Choral and movie blockbusters, plus top soloists headline the 2017 season, while Sir Andrew Davis conducts Thaïs. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

David Robertson’s eclectic programme of new and old mixes Trifonov and Ibragimova with Dutoit and Ashkenazy. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

★★★½☆ Art, nudity and music make this multi-sensory event come alive. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

In between gigging with Ben Folds, the hip Brooklyn group is taking part in a unique exchange with like-minded Sydney musos.

A clever pairing is more than simply programming by numbers.

David Matthews (b. 1943) and his composer brother Colin were protégés of Benjamin Britten. The string quartet medium is clearly one that appeals to David; he has written 12 so far. Although this is the third volume in the series, it actually contains the earliest: Quartets Nos 1-3 (composed between 1969 and 1978), plus a short Mirror Canon (1963) and a string quartet transcription of Scriabin’s Piano Prelude, Op. 74 No 4. TUnderstandably, the First shows some influence of Britten’s own quartet writing: there are passages containing wisps of thematic material hovering over sustained chords, often in high harmonics, and occasional musings from solo instruments. Along with that, however, are strong rhythmic passages and thick textures. Matthews’ primary influences of Tippett, Berg and, most notably, Beethoven were present from the start. The First, in five movements played without breaks, is densely packed with contrapuntal incident. The Second, more classically styled, was written while Matthews was in Australia staying with Peter Sculthorpe. The piece culminates in a moving elegy (am I wrong to hear Sculthorpe’s fingerprints in the syncopated ostinati of the second movement?). By comparison, the Third seems a more public statement. All three major works and… Continue reading Get…

James Wood is an English percussionist, composer and conductor; he is also a musicologist and instrument designer. Tongues of Fire is a large-scale work for choir and percussion quartet that weaves together an extraordinary range of cultural forms and ideas, from Latin-American Spanish to the works of Hildegard of Bingen, in order to mystically evoke New Testament descriptions of Pentecost. Wood’s expertise in percussion is evident in the musical representation of tongues of fire and rushing wind, in addition to the symbolic import of choral parts in eight different languages. By contrast, Cloud-Polyphonies is a three-part percussion work exploring the movement of natural entities – starlings, clouds and buffalo – an unlikely triumvirate at first glance, but a combination that works spectacularly. Starlings evokes the “extraordinary aerobatic displays” made by these birds before migration using marimbas and woodblocks, and 66 drums conjure the thumping of buffalo hooves on changing earthen terrain. The textures created by Wood and brought to fruition by the Yale Percussion Group are mesmerising and hypnotic, and complemented by a spacious, reverberant acoustic in which the many overtones and subtleties created by the instruments are gloriously evident. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber?…

This is a splendid album from five musicians who are at the top of their game.

Don't let the title fool you – these are classics as you don't often hear them.

In an exclusive interview with Julie Andrews, the actor talks about her remarkable rise to Broadway fame and fortune. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Helen Gifford will receive an award for distinguished service at the 2016 Art Music Awards. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

From 2011 to 2015, the Australian National Academy of Music and the Melbourne Recital Centre presented the Australian Voices concert series, celebrating significant Australian composers. Included was a programme of chamber works by Stuart Greenbaum (b. 1966). This recording, released on ANAM’s own imprint, features seven Academy musicians with harpist and ANAM alumna Jessica Fotinos, performing three works by Greenbaum in which harp plays a central role. Mondrian Interiors is a collection of eight pieces inspired by an exhibition of works by the Dutch artist, with works scored for combinations of oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, piano and harp. Four Finalities is a song cycle written in collaboration with poet Ross Baglin and performed by mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean. The delicate interplay between Betts-Dean’s forcefully ethereal voice and the harp is utterly captivating, enhanced by a rich and spacious recording sonic. Finally, Nine Candles for Dark Nights is solo harp piece written for Australian harpist Marshall McGuire that explores and expands the sonic capacities of this instrument. This is a tremendously accessible collection of works that balances the obvious beauty of the harp with subtly nuanced complementary sonorities. The performances are fresh and exciting, and it’s to be hoped that we’ll… Continue reading Get…