The artistic director of Opera Australia on why the artform needs to adapt and reach out to survive.

This live Lucia from the Mariinsky Theatre boasts remarkable music-making from the orchestra, coupled with some impassioned singing from the star principals and the chorus. But it ultimately falls short in musical and dramatic cohesion, perhaps because it was a concert presentation. Dessay’s performance is engaging throughout, yet she only really thrives during her signature mad scene, where she employs a wide palette of vocal colours to convey Lucia’s descent into insanity. Beczala demonstrates outstanding technical control throughout the demanding role of Edgardo, but his phrasing is unimaginative and his performance low on dramatic insight. The dark, rich baritone of Vladislav Sulimsky adds depth to the oft-overlooked role of Enrico and contrasts nicely with the light tonal qualities of Dessay and Beczala. The chorus has some great moments (even if its Italian diction leaves much to be desired) and the orchestra delivers some thrilling climaxes, but more lyrical sensitivity in the Act 1 love duet would have created a more satisfying musical performance overall. The highlight of this recording is Dessay’s mad scene, including the original chilling glass harmonica accompaniment, played by Sascha Reckert. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

This 2-CD set of dance numbers from Rameau operas captures Jordi Savall’s period-instrument band Le Concert des Nations playing with all the lusty, effervescent joie de vivre the music demands. The “suites” put together by Savall trace a similar but more unified trajectory to Marc Minkowski’s Imaginary Symphony Rameau album (Les Musiciens du Louvre on Archiv). The present collection is a reminder that the composer’s instrumental music was just as thrilling and inventive as what he wrote for the voice: earthy and robust like a good Provençal stew, without sacrificing the majestic air of refinement that captivated the court of Versailles. One can only marvel at the punchy phrasing in the overture to Zoroastre and be seduced by the exotic percussion in Air des Incas from Les Indes Galantes. An authentic musette, that rare and peculiar Gallic bagpipe, makes an appearance in Naïs to spice up the French Baroque palette. Natural horns in Les Boréades, Rameau’s final tragédie en musique, are less graceful than Les Arts Florissants’ under William Christie (Opus Arts DVD) but richer for their pungency. Surging strings, turbulent transverse flute and a wind machine summon elemental forces, while delicate gavottes have more charm… Continue reading Get unlimited…

The violinist has been criticised by human rights groups for performing at Kadyrov’s birthday gala. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The November magazine celebrates the milestone with 100 classical CDs and the chance to win them all!

The soprano on her "trauma" in The Love of the Nightingale.

Have your say and tell us who you think delivered the most memorable performances of 2011. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Florent Schmitt (1870-1958) was a contemporary of Ravel, Roussel and Dukas, and like them he wrote music for the ballet, including Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. In the early decades of the 20th century his name was well known but his reputation suffered after the 1930s. The reasons were partly personal – Schmitt was a cantankerous personality and Nazi sympathiser – but also his richly orchestrated, fulsomely chromatic style fell out of fashion. The three works on this stunningly recorded disc are among Schmitt’s better-known. His ballet The Tragedy of Salome was written at exactly the same time as Richard Strauss’s opera, although the opera was performed first and its notoriety overshadowed the Frenchman’s score. The ballet is packed with “orientalisms”, cymbal-topped climaxes and disembodied melismatic sopranos. Big on atmosphere and beautifully played, the performance is subdued compared to the ancient Paray version (Mercury) and the white-hot performance from the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic (Onyx).  Psalm 47 is a setting of biblical verses for soprano, large choir and orchestra. It employs the same exotic palette, but here the prolonged choral fortes and relentless climaxes invoke the law of diminishing returns. A few calm moments, usually involving the excellent Susan… Continue reading Get unlimited…

Opera's 12 most gripping last gasps: stabbings, suicides, strangulation and more!

This Queen of the Night wants her high notes to bring South Africa’s black communities and young people to the opera. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The opera legend embarks on his first exclusive collaboration with a label in 40 years. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

It’s seven years since Joseph Calleja made his solo recording debut, and he’s still only 33 years old. The hype which attended the arrival of this wunderkind in opera’s top tier has settled somewhat now, but he has maintained his place at the top of his profession and avoided the burnout which too often strikes such early and feverishly promoted bloomers. The Maltese Tenor, Calleja’s third collection of mostly popular, mostly Italian arias, finds him in bright and healthy voice. Once greeted by some as the second coming of Pavarotti, it’s clear now that Calleja is not quite – or at least not yet – as exceptional as that, but his honeyed, Italianate tone is swoonworthy just the same, and his delivery is underpinned by a solid technique which bodes well for a long future. Gorgeous legato, rather than textual detail, is Calleja’s specialty. He spins ardent favourites like E lucevan le stelle and Donna non vidi mai out with impeccable lyricism and audible sincerity, but there’s still a degree of characterisation missing. Still, there’s burnished colour aplenty in Calleja’s ardent Quando le sere al placido, and infectious energy in Offenbach’s jaunty Légende de Kleinzach, and Massenet’s Des Grieux also… Continue reading…