A modern music sandwich, with Baroque and Classical bread, offers something for all tastes.

In an evening of chamber music treasures and musical accomplishments, Maisky reigns supreme.

Mischa Maisky is the aristocratic icing on this opening night musical cake.

Two top string quartets come together in Williams’ Fado-inspired Saudade.

A chat with the man who held his nerve to see Hobart Baroque rise like a phoenix in Queensland. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Conductor Jessica Cottis shares her top essential works of modern Australian music. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

In an exclusive interview the Dutch virtuoso talks about Brahms, her Stradivarius and her musical family.

Sixteen ensembles to battle it out in the seventh international chamber competition.

Buy this album on iTunes: Sculthorpe: The Complete String Quartets with Didjeridu – Del Sol String Quartet & Stephen Kent The string quartet was central to Peter Sculthorpe’s output. His last, No 18, had its premiere on his 81st birthday. He undoubtedly liked string instruments because of their ability to sustain long-held notes. Drones play a pivotal part, not only in imitation of indigenous music, but as an aural equivalent to the Australian outback. Strings are also adept at imitating birdcalls, as the third movement of Quartet No 14 shows. Sculthorpe’s quartet writing with its drones and repetitive ostinati contain all of this, and through subtle harmonic and rhythmic juxtapositions he suggests the life with which this landscapes teems. Neither the terrain nor his musical depiction of it is remotely passive. In 2001 Sculthorpe was introduced to a young Aboriginal didjeridu player, William Barton, who asked Sculthorpe to write for him. The composer responded by adding a didjeridu part to some of his orchestral works, notably Earth Cry and Kakadu. He also added the instrument to his existing String Quartets Nos 12, 14 and 16 – the ones with the most significant Aboriginal themes. Later works… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…

The widely-respected Polish pianist will headline the Townsville-based chamber music festival.

Two minor string quartets recorded in the Ballroom of Government House, Hobart might sound underwhelming. but Virtuosi Tasmania provide a terrific match with Haydn and Debussy on their latest release. Debussy’s stunning String Quartet in G Minor is thrillingly suspenseful. The second movement throbs with metronomic pizzicato, supplying fantastic textural contrasts. The Andantino, doucement expressif is painful in its beauty: this is the sort of music string quartets were created for. The romance comes to an impossibly peaceful ending, weakened only by a shaky beginning to the final chord. A pulsing cello drives the final movement to its brilliant finish. Haydn’s String Quartet in F Minor, Op 20 No 5 sounds conservative and might have had more impact had it been placed first. This is not to suggest the two works aren’t an appropriate fit – in fact, Haydn offers an emotional respite after the intensity of the Debussy. Haydn’s reliably repetitive motives in the first movement are followed by a light Menuetto. Because of the subtlety of this quartet, the ballroom’s mildly reverberant acoustics are more apparent. The Adagio pulses like a lullaby before coming to a dreamy end, followed by the Finale: Fuga a due soggetti. These final…

In their 70th birthday year, it seems that Musica Viva have pulled out all the stops.