Tabla de contenidos para August 2018 en Limelight

Coughing. I can hardly remember a concert when I haven’t heard someone hacking or snuffling away. And with winter upon us, there has been a cacophony of it, not to mention programs crashing to the floor and phones going off – all of which is distracting for both the musicians and the audience. At one recent performance, it got so bad that a gentleman a few seats along from me politely asked the lady next to him, who had coughed off and on throughout the entire first act, if she would mind leaving. She did so with good grace. In June, Maestro Riccardo Muti brought the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to a halt when a quiet moment was disrupted by talking and a loud cough (see page 13). When we first…

ANTON TO CLASSICAL MUSIC I was delighted to read your article on Anton Enus (June 2018). Anton has been sadly missed by SBS watchers. His story is a tribute to classical music and to Richard Gill who has been clamouring for years about the need for our children to hear classical music. It is a sad reflection on the AMEB [Australian Music Examinations Board] and on our society that nowadays music exams do not require much classical input. How are children ever to know classical music exists if they never hear it? At least Anton Enus heard blues and jazz as a child. I can only rejoice he finally discovered the beauty of classical music too. Etiennette Fennell, Panorama, SA COUGH SWEETS [In response to the online Limelight story about…

Opera Australia’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour returns in 2019 with its first ever musical, the iconic West Side Story with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents. Francesca Zambello, who staged the first HOSH in 2012 – a production of La Traviata – is returning to direct. Brian Thomson, who designed Zambello’s Traviata and Carmen, directed by Gale Edwards for HOSH in 2013 and restaged in 2017, will design the set. Jennifer Irwin designs the costumes, with Guy Simpson as Musical Director. Alexander Lewis and Julie Lea Goodwin will play the lead lovers. Lewis recently appeared as Danilo in The Merry Widow and in Barrie Kosky’s The Nose for OA, and has played Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. Goodwin played Maria…

Beethoven The Late Quartets Quatuor Mosaïques NAIVE V5445 This Viennese period instrument quartet is led by my old friend and chamber music partner Erich Höbarth. Knowing how much thought and care went into these fine recordings, which came out last year, has made them especially fascinating. Paco de Lucía Entre dos Aguas PHILIPS 814 1062 When I enrolled in a beginner’s class to learn flamenco clapping, my teacher recommended this classic album by Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía. His fast runs, rhythmically vibrant and detailed in articulation yet also wonderfully graceful, have fascinated me ever since. Ella Fitzgerald Pure Ella MCA, GRP 16362 Like everyone else I’m lost in admiration of Ella’s phrasing and intonation, but on this disc it was an equal pleasure to discover the piano playing of…

GENNADY ROZHDESTVENSKY 1931 – 2018 Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky has died at the age of 87. A conductor of diverse tastes, he recorded close to 800 works over his long career, and was a particular champion of the composers Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina. He is also widely credited for reviving Shostakovich’s first opera The Nose during his time as Music Director of the Moscow Chamber Music Theatre. Born in Moscow on May 4, 1931, Rozhdestvensky’s father, Nikolai Anosov, was a prominent conductor. After graduating from the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory where he studied the piano, Rozhdestvensky began studying conducting with his father in earnest. He trained at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1951, where he made his conducting debut in Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. He became the Bolshoi’s…

I first got into cricket as a very effective method of procrastination. It was the summer of 2006, and I was trying my best to get through the first year of university with minimal effort and work, when I came upon this fascinating anthropological anomaly called Test Cricket. Magic! It provided literally days of excuses not to practise or revise species counterpoint whilst watching the drama unfold. If aliens landed tomorrow and demanded to see the most exemplary demonstration of human physical prowess, it is unlikely we’d offer archive footage of Warnie smoking a ciggie before taking the field. Nonetheless, it is one of the most unique professional sports that currently exists. With its lengthy duration and the intense physical and psychological examination that all players must endure, it succeeds…

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly may be box-office gold these days, but it wasn’t always the hit you might imagine. In fact, the 1904 La Scala premiere turned out to be one of opera’s most notorious fiascos. It was while on holiday in London in 1900 that the composer caught a performance of Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan by the American writer David Belasco. According to the playwright, Puccini dashed backstage after the performance in tears, begging for the operatic rights. A year later, he set to work. With hindsight there were omens. Two months before opening, Puccini had been involved in a nasty road accident that saw him trapped under a car. More importantly, the singers had only received the printer’s proofs a few pages at a time, while the…

A month ago, I was sitting in the driver’s seat of a car, shivering and chuckling in equal measure, changing from jeans and thermals into a velvet, forest-green gown with sweep train made by Calèche. Pianist-goddess Kate Johnson was occupying the back seat for the same purpose, both of us seeing the funny side of wrestling with layers of clothing in freezing temperatures. It’s eight shows into a 16-concert tour across regional and metropolitan Australia and we’ve hit the coldest and – while the church is utterly beautiful – humblest backstage conditions yet, which has relegated preparations to the car. At times like this I relish the phrase “think of the stories”. It’s my fifth self-produced regional tour, although for the last two I’ve had help from Universal Music Australia,…

Slip into one of the dressing rooms at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and there it remains after all these years. A giant signed photograph of the legendary Australian soprano Dame Joan Hammond as Leonora in Beethoven’s opera Fidelio, during the post-war Covent Garden staging. Hammond saw that Fidelio as “the greatest moment of my career”. Which was saying something. That career encompassed 571 operatic performances, countless recitals, radio broadcasts and TV appearances, plus constant visits to the recording studio. How many classical musicians can boast a gold disc for a million sales of a recording of one short number? Hammond could, thanks to the blockbuster success of her O mio babbino caro (O My Beloved Father) from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. More than any other of the wartime recordings…

LIVED 1792 – 1868 MOSTLY IN ITALY, PARIS BEST KNOWN FOR THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, LA CENERENTOLA, SEMIRAMIDE, WILLIAM TELL, LA DANZA, STABAT MATER SIMILAR TO DONIZETTI, BELLINI It was the French writer Stendhal – a convert to the cause of Italian culture in general, and its operatic tradition in particular – who compared Rossini to Napoleon. This was at a time when his works were conquering audiences throughout Europe in the same way that the French emperor and his armies were taking over continental kingdom after kingdom. Rossini’s increasing sway over the opera houses of Europe was a good deal more peaceable in its progress, though equally effective and arguably longer lasting in its impact. Following his mopping up of the Italian peninsula – then a collection of independent…

Vaughan Williams • Elgar • Delius Documentary portraits John Bridcut director CRUX CRUXGZ001, CRUXGZ002, CRUXGZ003 (DVD) Between 2008 and 2012, British filmmaker John Bridcut produced a series of remarkably revealing composer portraits for the BBC. This is their first release on DVD and my word they are impressive, not just for their intelligent structure and insightful use of music, but also for the beautifully chosen visuals and powerful, non-gimmicky editing. The films examine important aspects of three greats: Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Delius. Thanks to the director’s sure hand, there is a commonality of approach, in particular the unusual way ‘experts’ are shown listening to the music – a technique known as ‘commplay’. Far from being documentary suicide, the palpability of emotions thus gently probed proves immensely powerful – prepare to…

Dream Album Music by Elgar, Chaminade, Lizst et al Stephen Hough p HYPERION CDA68176 From the cacophony of recorded music that swirls around us in 2018 comes this lovely disc. Pianist Stephen Hough takes us on a civilised and largely gentle journey through his many arrangements of familiar melodies for piano. It makes for an enchanting CD. He begins with a waltz adaption of Strauss’ Radetzky March. It is given a soft touch in Hough’s arrangement; this is not a criticism, only an observation. Two items from Don Quixote by Minkus are delicately essayed. In the same vein is Manuel Ponce’s Intermezzo No 1 and from Cécile Chaminade’s Suite de Piano we get Pas de Écharpes. She is a composer we don’t get to hear much these days; her beguiling…

“Pullin’s prose throughout is equally evocative and rich in detail” MUSIC The Artist as Traveller: The Sketchbooks of Eugene von Guérard Dr Ruth Pullin Art Gallery of Ballarat/State Library Victoria, HB, 324pp, $75 ISBN: 9780648162148 Artists-eye view takes readers on a uniquely Australian Grand Tour “Few men know the mountain solitudes, the lonely lakes, the far-stretching plains, the solemn forests, the gloomy ravines and resounding cataracts of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania so well as Eugene von Guérard,” wrote John Smith of his friend in 1862. Smith is quoted right at the end of this handsome hard-cover book published in association with the Art Gallery of Ballarat’s recent exhibition Eugene von Guérard: Artist-traveller, and with State Library Victoria. Written by Melbourne art historian Ruth Pullin and lavishly…

Melbourne Recital Centre: Stuart Skelton Discover another side of this great artist in his Melbourne Recital Centre debut recital, as he delves into his other musical interests. Skelton and associate artist UK-based repetiteur Richard Peirson explore rarely-heard gems by composers both familiar and overlooked – including Grainger, Liszt, Turina and Icelandic songs. WHEN: August 3 WHERE: Melbourne Recital Centre TICKETS: $55 – $115 BOOK: (03) 9699 3333 [ melbournerecital.com.au  ]…

MONDAY - FRIDAY 6am Classic Breakfast Start your day with a delicious selection of the best in classical music 10am Classic Mornings Spend your morning with great music, including new releases and classic performances, plus the latest news and stories from the world of music 1pm Lunchtime Concert The best concerts from Australia and around the world 3pm Music in Time and more Music in Time / Legends / Passenger / Duet / Game Show 4pm Classic Drive A journey home through classical sounds, designed to relax, refresh and delight you 8pm Evenings Concerts from Australian and international ensembles plus music to help you wind down 12am Night Music Classical music that’s perfect for all-night listening, presented by some of your favourite ABC Classic FM voices SATURDAY 6am Weekend Breakfast…

MACHAUT: AN OLD FLAME REKINDLED Antony Pitts, AD of The Song Company, reviews the new facsimile of a manuscript by key medieval composer Guillaume de Machaut, and traces its fascinating history. SPARRING WITH SPARTACUS The men of The Australian Ballet lead the charge in Lucas Jervies’ new take on the popular work about a gladiator leading a slave rebellion, to Khachaturian’s soaring score. OH WHAT A CIRCUS We explore the history of the musical Evita as the original 1978 West End production, directed by the legendary Hal Prince, is revived by Opera Australia and John Frost. PLUS... · Peter Sculthorpe revisited · Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor · The Pop-Up Globe and much more... ON SALE SEP 3 2018 AND MUCH SOONER FOR SUBSCRIBERS! (SEE P62)…

CHRIS LLOYD GUEST COLUMN PAGE 20 Chris is a Berlin-based concert pianist, curator and co-founder of international interdisciplinary movement, Crossmodalism. Passionate about radical disruption in the classical music industry, he is currently writing his first book exploring the flaws in the existing system. ANDREW MELLOR EDGE OF THE WORLD PAGE 36 Andrew writes journalism and criticism for a number of publications in the UK, the USA and across the Nordic and Baltic region. He lives in Copenhagen where he is Scandinavian correspondent for Opera and Opera News and is a regular guest on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review. ALBERT EHRNROOTH HALLE PAGE 64 Born in Finland, Albert grew up in Holland, and has lived in Belgium and Australia. He studied musicology, has worked as an actor, director and translator and…

Thanks for the lovely review Limelight [of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra s Simone Young and Kolja Blacher concert on July 6]. Just a brief note to your reviewer, however, to give context to some of the ‘trivialities’ he mentioned: bottles of water on stage and a player having to leave during the performance. Whilst these sights may have mildly offended, it’s just a brief reminder that as musicians, we are as human as those sitting in the audience. Playing a 50-minute symphony that asks a lot of you physically and mentally is hard enough.... doing so whilst you have the flu like half of Melbourne is quite another challenge. Having some water on stage can sometimes be the difference in making it through a concert when you’re ill. And the only…

The chorus of coughing between movements is a familiar sound to orchestral audiences – especially during winter concerts – but coughing during the music can be distracting for both musicians and listeners. The formidable Italian maestro Riccardo Muti is no fan of any such coughing choruses, as evidenced by his bringing the entire Chicago Symphony Orchestra to a halt during a concert on June 23, the Chicago Tribune reported. The famously stern maestro dropped his arms and the orchestra stopped playing after a quiet moment in Cherubini’s Chant sur la Mort de Joseph Haydn was disrupted by talking audience members and a loud cough. “This type of situation does not happen often,” a Chicago Symphony Orchestra spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune in an emailed statement. “However, if there is a…

One sunny afternoon last November, full of eager anticipation, I boarded a plane bound for Dallas where I was excited to begin a two-week residency in The Dallas Opera’s Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors. Having been part of the program the previous year as an observer, I was thrilled to have been invited back as one of the six selected conductors in 2017. A comprehensive professional development program for conductors, TDO’s Hart Institute is distinctive in that it champions and promotes the work of female conductors. While undoubtedly there is much progress being made, there remains some way to go before a more representative gender balance in the field of orchestral conducting becomes the norm. Now in its fourth year, the program is soliciting applications for the…

Last week I had the pleasure of working with George Gershwin as he played his own performance live of the Rhapsody in Blue with the Sydney Symphony. It was a wild ride as Mr Gershwin obviously had had three stiff coffees on the day he recorded the piano roll and the tempi were way faster than any usual modern performance. (So fast in fact that Mark Robinson the timpanist with the orchestra asked me afterwards if we could possibly never again work with dead people.) I made a little disclaimer to the audience that we may expect a little light turbulence and to keep their seatbelts fastened, which reminded me of a very contentious disclaimer that Leonard Bernstein famously made in April 1962 as he conducted Glenn Gould in a…

Did a career in music seem like an inevitability to you? You come from a remarkably musical family after all. I do, especially the family on my mum’s side. Mum [Neta Maughan] has been a piano teacher for 50 years, and many of those years were spent at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I spent a lot of time running up and down the halls there as a delinquent toddler, rounding corners and hearing the most amazing ensembles and orchestras and every piano piece you could imagine. I suppose there was an inevitability about it because music accompanied everything I did. Does your mother remain a strong musical influence, and did you have any other important teachers growing up? She does. She rang me the other day to criticise something…

LAPLAND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Location: Rovaniemi, Finland Founded: 1972 The Lapland Chamber Orchestra, based in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, is the northernmost orchestra in the European Union (Norway’s Arctic Philharmonic lies further up, but Norway is not an EU member state). As the only orchestra for miles around, the LCO has built up a unique bond of trust with its loyal audience that can be viewed as something of a phenomenon. “They always expect to hear something they’ve never heard before – world premieres or at least Finnish premieres,” its chief conductor John Storgårds told me a few years ago, “and if we don’t do those things, they get angry.” NEUQUÉN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Location: Neuquén, Patagonia Founded: 2000 The Neuquén Symphony Orchestra claims to be the southernmost in the world. According…

There’s not much that Kate Mulvany doesn’t know about author Ruth Park and her Harp in the South trilogy. Mention any character or incident from any of the three novels and she will instantly know the reference, in minute detail, and have something wonderful to say about it. “I think I know them off by heart, down to the page number,” she says with a laugh. “It’s a pretty big tome but worth it, and every time I go back into it, I find something new that surprises me. [Ruth Park] was an absolute genius and treasure of a writer.” Mulvany has spent the last three years getting closely acquainted with Park’s books about the Irish-Australian Darcy family, set in Sydney’s squalid Surry Hills long before gentrification, in order to…

MELODY Melody reigns supreme in Rossini’s music, each opera a generous outpouring of lyricism in the Italian tradition. He sets words with skill and definition, discovering an expressive mode that suits the character and the situation. Steeped in the operatic tradition, and once a singer himself, he knew how to write well for voices. ORNAMENTATION Rossini’s vocal lines are highly decorated, demanding a top-quality coloratura technique from every cast member. Though, from Naples onwards, he had the finest singers in venues where audiences demanded virtuosity, he seems to have written out his own ornaments to prevent singers going too far in inventing their own. FORM Rossini stabilised the pattern of two-part arias – basically a slow section followed by a fast one, preceded and linked by recitatives – that stood…

Were these documentary films always intended as part of a series? No, but became one as time went on. I had already made Britten’s Children, a film about the inspiration that Benjamin Britten drew from young people, and in the middle of this ‘series’ I made a film with Prince Charles about the composer of the tune Jerusalem, Hubert Parry. More recently came Britten’s Endgame, which told the story of Britten’s battle with fatal illness. But I suppose the philosophy behind the three films in this series is the idea of getting to grips with the sort of music each composer wrote, and why, rather than telling their life stories and adding musical interludes. The idea of watching experts listen to music is sometimes considered anathema in films. How did…

There have been dozens of recordings of the Polovtsian Dances from Alexander Borodin’s opera Prince Igor but few of the opera itself, a monumental opus that Borodin worked on piecemeal over 18 years and left unfinished. It was edited and completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and his student Alexander Glazunov, the well-known overture being entirely Glazunov’s work. They omitted over half the music Borodin had sketched, and other performing editions have appeared subsequently. The most ‘authentic’ edition, and also the best recorded performance, came from Valery Gergiev and Mariisnky Theatre forces, recorded by Philips in 1995. The first complete recording available in the West was made by British Decca engineers in 1955 with soloists, orchestra and chorus of the Belgrade Opera under the Bosnian conductor Oskar Danon, in the Rimsky/Glazunov edition. That…

The Misanthrope A hilarious 17th-century comedy with the 21st-century polish of Australian playwright Justin Fleming. Bell Shakespeare, Sydney, August 28 – September 28 Calamity Jane A smash hit at the Hayes Theatre last year, this acclaimed take on the 1950s musical returns for a run at Belvoir. Belvoir, Sydney, August 23 – September 30 A Doll's House, Part 2 Witness American playwright Lucas Hnath's brilliant follow up to Ibsen's masterpiece. Melbourne Theatre Company, August 11 – September 15 Blasted Sarah Kane's shocking play about a journalist in a hotel room is brought to life by director Anne-Louise Sarks. Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, August 24 – September 16 Jasper Jones Revisit Kate Mulvany's acclaimed adaptation of Craig Silvey's coming of age novel, set in a community brimming with dark secrets. Queensland Theatre,…

Henry VR Journey deep inside a Tudor painting to explore the hidden life of a king's portrait, and the worksho of the artists who created it. Art Gallery of NSW, until September 9 Japonisme: Japan and the Birth of Modern Art Exploring the impact of Japanese art and design upon the West in the 19th and early 20th centuries. National Gallery of Victoria, until October 28 Jane Baker: The Inward Eye Taking you down a rabbit hole of the experience of dementia with the use of immersive soundscapes. Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, until February 11…

NON-FICTION Hollywood Harmony Frank Lehman Oxford University Press, PB, 312pp, $44.25 ISBN 9780190606404 Hollywood Harmony explores the inner workings of film music, bringing together tools from music theory, musicology, and music psychology in this first ever book-length analytical study of this culturally central repertoire. NON-FICTION The La Traviata Affair Hilde Roos University of California Press, PB, 264pp, $56.99 ISBN 9780520299894 Race, politics, and opera production during apartheid South Africa intersect in The La Traviata Affair: Opera in the Age of Apartheid, a historiographic work on the Eoan Group, a “coloured” cultural organisation that performed opera in the Cape. NON-FICTION Odyssey of an African Opera Singer Musa Ngqungwana Penguin, PB, 216pp, $23.51 ISBN 9781776092970 Odyssey of an African Opera Singer chronicles Musa Ngqungwana’s journey from the townships of South Africa to…

Australian Chamber Orchestra: Goldberg Variations Thomas Adès’ Nightfalls sets the nocturnal scene before the ACO presents the Australian premiere of Canadian conductor Bernard Labadie’s string arrangement of Bach’s iconic keyboard work – the Goldberg Variations. A transformation of the original – which many will recognise – it offers audiences something fresh and inventive. WHEN: August 2 – 16 WHERE: Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Wollongong TICKETS: $25 – $145 BOOK: 1800 444 444 [ aco.com.au  ]…

This year’s La Traviata was one of the highlights of Opera Australia’s 2018 season, thanks to soprano Nicole Car’s debut as Violetta – and what a stunning debut it was. Greeted with a well-deserved standing ovation and roars of approval from the opening night audience on March 1, her radiant performance will doubtless go down in OA history as a night to remember. Car made her Verdi debut in 2016 when she played the title role in Luisa Miller for OA, in a remarkable performance. She has now followed that up with another exceptional debut as Violetta Valéry in La Traviata. Car’s thrilling Sempre libera conveys a spirited determination to rise above sickness, while in È strano, she touchingly reveals the fear beneath her glittering façade. She handles the complex…

ABC CLASSIC FM SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA August 8 at 1pm The Sydney Symphony  Orchestra’s recent Spirit Realms – Sacred and Profane was not only notable for Stephen Hough’s fiendish rendition of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini but for a performance – the first in 20 years – of Australian composer Ross Edwards’ Second Symphony, Earth Spirit Songs. Soprano Celeste Lazarenko joined the SSO in this performance, bringing a nicely polished timbre to Edwards’ vocal lines. The symphony is an example of Edwards’ dance-chant style, and the percussion soon whips the first movement into lively dance rhythms. The atmospheric second movement sets poetry by Judith Wright while the finale, Song to the Earth Mother, setting text by Hildegard of Bingen, is all wild, unrestrained joy and fervid energy. With…

1. Which two composers wrote the operas Dr Miracle and Dr Atomic? 2. Gounod and Bellini are linked by which operatic subject? 3. Frank Bridge and Claude Debussy composed works with the same title but in different languages. What are they? 4. Which play became films with the same title scored by Shostakovich and Walton? 5. Which character from Dante attracted both Tchaikovsky and Zandonai? 6. Which saucy operetta by Offenbach is linked to which tragic opera by Tippett? 7. Which conductor and composer gave this advice:“If you think you’re boring your audience, go slower not faster”? 8. Which highwayman appears in works by John Gay and Kurt Weill? 9. Whose decadent feast inspired both George Frideric Handel and William Walton? 10. Which fairy king inspired both Benjamin Britten and…

BILLY ELLIOT RUN SLASHED Hungarian National Opera cancelled over half the performances in its production of the musical Billy Elliot following a barrage of homophobic press from the daily newspaper Magyar Idok, which ran a series of articles claiming the show could “transform boys into homosexuals”. In announcing the cancellation, the house mentioned the articles had a significant negative impact on ticket sales. NEW UKARIA RESIDENTS The Australia Council has announced that composer Gordon Hamilton and beatboxer Tom Thum will be the first artistic team to take up a new residency at the UKARIA Cultural Centre. A partnership between UKARIA and the Australia Council, it gives artists the opportunity to spend up to 10 days at UKARIA, as well as $10,000 in cash support. They will use the residency to…

1. When did you first meet Brett Dean? Brett was my sister’s first viola teacher 30 years ago and a colleague of my father at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, so I’ve known him for quite some time – I’ve always admired his courage and conviction in leaving the orchestra to fulfil his destiny and be a full-time composer. About 15 years ago, he had written a beautiful work for cello and piano, Huntington Eulogy, for Steven Osborne and myself. Inspired by that, I’ve lobbied for a cello concerto ever since. 2. Were you closely involved with the composition of his new cello concerto? Not at all – I respect Brett far too much to dare to give him any ideas or restrictions. Would I have told Shostakovich or Benjamin Britten…

Edita Gruberova was treated to an hour-long standing ovation after a recent Bavarian Staatsoper recital. The concert celebrated the 50th anniversary of her debut in her hometown of Bratislava and saw the 72-year-old Slovakian soprano perform Verdi, Donizetti and Mozart. Only a few months back, Gruberova was admired in the company’s Lucrezia Borgia. Though the voice is no longer in the first bloom of youth, she shows no signs of retiring with a tour of Japan coming up and more Munich performances next season.…

It was late 2015. In that year, soprano Anna Fraser and the Acacia Quartet had premiered my song cycle The Man In The Other Room and soprano Ayse Goknur Shanal with Patrick Keith had premiered another song cycle, These Men. “You have written music for our children and for many others, but you’ve never written anything for me,” said my bride of (then) 36 years. Point taken. Reflecting on my sin of omission, I had a 'light-bulb' moment and thought about creating a concert which would see two composers performing each other's works – I would dedicate my composition to my aforesaid bride. I put this idea to Michael Lampard, noted Melbourne baritone and composer. We agreed to give it a shot with likely performances in Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne.…

Consider this: Boy from the Shire wins Big Mac, goes overseas, settles in Orlando and becomes the first Australian to sing Tristan at the Met. While a great number of column inches seem to be expended weighing the various soprano candidates for the title of the next Joan Sutherland, spare a thought for Stuart Skelton, the Aussie Heldentenor who has gone calmly about his business and quietly conquered the world over the past two decades. More burly bulldog than seductive siren, maybe no Antipodean singer today is more deserving to shoulder Dame Joan’s mantle (though perhaps try to avoid the visual on that one…) Though he hasn’t performed with Opera Australia in five years, the good news is that he returns this month to sing his first full Antipodean Tristan…

When did you start singing formally? I was first encouraged to learn piano so it wasn’t until I was 14 or 15 that singing was the thing. And even then it wasn’t classical, I was listening to things like Phantom of the Opera and The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance. It just so happened that at the time there was a really good music program at my school, so things took off from there. But what got me into singing was the theatricality of it, the declaiming of text to bring a story to life. That intrigued me. Have early and baroque music always felt like a natural fit for you? Always and from the very beginning. I’ve always had a deep affinity for this music and I’m not sure…

The title The Enchanted Loom is remarkably poetic for a composer who, until quite recently, has tended to eschew extra-musical inspiration in his work. “I’ve always been rather suspicious of music based on poetry or short stories,” Carl Vine tells me as we discuss his newly minted Eighth Symphony. “It seemed to me a bit of a cheap trick.” Vine’s Eighth Symphony, which the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has commissioned and will premiere at the end of August under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, will be the composer’s first symphony in ten years – and it’s his only symphony to sport an evocative title. But while “the enchanted loom” sounds like it might have sprung from an ancient folk-tale, the concept was in fact coined in 1942 by neuroscientist Charles…

Soirées Musicales Persson, Doufexis, Ford, Vignoles HYPERION CDA67647 Roger Vignoles coaxes these sparkling songs from a stellar line up, including the famous La Danza. Stabat Mater City of London Sinfonia/ Richard Hickox CHANDOS CHAN8780 Hickox’s warmly recorded version of Rossini’s choral masterpiece bursts from the speakers. Il Viaggio a Reims Ricciarelli, Araiza, Samuel Ramey, Raimondi et al, Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Abbado DG 4154982 (2CD) A funny thing happened on the way to Rheims with a standout cast and Abbado on glittering form. Bianca e Falliero Majella Cullagh, Jennifer Larmore, London Philharmonic/David Parry OPERA RARA ORC20 (3CD) A tuneful tale of lovers parted that deserves to be far better known. Jennifer Larmore is quite brilliant in the trouser role.…

Roussel Evocations, Pour une Fête de Printemps, Suite in F BBC Philharmonic, CBSO Chorus/ Yan Pascal Tortelier CHANDOS CHAN10957 This album’s three works mark Albert Roussel’s musical progression – albeit in back to front order – from his time as a professor at Vincent D’Indy’s Schola Cantorum, through to his flirtation with ‘Impressionism’ and Debussy, to his maturity as a neoclassicist with warmth but without the jokiness of his contemporary Poulenc. Although somewhat neglected nowadays, Roussel holds an important place in early 20th-century French music. Born into a bourgeois family, his father was a successful cloth cutter who died when Albert was only two, followed seven years later by his mother. The orphaned boy went to live with his grandfather, but he too died two years after. From then on…

Schubert A Soprano’s Schubertiade Carolyn Sampson s, Joseph Middleton p BIS BIS2343 British soprano Carolyn Sampson waited a long time to make her solo recital debut on disc, but the result – 2015’s Fleurs – was worth the wait. It was soon followed by the equally wide-ranging A Verlaine Songbook, setting up a pattern of thoughtful, unusually eclectic programs. But for their third collaboration, Sampson and pianist Joseph Middleton have changed things up. The result, A Soprano’s Schubertiade, might tread more familiar ground, but does it with such care and such a perceptive voice that even some of the composer’s best-known songs feel freshly minted. Perhaps it’s a matter of perspective. Sampson is a soprano who has made her career in Bach, Handel and Mozart. Schubert, for her, is a…

A Toast to Melba Music by Gounod, Verdi et al Lorina Gore s, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra/Marko Letonja ABC CLASSICS 4816297 Paying homage to Dame Nellie Melba, Australian soprano Lorina Gore’s debut recital disc is just peachy, I’m pleased to report. Her sound, with its radiant, shimmering quality, has a touch of steel at the top and some weight to it – you never feel that she’s underpowered or too blowsy for the ladies on this disc. Thankfully, Gore takes pains to ensure each selection sounds distinct from the other. For instance, she brings an intriguingly womanly quality to Caro Nome, normally nothing more than an extended birdcall. The wistfulness and wonder that she breathes into “Gualtier Maldè” is magic, while her feel for both Verdi’s legato line and two-note phrases…

The year 1914 has come to symbolise death and destruction due to the outbreak of the First World War, but while a storm was building in Europe, elsewhere life continued apace. Indeed 1914 stands as a landmark year in art, technology and commerce. The world’s first electric traffic light is installed – and presumably someone was there to honk their horn the instant the light went green. 1914 was also the year Charlie Chaplin made his cinema debut, in the comedy short Making a Living and a mere five days later, Chaplin’s celebrated ‘The Tramp’ was introduced to audiences in the Keystone comedy Kid Auto Races at Venice. This was also the year that the Panama Canal was officially opened to shipping traffic, reducing the transit time between the Atlantic…

The Yard Transplanting William Golding’s seminal Lord of the Flies and its analysis of human behaviour to the Australian school yard. Shaun Parker & Company, Sydney, August 13 – 24 Synergy Bringing together some of the company's most exciting rising stars for a thrilling series of short, contemporary and neoclassical works. Queensland Ballet, July 27 – August 4 Dark Emu Exploring the vital life force of flora and fauna in a series of dance stories directed by Stephen Page. Don't miss this. Bangarra Dance Theatre, National tour, until September 15…

PREVIEW There was something in the air when Kate Champion wrote to Geordie Brookman, Artistic Director of State Theatre Company South Australia, to tell him she was keen to move into directing plays rather than the movement works for which she was known. “He said ‘funny you should contact me, I’ve been thinking of you for this,’” recalls Champion. “This” is STCSA’s production of That Eye, The Sky adapted by Richard Roxburgh and Justin Monjo in 1994 from Tim Winton’s novel. Having begun her career as a dancer, Champion spent time as a performer and production assistant at Lloyd Newson’s DV8 Physical Theatre in London. In 2002, she founded Force Majeure, a dance theatre company in Sydney, where she created movement works such as Same, same But Different and The…

MISER MARKS BELL'S RETURN THEATRE Bell Shakespeare has announced its first production for 2019, which will see its founder John Bell take on the title role of Molière’s The Miser, a comedy of manners first performed in 1668. This marks Bell’s return to the company after he stepped away at the end of 2015. He plays the unscrupulous moneylender Harpagon in a staging by Artistic Director Peter Evans. Australian playwright Justin Fleming will adapt the classic comedy. The company will perform Fleming’s adaptation of another Molière play, The Misanthrope, in late August. RUSH OUT OF MTC SHOW THEATRE Actor Geoffrey Rush has pulled out of Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, due to open in November. Rush cited “current circumstances and medical advice” as the reason for his…

The Wife Opens: August 2 Genre: Drama/literary adaptation Duration: 100 minutes Glenn Close stars in a topical look at female self-limitation This is a timely film, given the discussion around the #MeToo movement. Not that it is about sexual harassment or assault (at least primarily), rather The Wife explores a more complex area of gender roles by examining masculine power and prestige in the literary world and inside a marriage that on the surface appears happy and settled. Ably directed by Swedish director and author Björn Runge and adapted by Jane Anderson from a novel by fellow American Meg Wolitzer, The Wife is not about oppressor and victim in any straightforward way, rather its interest is female self-limitation and the colonisation of the feminine sub-conscious. That the title role is…

City Recital Hall: Celebrating Ross Edwards City Recital Hall joins with Sydney Chamber Choir and percussion virtuosi Synergy for this tribute concert in Ross’s honour. This concert encompasses pieces composed by Ross alongside the music that has both inspired him and the music he himself has inspired in others. This will be an unmissable testament to his extensive musical achievements. WHEN: August 4 WHERE: City Recital Hall TICKETS: $25 – $60 BOOK: (02) 8256 2222 [ cityrecitalhall.com  ]…

In Australia we’re relatively inured from the turbulence that’s displacing people around the world, from Syria to Venezuela, but it’s this displacement that Canberra International Music Festival AD Roland Peelman sought to highlight in Ulysses Now, presenting music from Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria alongside Australian works in an intelligent, thought-provoking program. Monteverdi’s opera – based on the second half of Homer’s Odyssey – focusses on Ithaca, where Penelope is awaiting the return of her husband, King Ulisse, from the Trojan Wars. It was Penelope – sung by mezzo-soprano Kate Howden – who was centre stage in this suite, delivering a dark, lush performance of Di misera regina. The program also featured works by Alex Pozniak and Mary Finsterer’s Angelus, culminating in Across the Water by Stephanie Arnold…

George Benjamin’s opera Lessons in Love and Violence had its world premiere in May at the Royal Opera House, commissioned by six houses from five different countries, including Dutch National Opera, Hamburg State Opera and Opéra de Lyon. The opera tells the story of a medieval king (sung by the brilliant French baritone Stéphane Degout) who must reconcile the authority he wields with the love he bears his family. His decisions throw the country into devastating civil war, turning both wife and advisor against him and spurring his son to action. The critics were impressed by both the work itself and its cast, with The Financial Times praising Benjamin’s score, “at once brilliantly clear and full of half-suggested meanings. Although Benjamin does not write conventional arias, it seems there is…

METRONAUT Antefosco’s Metronaut promises to not only provide users with a vast library of music scores, it also promises the orchestral accompaniment to go with it. Offering the world’s best orchestras and pianists to help you master your instrument at the touch of a button, each accompaniment provides fully acoustic and high quality studio recordings, promising tempo adjustments without any deleterious effects on sound quality. All singers can use the app with ease, as can most musicians – violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, trumpet, tuba and French horn are all catered for. Thankfully intuitively designed, the app displays the musical score while an orchestra or other instruments play along. Enabling ‘Magic’ mode sees the virtual accompanist adapt to the tempo you wish to play at, particularly useful for beginner musicians…

Although neither of my parents played musical instruments, there was a lot of music in our house when I was growing up. My mother used to teach us a lot of songs on long car drives, and we had this big old record player that my father built that we’d listen to both classical and pop music on. I studied mostly ballet as a child, which is generally accompanied by an elderly lady in the corner plopping away on the piano with the same tunes over and again. It is music, but not the kind that shapes you. I have an older brother and when we were kids he listened to a lot of the Beatles – I think that was a very big thing in our house in the…

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO The Velvet Underground, Verve Records 823 2902 For me it’s The Velvet Underground & Nico. I actually made my very first dance piece to Femme Fatale! I first encountered it at the age of 13. A friend’s older brother was listening to it and I remember being like “oh my God!” There’s something really different about them and their detached vocals that just clicked with my sensibility. In a way I still strive to achieve their combination of coolness and intensity.…