make it available for long-term loan to the orchestra….