If you are not all Wagnered out by the blitzkrieg of bicentennial CDs, DVDs and live performances, you might find room on your shelf for one more addition featuring British baritone James Rutherford. He has already sung Sachs (at Bayreuth no less), the Dutchman, Wolfram, Kurwenal and Wotan in Die Walküre, next up is Amfortas. This album is by way of his portfolio. He is joined here by the excellent Bergen Philharmonic under their American principal conductor Andrew Litton who gives the band a good workout in the Overture to The Flying Dutchman and the Prelude to Act III of Die Meistersinger. Indeed, Litton proves himself to be something of an inspired Wagnerian here, constantly generating electricity. Rutherford has a generous vibrato which hopefully won’t develop into an uncontrolled mannerism, but he is alert to the textual nuances and there is dramatic depth aplenty. He clearly shows in the closing track, Wotan’s Abscheid, that he can handle the heavy-duty roles. Recorded last year at the Grieg Hall,in Bergen, the production quality is outstanding as you would expect from Swedish label BIS. Highlights include a lovely O du mein holder Abendstern and two lashings of Hans Sachs where his attention to text really…

Powerful passions run deep in Roland Peelman’s Eastertide offerings.

The talented 24-year-old was picked for The King and I while still at Sydney Con. So is she ready for the spotlight? Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

A new Silo built to be filled with the rudiments of composition in Australia. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Warwick Fyfe’s hunch-backed sociopathic jester heads a fine cast in this new production of Verdi’s classic.

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Following up his last collaboration with René Jacobs, a fine Handel recital, Bejun Mehta here presents an intelligent survey of early classical arias. While the great reformer Gluck inevitably opens the programme with the delicious Che purio ciel! from Orfeo ed Euridice, his neglected rival Traetta at last gets his moment in the sun; a scene from his Ifigenia in Tauride in which a slumbering Oreste is tormented by a chorus of Furies is the high point of the recital. Another delight is Se il fulmine sospendi from Gluck’s Ezio and the album fittingly concludes with an aria from that early glimpse of Mozart’s operatic genius Mitridate. Mehta’s voice might not have the beauty of Scholl (in his prime), nor the brilliance of Jaroussky, nor the flash of Hansen but he trumps them in his intensity of dramatic projection, incisive attack and vivid colouring of text. Mention is made in the booklet of the realistic acting innovations of David Garrick as taken up by the castrato Guadagni; the spirit of whom Bejun Mehta seems to be channelling here. Maybe it’s a consequence of the artificiality of the falsetto technique but with so many counter-tenors currently on the scene there is…

Prize in honour of the late Wagnerian soprano goes to the orchestra at her old stomping ground. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

English bass-baritone whose distinctive voice and acting skills defined the Britten era passes away at 82. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Heldentenor and iconic director fly the flag at this year’s International Opera Awards. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Melbourne’s boutique opera company challenges the fine line between reality and theatre with new production. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Latvian soprano becomes first singer to debut in two roles in consecutive performances. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in