A long life often accrues great wisdom, but beware this bank of musical knowledge will not be with us forever.

We investigate the what, why and how of classical music’s greatest growth industry.

It may have seemed politically naive of Paul Hindemith in 1933 to start planning an opera asserting the moral duty of an artist under a repressive regime, but like many intellectuals of the day, he didn’t take the Nazis seriously and hoped they would soon be out of power. Mathis der Maler would be his undoing and force him into exile in 1938. Hindemith later took themes from the opera and wove them into a large-scale symphony and the harmonic outline of the work brilliantly portrays the internal development of the artist. Christoph Eschenbach’s hyper-romantic way allied with the superb Hamburg orchestra would seem ideal for this reaffirmation of the Germanic symphonic tradition. The opening Concert of Angels promised much with impeccable intonation from blended wind and strings, but as the movement proceeded the conductor’s tendency to underline phrases with modifications of pulse allowed momentum to sag. The Entombment becomes ponderous. The Temptation of St. Anthony is grand and mighty but lacks bite.  The Symphony in E Flat was the first major work Hindemith wrote after arriving in America so is an appropriate coupling. With Stokowski, Bernstein or Tortelier it is a breezy romp of a score. Eschenbach trudges, attempting…

How a childhood obsession with Mozart and his Requiem still speaks to me today. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

★★★★½ An intense and emotional evening of music making from a fine youth orchestra.

★★★★★ Asher Fisch returns for 2016 with a knockout Teutonic Trio.

★★★★½ Davis reinvigorates Mahler with his generous attention to detail.

Why WASO’s Chief Conductor can’t wait to get his hands on a chorus of Jews. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

From the holocaust to Isaac Stern, we learn a great deal about a musician whose middle name is ‘curiosity’. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The new chief conductor of the LSO shares his thoughts on the life of the revered composer, who died earlier this week. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

★★★★★ A perfect example of the level of musicianship of which this orchestra is truly capable.

I approached this release with trepidation. The prospect of 11 pieces by 11 composers could easily become maudlin. Besides, what more can possibly be said about Gallipoli? Chris Latham, the director of the project (which had a decade-long gestation period) himself says in the notes “… the history of multi-author works was beyond dire. I didn’t know of one successful example. They were all stylistic mishmashes with no aesthetic cohesion”. This live performance is from one of Istanbul’s most revered mosques in the presence of Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove. Among the contributors are the usual suspects – Sculthorpe, Edwards, Kats-Chernin – with contributions from New Zealand and Turkish composers. Inevitably, the work begins with the plaintive sound of a didgeridoo, equally inevitably played by William Barton.  The Australian contributions are in the generic “contemporary Australian” idiom but the attempts to fuse traditional Ottoman and modern Turkish music with Indigenous and western Australian and New Zealand music come off. There isn’t a weak link. The mosque acoustics are sensational but the Istanbul orchestra’s contribution is adequate, nothing more. The Australian choirs acquit themselves better under Jessica Cottis’ committed direction. The cutaway shots to World War I stills are often as…