A sumptuous yet grittily grounded drama sweeps audiences back into the Court of Versailles in 1789.

Shooting undercover at the Paris Opéra, a Mahler pilgrimage in the woods, and how I learned to spell Götterdämmerung. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs plan to pop the bubbly while Cheryl Barker and Stuart Skelton cut the cake(s).

Graeme Murphy’s handsome production of Puccini’s grandest opera was first recorded back 
in 1991, so why have Opera Australia chosen to revisit it? First of all, it’s an opportunity for a technological upgrade, and in this respect the DVD is a singular success. Picture quality is crystal clear, with clever use of overlays to enhance the visuals. The sound, too, is very good, every detail of Andrea Licata’s highly effective, dramatic reading of the score brought vividly to life. First honours go to American soprano Susan Foster in the title role, commanding the stage with ringing tone, immaculate diction and an insightful dramatic identification with the character. It’s a wild performance, and some might find the vibrato a trifle wayward, but she easily sails over the chorus and her emotional transformation is riveting. The other star of the show is the Australian Opera chorus who, despite Murphy’s production occasionally veering into Kismet territory, sing with unflagging power and commitment. Unfortunately, Rosario La Spina proves a fly in the ointment. His foursquare musical approach and unimaginative use of text lacks finesse and, although the top notes are all there, his hollow tone is dull. Add to this some dubious Italian vowels…

There are two ways of looking at the 18th-century solo motet. One is as a vehicle for expression of religious thought (and a cheap means to fill out your service if you were on a budget). The other is a way of slipping a virtuoso operatic showpiece or two into a sacred service – indeed, if you were Handel, Vivaldi or Porpora, this form of recycling was common 
practice. For her solo Decca
 debut recording, the Russian
 coloratura Julia Lezhneva has
 opted to explore this fruitful
 musical genre with motets 
from four of the most distinctive
 composers of the Baroque and 
Classical periods. Neatly, each motet 
ends with an Alleluia movement, giving the disc its title. Still only 23, Lezhneva is possessed of an exceptionally pure instrument. The danger with a “clean” voice like hers is the risk of
 a certain sameness over the course of an hour’s solo program, but do not despair:
 this young soprano has two tricks up her sleeve. Recognising the operatic dimension within these works, she hurls herself into the opening of Vivaldi’s In Furore with more bite even than Sandrine Piau on the rival Naïve recording (which is saying something!). Her technique is rock……

I was impressed with the whimsicality Alice Sara Ott displayed in early Beethoven on a disc I reviewed last year, so I was surprised by her ponderous approach to Pictures from an Exhibition. Several of Mussorgsky’s impressions of his artist friend Hartmann’s work have a scherzando quality: the children playing at the Tuileries garden, the bustling market place at Limoges, and of course the ballet of the unhatched chicks. Ott’s pianism is meticulous and well prepared however some careful tempos and overemphatic dynamics rob her performance of character. She stretches out The Great Gate at Kiev considerably and, generally speaking, she fails to treat these pictures with enough visual imagination. As this is a live performance from the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg it is quite possible that Ott needed to project and underline the music more than she would in a recording studio. Even so, it’s bad luck for her that a performance by Stephen Osbourne recently appeared on Hyperion that supplies some of the telling detail and subtlety that Ott misses, and I would recommend his in preference to this one. The unusual coupling of Schubert’s Piano Sonata Op 53 is more successful. Here Ott’s poise is an…

Perennially young at heart, the ACO has 
just the right touch with these two works written while Mendelssohn was in his teenage years.

Osmo Vänskä’s “trim, taut and terrific” approach to Sibelius survives into his second cycle where the First Symphony, at just 34 minutes, almost manages to efface completely the traditional Tchaikovskian breadth. Fortunately, we still hear plenty of harp throughout, especially in my favourite passage, the exquisitely delicate section of the slow movement where the woodwinds and triangle are quite magic. If symphonies were people, Sibelius’s Fourth would be the ultimate anti-hero. Here, tempi
 are much more conventional
 and Vänskä moulds the music superbly in the opening movement where the fusion of bleakness and inscrutability as they materialise out of Stygian gloom is strangely beautiful and moving. The second- movement Scherzo peters out in a strange, almost sinister, ellipsis, but it is in the slow movement – the emotional core of the work – where the particles simply stop vibrating as the temperature reaches absolute zero and Vänskä plumbs the depths with the best of them. In the final movement Sibelius, seemingly perversely, introduces glockenspiel and tubular bells, of all instruments. Most conductors opt for one or the other. (In one recording, Ormandy uses both,
 but not together.) Vänskä, wisely I think, uses the former, as tubular bells always sound to……

As she prepares for her Australian concerts, the American cellist talks Shostakovich, Elliot Carter and playing Elgar for Daniel Barenboim. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

What the magnetic cellist learned from Anne-Sophie Mutter and Msitislav Rostropovich, and how he hopes to pass some of that on. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The prodigiously talented Shuan Hern Lee adds another international win to his growing collection. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

It seems apt to be listening to jazz singer-songwriter Nicola Milan at this time of year. As the mercury drops, her second studio album Forbidden Moments begs to be enjoyed on a lazy Sunday afternoon, glass of red in hand. Produced with a $9,765 grant awarded by Arts WA and the Department of Culture, these ten original pieces move between bluesy swing, Latin, and folk to convey the emotional versatility and complexities of a talented and promising songstress. A WAAPA graduate and award winning songwriter, Milan’s vocals are warm, effortless and chocolaty, and occasionally spiked with a hint of something stronger. The Scent of Her Perfume is pure drama. Sensual and passionate, Milan’s voice flirts with violinist Ashley Arbuckle’s sexy melodic passages in this bold tango. Arbuckle, former co-leader of the London Symphony Orchestra is joined by a series of distinguished jazz musicians including double bassist Pete Jeavons, guitarist Rick Webster and drummer Michael Perkins. Together they form a tight ensemble and Milan provides ample opportunities for each performer to shine. Their experience shows. The final track on the album, Latin inspired The Lonely Flute, brilliantly showcases flautist and saxophonist Michael Collinson, and pianist and accordionist Ben Clarke – a……