Mozart reminds us that nothing in life should be taken too seriously.

String quartet strikes chords with Romero, Pujol, Grigoryan and co. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Kaufmann, four Strauss operas, 12 unknown operatic gems and Philip Glass's minimalist answer to the Ring Cycle.

Eclectic line-up gives 2014 Festival a dazzling opening night. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Australian Haydn Ensemble’s program of lesser-known, and even slightly odd works are no laughing matter. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Discovering free classical music concerts in Melbourne. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Lyle Chan celebrates 90s life-saving HIV activism in 90-minutes of music. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Contemporary music’s equivalent of a Heston Blumenthal tasting plate. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

This is exciting, visceral and at times deeply moving music, with a thorough awareness of the interplay between tradition and innovation.

It’s tempting to think of John Cage as the dangerous, if smiling, radical. After all, he did pioneer the prepared piano, welcomed turntables and radios into the concert hall, and scored the most famous four-and-a-half minutes of silence in history. Unlike his close colleague Morton Feldman, however, the musicality of his work is easily overlooked. This haunting recording from ECM reminds us of the colour, precision and sheer beauty of his compositions. The pieces are mostly from Cage’s early rhythmic period, the 1930s and ‘40s, and are for solo piano or prepared piano with occasional voice. Pianist Alexei Lubimov is a significant proponent of 20th-century music in Russia, giving premieres of pieces by Boulez, Stockhausen and Ligeti; by the time he met Cage in 1988, he had been playing this music for decades. He is also known for his Haydn and Mozart, and to that end brings a considered, even classical approach to Cage’s work. The opening Dream of 1948 sets a tone of hypnotising reverie. By contrast, the chiming pieces for prepared piano, such as the buoyant The Unavailable Memory Of, are rhythmically repetitive; other works are a little more astringent and evoke Cage’s teacher Schoenberg and the ghost…

The most influential legendary pianists, as voted by modern-day masters of the instrument.

Dubbed the “barefoot fiddler”, Patricia Kopatchinskaja is a young violinist from Moldova. This intimate disc captures her raw energy and stylistic hunger, with a mixture of folksongs, 20th century and contemporary classical works for violin with accompanying piano, double bass and cimbalom. It’s hard not to get swept up in her sheer love of music, her sense of freedom and spontaneity. You hear this especially in the folksongs. Likewise, the fully-notated classical works sound freshly invented. And Kopatchinskaja’s liner notes are as fun and as frank as her playing. Dubbed “the music of my life”, the disc is a family affair. Joining Kopatchinskaja at various points is either or both of her parents, Emilia and Viktor, playing violin/viola and cimbalom respectively. The mix of styles can at times seem a little bizarre, even if the pieces share Eastern European roots. The standouts for me are the folksongs, although they’re complemented well by the more classical outings. Ravel’s Tzigane might be an obvious inclusion and Enescu’s folk-inspired pieces are perhaps a little dry, however Ligeti’s unadorned Duo and younger composer Jorge Sanchez-Chiong’s vignette Crin are gems. Overall, a disc full of vivid colour and confident virtuosity. Continue reading Get unlimited digital…