Hunding’s misbehaving trousers fail to scupper a new ship launched on Sydney’s operatic waters. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
On the eve of her Australian Brandenburg concerts the firebrand coloratura reveals the parts that other singers are afraid to show. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Richard Mills announces a new opera from Iain Grandage, a legendary Traviata and another Sondheim musical. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Brett Dean and George Dreyfus head the list of winners in a diverse cross-section of Australian arts talent. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
The Polish-born Met Opera star is very much flavour of the month but beware of his famous black-list. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
A torturous text but there’s much to admire in the telling of this torrid tale of the Argentinian underworld. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
With Kaufmann, Sir David McVicar and Kasper Holten, Lyndon Terracini pulls out the big guns for Opera Australia’s 2014 season. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Opera Australia will give Puccini’s classic a contemporary makeover for 2014’s Handa Opera season. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Veteran bass Richard Angas, made famous as Jonathan Miller’s Mikado, has passed away at 71. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Ten maestros discuss the music they are passionate about, Isserlis on his newest recording, Ibragimova on hers and the stories behind the most famous musical portraits. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Flu lays low both leads but this tale of municipal committees and May Kings is still quids in.
Jonathan Meese claims a triumph of art over bureaucracy, as court finds him not guilty. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
When they weren’t putting ancient kings on stage, Baroque opera composers nursed a fascination with witches, sirens and nymphs whose doings provided rich pickings for adventurous vocal and orchestral writing. Anna Prohaska’s Enchanted Forest gathers together a clutch of these characters for a program of otherworldly arias. More nymph than vengeful witch, Prohaska’s pure, slender soprano is at its best in the earlier selections: Restino imbalsamate, from Cavalli’s Calisto and Monteverdi’s Lamento della Ninfa are ethereal yet dark-edged, with gently rippling coloratura and effective use of straight tone which elsewhere can turn a little strident. At top speed the voice loses some of its lustre, although there’s a vehement accuracy to these pieces – notably Vivaldi’s Alma oppressa and Handel’s Combattuta da più venti – which is not without excitement. Of the excerpts from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, it’s the mesmerising O let me weep which is most successful, Prohaska overcoming a needlessly imperious start to deliver a lyrical, moving Plaint. Best of all, though, is Cavalli’s O piu d’ogni ricchezza, an understated tour de force whose recitatives are as vibrantly delivered as its dance rhythms and vocal effects. Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo are atmospheric partners, but make the strongest…
