Ahead of Chamber 8’s Australian tour, the LA Philharmonic horn player shares his greatest on-stage fear. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

A brave and intriguing programme from Slava and the ASQ.

What’s it like to steer clear of the bottom but never quite hit the heights? Masumi Per Rostad on the vicarious life of the viola. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Schoenberg and Abbott shine in works reconfigured for Piano Trio.

A musically rich and entertaining step back into the Weimar Era.

Tinalley String Quartet, Genevieve Lacey, Piers Lane and the Van Diemen's Band are heading to the new festival in October.

The clarinettist and Head of Wind at Queensland Con hopes to make Brisbane the home of chamber music in Australia.

Novel arrangements see a trio of chamber wizzes shouldering an entire orchestra.

Richard Egarr, Director of the Academy of Ancient Music describes Viennese composer Castello’s music as “utterly boundless in its virtuosity, imagination and colour, and would take anything we could throw at it in performance.” Well, he’s right. Although Dario Castello isn’t terribly well known these days since almost no biographical information about him has survived, back in the early 17th century he was celebrated across Europe with reprint after reprint of his Sonate Concertate. Subtitled in Stil Moderno (in the modern style), these unusual pieces live up to their description by including rapid-fire wind passages and sections that change mood at the drop of a hat. It’s a bit CPE Bach-esque in that Castello seems to delight in confounding both listeners and players with unexpected twists and turns. Castello realised that this sort of thing meant that the pieces were tricky to play but wouldn’t have any of it, writing that although the sonatas “may appear difficult, their spirit will not be destroyed by playing them more than once…this will render them very easy.” Helpful advice! There’s a focus on the winds here, with wind instruments appearing in solo form across a solid three-quarters of the disc. The flashy writing…

A riveting release featuring five leading Australian composers.

Naming your ensemble after a composer creates high expectations when it comes to performing their music, but the London Haydn Quartet certainly don’t disappoint. Brought together through their shared love of Franz Joseph’s string quartets, the group is distinguished from similar ensembles by its period approach to ‘Papa’ Haydn. They’ve spent the last 20 years devoted to the composer’s extensive canon. And having recorded Haydn’s five previous sets of quartets on the Hyperion label, the LHQ is releasing its sixth disc, featuring the Opp. 54 and 55 sets, known, along with the Op. 64 set, as the ‘Tost’ Quartets. The LHQ approaches these performances with detailed consideration for every stroke of the bow. Haydn’s ensemble textures are treated like shapely, rounded surfaces brimming with character, the quartet balancing the most delicate moments with passages of real athleticism. Haydn delights in every quartet, particularly during the gypsy-inflected Op. 54/2 second movement, where first violinist Catherine Manson’s rich yet playful reading shines. More treats lie in store in the sparkling presto finale of the Op. 54/3 quartet, and the minor to major journey of the Razor Quartet, Op. 55/2. Haydn’s quartets were celebrated for not just spotlighting the first violin, but for…

Music and pianos of historical interest in gutsy performances.