Onyx’s first installment from Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires shows how foolish Deutsche Grammophon were to let her go. Pires is unafraid to take risks. Her view of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto not only enters into a pianist-composer dialogue, but also probes our relationship as consumers of this (too) regularly recorded masterwork. With Daniel Harding and the SRSO resonating in empathy, Pires stretches the opening movement to just short of 20 minutes which, although not unprecedented, blows air through the structure, allowing us time to look around, to reacquaint ourselves with what we know from a slightly oblique angle. Some of my reviewer colleagues have suggested that at this tempo Pires and Harding let the momentum droop, but personally I hear liberation within their deliberation. Pires’ analytically detailed playing tunnels deep inside the poetic soul of Beethoven’s score; no glossing over his abrupt changes of mood, the confrontation between soloist and orchestra in the slow movement given Stravinskian objectivity – although you do wish the Finale could have been a little more peppery and genuinely vivace. The Third Concerto is as bold as brass too, the first movement peaking… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…

Hush Live in Concert is the 14th in a series of albums released to calm and comfort families facing stressful medical procedures. It’s a compilation of Hush Foundation recordings selected by former ABC Classic FM presenter Emma Ayres. Opening with two of Paul Grabowsky’s Ten Healing Songs, it is apparent that this is anything but the conventionally soothing ‘Debussy for Daydreaming’ or ‘Relaxation Made Easy’ album. Andrea Keller’s A Castle for All is oddly uplifting as it cycles repetitively through the same series of chords. Brass, wind and percussion instruments appear to improvise around Keller’s piano, and while it has plenty of musical tension, the overall feel is not a dark one. Tony Gould’s Gentle Conversations is as it sounds – a smattering of percussion, a gentle pulse, and a layering of instruments simulate just that. Though magnificently played by the Grigoryan brothers, Songs with Strings is perhaps a touch too intense and emotionally confronting for this album. Mark Isaacs’ romantic and visually evocative The Wind in the Willows is more fitting; one can imagine a little bushland animal emerging from the tooting of Geoff Collins’ flute. The childlike journey… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month…

Hoang Pham proves outstanding soloist in Tchaikovsky’s First. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

For Richter’s recomposed Vivaldi, ABO boldly go where no baroque orchestra has gone before. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Con's combined forces meet the challenges of Bernstein's massive work head-on.

Its policy towards female musicians, the behaviour of both administration and players towards Jewish colleagues during the Second World War, its variable performance standards and its exaggerated, hypocritical, archaic formality have all made the Vienna Philharmonic the most enigmatic of great orchestras. The fact that John Culshaw, arguably the greatest recording producer of the 20th century (and genius), who did more than anyone to create the orchestra’s recorded legacy, was expected to regard his invitation to attend a meeting of the Orchestra’s board as a singular honour, says it all. In fact, Culshaw’s contribution to what Germans/Austrians call a festschrift, or series of celebratory articles, contains some of the more honest comments. To paraphrase him, “At its best, it’s sublime; anything less is usually pretty awful.” Mahler, as the Director of the Vienna State (Court) Opera, observed this more than a century ago when he referred to schlamperei masquerading as “tradition” among the State Opera Orchestra, from which all VPO players are drawn. Compared to the Berlin Philharmonic or the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, it was less versatile. In… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Hyperion’s latest Romantic Piano Concertos disc features the work of Henrique Oswald and Alfredo Napoleão. Hailing from Brazil and Portugal respectively, both were born in 1852 and enjoyed fruitful careers as pedagogues, performers and composers. Oswald’s Piano Concerto in G Minor is rich with opportunities to demonstrate musical artistry and Portuguese virtuoso Artur Pizarro executes the solo line with class. It is clear Oswald, like Rachmaninov, knew how to use the form to demonstrate his own ability as a pianist. The soloist has to possess impressive stamina to complete this technical marathon. In the first movement, Pizarro embodies nervous energy as he dances around the keyboard. A brief moment of respite comes in the second movement where the orchestra gently sings the theme as Pizarro plays arpeggios. The BBC National Orchestra plays beautifully under Brabbins with no trace of difficulty in executing the challenges of the third movement. Strident opening chords make it apparent that Napoleão’s Second Piano Concerto is a dramatically different piece. The second movement is cheeky and intimate, while a gentle clarinet solo gives ample opportunity for Pizarro to play with the final movement’s character, colour… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…

Aussie Maestro Daniel Smith will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra in Hindson and Barton’s Kalkadungu. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

It is interesting to compare this ensemble’s earliest recordings to their latest. You’ll note how their playing standards have soared and observe the evolution in stylistic practice over the past 50 years. Egarr’s approach is to use one player per part but offset the potential for lean asceticism by tuning down to French Baroque pitch (A=392). Although I still prefer the grandeur of massed strings, the result here is close to a best of both worlds rendition with the clarity of the chamber approach warmed by rich umber tones. There is also a conscious move away from breathless tempi to relaxed natural speeds that still move forward. Short cellular phrasing is replaced by longer flowing lines. These changes are unexaggerated so don’t expect the stodgy tempi of yesteryear’s non-specialists; Egarr’s choices are mostly ideal, although surely the Passepied I and II of BWV1066 could flow a little faster. The various Bourrée come across a little too leaden; more lift to the rhythms and a little more schwung would have done wonders and elevated this to the top of list. However, the excellent playing and characterful tonal colours… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a…

Maestro and pianist Howard Shelley celebrates 30 years with the Tasmanian Symphony. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Sydney Symphony pays tribute to the ANZACs through two Antipodean commissions. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

A majestic and noble memorial in the grand tradition of great orchestral choral music. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in