The singer’s return to Covent Garden is about to hit Australian cinema screens – this time minus the prosthetic boobs. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
The British classical website’s annual analysis of the musical endeavours of 2015 reflects the Aussie love of opera.
Lincoln Center’s 2015 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1951 musical The King and I was well reviewed. Ben Brantley in the New York Times called it “a colonialist-minded musical that… should probably embarrass us in the age of political correctness.” His contention was that it did not. I’m less certain. On disc the Overture reminds you immediately that this is Rodgers’ show. His ability to craft a memorably turned melody with unexpected harmonic underpinnings is superb. I Have Dreamed and Hello Young Lovers are masterpieces. Yet, as the songs progress, you can’t help feeling that Hammerstein’s work remains stubbornly of its time. Kelli O’Hara sings Anna perfectly, although her English vowels are too studied. Ken Watanabe was strong as The King onstage, but makes little impression vocally. Ashley Park’s Tuptim has all the notes, but it’s a squally voice with a fast, wide vibrato; by contrast, Conrad Ricamora as her lover Lun Tha sounds very 21st-century Broadway. Ruthie Ann Mills performs Lady Thiang’s song Something Wonderful beautifully, and it’s good to hear Robert Russell Bennett’s original orchestrations. The Small House of Uncle Thomas is included, which is long and musically arid without visuals. But mainly, you can’t help feeling that…
Editor’s Choice, Opera – October 2015 Jonas Kaufmann was 21 when the Three Tenors made Nessun Dorma into the most popular aria of them all by featuring it in their 1990 concert on the eve of the FIFA World Cup Final. It’s taken 25 years for the star German tenor to put it on record, saying that for a long time he hardly dared sing it because of Pavarotti and Co’s legacy. “Even today, when I hear and sing this aria, I still get goosebumps,” he says in the liner notes to his new all-Puccini album. Well, the wait has been worth it as it makes the perfect finale to this five-star feast of the finest moments from “the people’s composer”. When Kaufmann hits the high B at the climax it’s as thrilling as anything produced by any of the other great tenors, and if you purchase the deluxe version with the bonus DVD you’ll see how happy he is when he nails it. But the stellar aria is only three minutes of what is a 16-track, hour-long roller coaster of emotion, all majestically delivered in that special timbre with its baritone shading. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from…
Are we failing music students as a result of poor staffing priorities? Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
★★★★☆ Covent Garden’s smart new Cav and Pag is headed south. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Kentridge and Goerne's gripping Transvaal trek both hypnotises and provokes.
The acclaimed American mezzo-soprano will play Florence Foster Jenkins, the infamously bad singer, in a new film.
Beware opening doors to a dark soul within, says our critic of a Boulez-Bartók marriage. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
★★★★½ There’s still plenty of life left in Julie Taymor’s tried and tested production of Mozart’s Masonic masterpiece.
Celebrated Australian conductor Patrick Thomas shares how the original YPA’s launched his 35-year international career. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Sydney Chamber Opera AD Jack Symonds explores Pascal Dusapin's total fusion of past and present.
Nicole Car triumphs as Tatyana in Covent Garden's polished Kasper Holten revival.
