Cellist who premiered works by Schnittke, Sculthorpe and Brett Dean passes away at 65. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

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Flautist Janet McKay lifts the lid on the collaborative process ahead of her Significant Other concert. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

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Máximo Diego Pujol’s tango trio to make its Australian debut at 2014 Adelaide International Guitar Festival. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Strauss and Hoffmansthal’s fantastic fairytale has a reputation as a brute to stage and while expensive, requiring a heavy-duty cast of singers to do it justice its heavy symbolism and Jungian archetypes, it’s a gift to directors who can give free rein to their imagination. Sadly, most try too hard to spell out the bafflingly symbolic as seems to be the case in Jonathan Kent’s literal production which serves the human aspects well but is rather ho-hum when it comes to the other-worldly; Barak and his wife live in a squalid Laundromat while the inhabitants of the Spirit-World gad about in a colourful Russo-Oriental pastiche. The Mariinsky singers have the necessary heft but also a great deal of Slavic wobble. Best of the bunch were the Olgas Sergeeva and Savova as the Dyer’s wife and Nurse; both threw themselves into the maelstrom and their dramatic intensity made up for the occasional ugly sound. Gergiev’s conducting, while wildly exciting, lacks the sweeping Echt-Straussian line and while the strings make some glorious sounds the orchestra comes across as relentlessly loud and crude. An essential purchase for Gergiev fans, perhaps, but I would veer towards the Sawallisch/Munich production with its clever Kabuki-style and musical…

Colourful, inventive and utterly appealing, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is one of those works that listeners enjoy returning to again and again. All the more reason then, to have a good recording – such as this one. Stephen Layton brings his customary insight to the presentation of this series of six linked cantatas that were designed to be sung on various days of the Christmas season and gathers together an impressive group of performers that give the work a truly festive air. Chief among the many attractive features of this performance is the incisive singing and diction of the Trinity College Cambridge Choir. Jauchzet, frohlocket, the opening chorus, is given a stately swagger that establishes a wonderfully joyful mood, but equally there is no loss of rhythmic momentum in such florid choral writing as Ehre sei Gott in the second cantata. Layton’s soloists are all first rate. James Gilchrist is an excellent, honey-toned Evangelist who tells the story with clarity and conviction. Katherine Watson has a suitably angelic soprano voice, while countertenor Iestyn Davies (a Layton regular) brings warmth and musicianship to everything he sings. The rich, seasoned bass of Matthew Brook cuts an imposing figure in Grosser Herr, und starker…

This is one of a number of new releases commemorating the 50th anniversary of Paul Hindemith’s death. His three Piano Sonatas were all written in the same year, 1936, after he’d fled the Nazis. (Hindemith wasn’t Jewish – the Nazis just hated his music.) The sonatas, while clearly from the same pen, have distinct profiles: the dramatic First has an improvisatory feel, the Second is lighter and the Third the most formally disciplined, with a Bach influence in its fugal finale. The booklet note states: “Hindemith… viewed the piano as providing a… neutral tone colouring through which the movement and intertwining of tones, themes and lines could be contemplated”. That may not be the whole story, but it seems to be how Markus Becker views this music. While far from being neutral in expression, his approach is thoughtful and balanced. Becker has a great many pluses: He brings coherence to the First Sonata, and the Third’s Sehr lebhaft movement positively flows (fluency in Hindemith – as opposed to, say, Chopin – does not come automatically. It requires hard work.) But for all his finesse there is one crucial aspect missing here: an underlying wildness that places Hindemith fairly and squarely…

What do you do in your spare time if you’re the world’s best selling female cellist? Go poking around in a Bavarian castle for undiscovered repertoire, of course. The third instalment of Sol Gabetta’s Vivaldi project blows dust off Italian concertos from the library of the cello-playing Count Shönborn, alongside four popular gems from the Red Priest himself. From the moment she enters as soloist in the opening Vivaldi concerto in A Minor, RV422, it’s clear the chops justify the sales. She draws out the melodic line like spun gold, with detailed trills, flowing phrases and buoyant, textured passage-work rather than just busywork. In the Allegro of Zani’s concerto she imaginatively bends the tuning to her will. The brother/sister duo with violinist and concertmaster Andres Gabetta offers a refreshing take on Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Mandolins in their own arrangement for violin and cello; the tone colour of each instrument is distinguished from the other, piquant and punchy, particularly when they echo one another in close repeated phrases. The Chelleri G Major concerto, with its memorable first-movement ritornello, has a blend of stately bearing and rollicking energy as played by the 16-strong ensemble. But despite the immediate charm of the…

Selecting a complete recording of this great score will depend on how you value ballet music. Do you want the sumptuous, leisurely approach favoured by a Karajan (largely undanceable), or a punchy, theatrical interpretation such as we got in 1954 from Antal Doráti on Mercury?  Or perhaps Richard Bonynge on Decca, which has both qualities? Neeme Järvi is clearly on the dancer’s side and turns in a vigorous, no holds barred interpretation; all very exciting. The Bergen orchestra, whilst very good, is not a sumptuous ensemble, so a reading appropriate to style was also a good idea. Whilst the playing is good, it is not trouble free. The rambunctious coda to the Act One Pas de trois with its syncopated rhythm is difficult to get right. Here the Norwegians simply cannot pull it off. Listen to Doráti’s superb mono recording to hear how it’s done. Overall, I found this new recording satisfactory but not in the same league as the older versions. Chandos clearly believe we all know enough about the ballet not to have included any notes. Saves all that reading; I’m grateful. However, there are many who know little about the ballet’s origins, and would not know that after the…

Volume 61 in Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto project finds Howard Shelley in top form. Not only does he despatch hair-raisingly difficult passagework as if it were the simplest exercise, but he simultaneously directs from the keyboard, securing committed and alert playing from his Hobart colleagues. How far these labours are justified by the music’s merits remains the question. Theodor Döhler (1814-56) and Alexander Dreyschock (1818-69), both child prodigies who achieved brief renown, will be largely unknown. Dreyschock’s most admired achievement consisted of playing Chopin’s Revolutionary Study with octaves added to the left-hand; Döhler lacked even this claim upon posterity. Dreyschock’s Morceau de Concert deserves revival – a Beethovenian study in gravitas, with intelligent instrumentation in which cello and horns play significant roles. It seems odd that anyone capable of writing this should also have purveyed the clichéd homage to Vienna, for which even the booklet note cannot summon marked enthusiasm. Döhler’s concerto lies between the Dreyschock pieces in quality, with some imaginative modulations in the first movement but with bland note-spinning elsewhere. Hyperion’s engineering is clean and well-balanced, if slightly less opulent than the label’s best. Not among the finest releases in this valuable series. Continue reading Get unlimited digital…