Mozart and Salieri were classical music’s biggest rivals… or were they? A newly discovered piece rewrites history. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Daniel Bonic-Goodwin remembers the Japanese-American countertenor, who died earlier this week aged 49. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Ensemble Bios is an Italian group led by conductor Andrea Vitello, dedicated to performing works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their first outing for Italy’s Continuo label features “actress of the voice” Anna Clementi in Schoenberg’s 1912 song cycle Pierrot Lunaire. Broken into three lots of seven (reflecting the composer’s obsession with numerology), it famously utilises Sprechstimme, a semi-spoken technique associated at the time with melodrama and to some extent Lieder and cabaret. Clementi’s delivery is deft, mocking and expressionistic, soaring and plunging while detailing Pierrot’s macabre exploits as the instrumentalists sensitively weave around her vocalisations. A century on, it still sounds thrillingly modern. It’s paired here with a recent work by Florentine composer Andrea Portera (b. 1973), whose symphonic, theatrical and chamber works (over 120) have met with critical acclaim and two silver medals from the President of the Italian Republic. Red Music consists of three quite beautiful pieces for chamber ensemble, all just over four-minutes long, and dedicated to Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Rostropovich respectively. Each work subtly evokes the subject of its dedication – the frenetic dynamism of Prokofiev’s piano works, Shostakovich’s deeply unsettling strings, or… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…
Australia’s versatile vocalist has a story to share – the Australian story – and she’s not afraid to tell it as it is. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
★★★★☆ Baroque trio and friends take us where court meets pub. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Andrea Katz shares why she and her fellow Songmakers are giving voice to the canon’s rarities. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
★★★★☆ Crowd-pleasing snippets of JSB prove perfect showcases. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
In a land where grim reapers are only too happy to cut down artistic tall poppies, it is marvellous to see Adelaide Chamber Singers flourishing.
A three-part polyphonic soothing of the soul for Easter. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
People talk about music changing the course of history, but what events have changed the course of music?
We investigate the what, why and how of classical music’s greatest growth industry. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Antonio Caldara, born in Venice in 1670, became vice-Kapellmeister at the Viennese Hofkapelle in 1716 remaining until his death in 1736. There he had a fine ensemble of musicians and this recital showcases some of the more unusual instruments he had at his disposal including the salterio – a large hammered dulcimer. Valer Sabadus, one of the five star countertenors on Virgin’s lauded recording of Vinci’s Artaserse, performs a brace of arias from opera and serenati. His bright bell-like tone and effortless fiorature is startling from the get-go and his accompanists play with gusto. Sample track five Ahi! Come quella un tempo città, where a plethora of plucked instruments is a sheer delight with the state-of-the-art recording capturing every nuance from thrumming bass notes to glittering treble. Ditto the following Ah se toccasse a me with a pair of lutes duetting in call and response. Questo è il prato pairs haunting flute and chalumeau – a primitive ancestor of the clarinet with a peculiar rustic sound of its own. Lute aficionados will enjoy this disc as Caldara wrote for the great Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, and Michael Dücker (who leads the ensemble) is a thoughtful player. Cellist Ulrike… Continue reading Get…
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
