Mozart started work on his incomplete opera Zaide in 1779 at the age of 23, finishing just 15 numbers before setting it aside to write Idomeneo. Its two acts – there would have been three – are however filled with some wonderful music including two melodramas and the most famous number, Zaïde’s Ruhe sanft. Act One finds Gomatz (Allan Clayton) among the slaves of Sultan Soliman (Stuart Jackson). He sleeps to forget his plight and, as he does, Soliman’s favourite odalisque Zaide (Sophie Bevan), sings Rest gently by his side. Soon enough, Gomatz, Zaide and sympathetic guard Allazim (Jacques Imbrailo) plan their escape. Act Two sees the hapless lovers recaptured and condemned to die. This is yet another superlative addition to Ian Page’s period ensemble Classical Opera’s critically acclaimed complete cycle of Mozart operas. The brilliance of the orchestral playing is established from the beginning with a highly dramatic reading of an overture lifted from Mozart’s incidental music to Thamos, König in Ägypten. Those following British soprano Sophie Bevan’s stellar career will find nothing to disappoint, while arias such as Gomatz’s Rase, Schicksal, wüte immer (Fury, destiny, keep on raging) allow Clayton to demonstrate his own mastery of… Continue reading…

Here is a true labour of love: a history of Australian singers on record from the Nellie Melba generation to that of Sutherland and beyond. Music historian Roger Neill and recording expert Tony Locantro have spent 13 long years bringing this project to fruition, and the results – presented by Decca Eloquence on a four disc set – are fascinating. “Why has there been such an extraordinary procession of world-class Australian singers over such an extended period of time?” ask the producers. While providing no exact answers, this comprehensive survey includes some 80 wonderful singers in a wide range of musical genres, from opera to music hall and from art song to popular. Lovingly restored and remastered from original sources, many of these recordings are rare to downright obscure, and many names will be rediscoveries for even those who thought they knew the history of Aussie singers on record. The set begins with the eight Australians who are known to have been pupils of the great European singing teacher Madame Mathilde Marchesi. Ada Crossley, Amy Castles and Evelyn Scotney stand out, but the finest has to be Frances Alda who duets here with Caruso and whose In quelle… Continue reading…

Skelton's wild hunt puts the summer wind up another fine Gurre-Lieder.

Measuring fame is always a difficult proposition. Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452-1518) died a wealthy man, much of his relatively prolific output has survived and he has earned a place in the history books as the most famous composer of his generation not to have worked in Italy. Yet, for all this, he is largely forgotten today. Thankfully, enthusiasts such as Stephen Rice and his Brabant Ensemble are doing a sterling job in plugging the gaps in his discography. Missa Nuncqua Fue Pena Mayor, the earlier of two Masses on this disc is not the most promising place to start, however. While there are some variations in texture and rhythm, it is a rather plain four-part setting. Despite an empathetic approach to text by the singers, the music itself comes across as rather academic. (Perhaps it would have helped to hear the song on which it is based first.) The later Missa Inviolata is a much more interesting and accomplished affair with flashes of rhythmic brilliance and interesting text setting, still within the confines of four parts. Recalling the style of Josquin, Salve Regina VI effectively varies combinations of voices to make the final four-part section of the motet…

I wish I could offer readers a little more than an echo of other commentators when it comes to this marvellous singer; he is simply remarkable, but in Neapolitan song, I’m not so sure. Having recently reviewed Roberto Alagna dishing out this mildly attractive repertoire in concert, I find I am a little over Neapolitan song, which is a bit unfair on Herr Kaufmann. The selection opens with the operatic Caruso, Lucio Dalla’s tribute to the great tenor. Kaufman sings it with ringing conviction. In fact he sings everything with ringing conviction, which in this repertoire leads to dullness. It was a relief to come to the better songs. Parlami d’Amore Mariù, Torna a Surriento and the famous Volare. He also tosses off the delightful Voglio Vivere Così with aplomb. He’s certainly better in more sensitive items such as Catari and Con Te Partirò. Kaufmann seems more at ease in this part of the repertoire. Even so, he does not sing these songs any better than do Roberto Alagna or Juan Diego Flórez. Frankly, some of the music is thin and pompous – “All hat and no cattle,” as the Americans say – and Un Amore Così… Continue reading Get…

A fascinating celebration of seemingly strange bedfellows.

Scandinavian choral reveries: The Norwegian Soloists takes us from comforting to confronting.

This final instalment encompasses the biggest of Beethoven’s hitters.

Jakob Lindberg has well and truly earned his reputation as one of the top lute players in the world. In this fine recital, he performs the music of Francesco da Milano, Marco dall’Aquila and Alberto da Mantova. In its heyday, the lute was the instrument of the greatest composers in the same way the piano was the instrument of choice in later centuries. These three Italian Renaissance lutenists were regarded as some of the finest musicians of the age (for example, da Milano was apparently nicknamed “Il Divino” and described as being “superior to Orpheus and Apollo”!). Although this is music of dense, criss-crossing contrapuntal lines, which makes it sound knotty and complex, in fact these pieces are ever-tuneful. In the liner notes, Lindberg divides the pieces into three categories – fantasias/ricecars (where the composer writes freely whatever he feels like), intabulations (re-workings of music originally for voices), and dances. Adept combining of pieces from each category ensures that there’s never a dull moment and that the pieces are shown in their best light, with ricecars rubbing shoulders with vocal music by Josquin and Arcadelt. BIS certainly knows… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already…

The intuitive relationship that vocalist Katie Noonan and classical guitarist Karin Schaupp have developed together makes for some gorgeous music-making in their latest recording Songs of the Latin Skies. Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp. Photo: supplied It’s their third release together, following the success of their 2012 ARIA nominated album Songs of the Southern Skies and their 2011 eight-track EP Songs from the British Isles. Songs of the Latin Skies features 13 tracks, which pay homage to the great South American songbook of bossa nova, samba, salsa and tango by composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Astor Piazzolla, Luis Bonfá, Antonio Lauro and Antônio Carlos Jobim among others. The duo bring a fresh, distinctive, original take to the repertoire, with Noonan’s exquisite vocals soaring delicately over Schaupp’s virtuosic, equally expressive playing, as they caress the melodies to create a meltingly laid-back album with a spare, minimal beauty that would soothe the most furrowed brow. The first track Seguranca makes for a stunning opening, with some double-tracking of Noonan’s voice creating lovely rich harmonies and showcasing her renowned vocal range from a warm bottom register to a dazzling, ethereal top. Classic bossa nova numbers Desafinado and Wave… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…

While not demanding technically, Chopin’s Nocturnes contain pianistic pitfalls. Some artists over-prettify them – easy to do when the melodic line is highly decorated – and they can seem fragile and precious. Australian-based pianist Nancy Tsou avoids these traps by taking most at a reasonably fast pace. The popular Op. 9 No 2 in E Flat provides a good example: it is lyrical and flowing, not (as it can be) interminable. In terms of dynamic shading and rubato, Tsou’s playing reveals a genuine personal connection to the composer’s spirit. The quasi-improvisational feeling and quiet inwardness are beautifully captured. Yet Chopin’s nocturnal world was not all contemplation and nightingales. In later pieces he brought much personal angst to the form. I feel Tsou understates the drama of the C Minor Nocturne, Op. 48 No 1 and elsewhere, possibly so as not to overinflate the music. Her dynamic range never ventures above mf, a marked contrast from Maurizio Pollini (DG, 2005). Some find Pollini too determinedly unsentimental, but I respond to the backbone he finds. Tsou’s incomplete but representative selection gives us just 13 of the Nocturnes. Her instrument is… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already…

Turkish pianist Fazıl Say is known for his virtuosic readings of core classical repertoire. He is also a composer and, in a tradition that has a long history in Western Classical music, incorporating folk influences from his native Turkey. Notoriously, Say was sentenced to a ten-month jail term in 2013 for making allegedly blasphemous comments on Twitter, a charge that was overturned by the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals in 2015. Today, we find him signed to Warner Classics and turning his attention to the complete piano sonatas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with stunning results. The 18 sonatas and Fantasia in C Minor are grouped on six discs according to key, and were recorded in 2014 in the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Salzburg. For Say, Sonata No 14 in C Minor is the most momentous and a significant influence on Beethoven and Schubert. His playing is utterly assured, precise and crisp, with any potential for brittle timbre alleviated by the recording’s roomy warmth. Mozart’s music “requires us to assimilate it with our own bodies and beings… to live it and breathe it,” according to Say, who was striving for “a certain naturalness” throughout, and his… Continue reading Get unlimited…