Fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout’s traversal of Mozart’s complete keyboard music is fast becoming one of the most significant recording projects of the 21st century, combining as it does the best contemporary thinking on historical performance practice with an individual and refined musical sensibility. No stranger to Australian audiences, Bezuidenhout is equally at home in an orchestral or solo instrumental context; he is also as much at home with the improvisatory aspects of historical performance as other fortepianists such as Robert Levin and the great Malcolm Bilson. These factors combine to enliven Bezuidenhout’s interpretations in both a colouristic and decorative sense. Even non-specialists will be left utterly convinced of his total fluency in the musical language of the 18th century. And how lovely to open with the deceptively simple C Major Sonata, K545, so familiar to generations of piano students and yet so elegant and ingenious in its writing. Here, Bezuidenhout’s delicate phrasing, subtle balancing of voices and charming embellishments prepare the listener for what is to come, not only in other familiar works such as the piano sonatas K280, K279 and K576, but some preludes, a neo-baroque dance suite, a… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…

I’ve always had a high regard for Bruckner’s String Quintet in F Major, the work he wrote in the afterglow of his Fifth Symphony, and every bit as symphonic in scope and ambition. Alongside the Quintet, the Fitzwilliam String Quartet has included the String Quartet in C Minor, which Bruckner composed when studying under Otto Kitzler, and an alternate view of the chamber music path he might have followed presents itself. Young Anton revels in inhabiting the compositional fabric of Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The tone is light and playful; but ultimately Bruckner’s sonic imagination drove him elsewhere. Adding guest violist James Boyd, the Fitzwilliam Quartet performs with gut strings and period instruments configured to exactly the pitch Bruckner himself would have expected. Vibrato is expertly controlled throughout, and although the medium might cross into unfamiliar terrain, the sound and motivation behind this music is pure Bruckner. Beginning in the midst of an unfolding harmonic argument, the fulsome and fine-grained blend of the Fitzwilliam approach sings proudly. Phrasing breathes luxuriously and is never allowed to tip into the red heat of faux-Romanticism. The extended Adagio – where Lucy Russell’s… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…

A decade has passed since Trio Wanderer gave us a superb set of Brahms’ Piano Trios with the first Piano Quartet as filler. That recording set a benchmark thanks to the ensemble’s ideal balance of elegance and expressive intensity, so this sequel is long overdue. The rarely heard first version of the Op. 8 Trio is a fascinating adjunct to that set and the Wanderers tackle the work with a different mindset, helping to delineate the self-critical composer’s maturing concision. They don’t linger as they did during the lengthy first movement, which Brahms initially over-egged with five themes,  several of which were replaced by the lovely secondary subject. Hanslick thought the fugato passage as inappropriate as a schoolboy Latin quotation in a love poem and the composer took note and cut it. The marvellous Scherzo he left well alone but for a few nips and tucks, however he wisely remodelled the middle of the slow movement; the mood swings of the original are superfluous with such animated flanking movements. The last movement meanders through some tortured passages with a good third of the movement later excised and the clunky conclusion… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month…

This recording presents an unusual juxtaposition. On the one hand, we have the ubiquitous Four Seasons, but on the other, two world premiere concertos. The Four Seasons recording is certainly excellent, with effervescent performances from soloist and director Adrian Chandler. Also on the disc are two bassoon concerti (La Notte in B Flat and per Maestro de Morzin in G Minor), in both of which soloist Peter Whelan shines. However, most interesting on this disc is the presence of  a couple of first time recordings. These world premieres (Concerto in D, RV221 and Concerto in G, RV311) are for a strange hybrid instrument a bit like a tromba marina (a one-stringed, box-like instrument designed to imitate the sound of a trumpet). The violin in tromba marina, then, is designed to imitate the tromba marina in turn. Complicating matters, however, is the fact that there are a grand total of none in existence. Chandler details the research involved in recreating the violin in tromba marina, the resulting instrument having only three brass strings and a bridge that has a metal attachment to give a trumpet-like rasp. This bright-toned instrument proves… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…

Mozart’s two-act serenata Il Re Pastore was written in 1775 in response to a commission by the Archbishop of Salzburg. Metastasio’s libretto, based on a Torquato Tasso play, tells the story of Alexander the Great’s attempts at diplomatic matchmaking after his defeat of Strato, tyrant of the Phoenician city of Sidon. Alessandro (John Mark Ainsley) finds the true heir to the throne of Sidon in lowly shepherd Aminta (Sarah Fox), brought up in ignorance of his royal lineage. He and Elisa (Ailish Tynan) are in love, but Alessandro is unaware of this and tries to marry Aminta to Strato’s daughter, Tamiri (Anna Devin), who in turn is in love with nobleman Agenore (Benjamin Hulett). Confusion ensues, after which Alessandro cuts this particular Gordian Knot by making Aminta and Elisa rulers of Sidon and giving Agenore and Tamiri another kingdom to rule over. This fourth volume in Classical Opera’s planned complete survey of Mozart’s operas is every bit as terrific as the first three, with dramatically fulsome singing from all five soloists. Aminta’s famous arias Aer Tranquillo and L’Amerò are of course particular highlights, while Ainsley’s Si Spande al Sole in Faccia shows he’s lost none of the… Continue reading Get…

Sokolov is a cult favourite, not only because his conception of any music he plays is unflinchingly personal but also because of his tremendous concentration. Every note is coloured and weighted; each phrase meticulously judged. He refuses to record in the studio, but Deutsche Grammophon has secured a contract to release his live concert performances. This is the second release, taken from recitals in Warsaw and Salzburg in 2013; the previous disc won Limelight’s 2015 Recording of the Year. Sokolov’s typically uncompromising programme includes Beethoven’s Sonata No 29, Op. 106, the Hammerklavier. I was surprised how delicately he plays the first two movements: his dry, detached staccatos are lightly etched, as if to remind us that we are still in the Classical period. The Adagio sostenuto is one of the great inward meditations of late Beethoven, and here it feels as if time had stopped. Sokolov ruminates for 21’28”. By comparison, Paul Lewis plays it in 18’31”, and Gulda in 15’44”. This communing over every single note requires deep concentration from the listener as well as the performer – easier in a concert hall than at home. While Sokolov’s single-mindedness never falters, his is not your… Continue reading Get unlimited…

Following their acclaimed album of works by Arensky, British outfit Leonore Piano Trio moves to France to take on the three trios by Germanophile Édouard Lalo. These attractive works are full of melody, combining Gallic charm with a weightier feel. As Roger Nichols’ liner notes wittily describe the Scherzo in No 1: “rather like fairies dancing in lederhosen.” The Leonores – Benjamin Nabarro violin, Gemma Rosefield, cello and pianist Tim Horton – play with the assurance of noted soloists in their own right but also with precision and sensitivity as an ensemble. Although Lalo was a violinist, playing in several of Berlioz’s concerts, it is the solo cello that introduces the first and last movements of the First Trio where the footprints of his musical hero Schumann lie deeply embedded. This serves as a reminder that the Frenchman also wrote a characteristically melodic and energetic concerto for cello. Schumann is also an influence in the passionate Second Trio, written a couple of years later in 1852. For the next 12 years Lalo suffered writer’s block until he remarried and his creative spark rekindled. This was the time of Symphonie Espagnole and eventual success. His Third Trio, from 1880, is a…

The image on the back cover of the CD depicting Jansen arm-wrestling with Antonio Pappano feels noticeably apt. Not since Herbert von Karajan unleashed the Berlin Philharmonic, issuing a challenge to Anne-Sophie Mutter to bite back in their 1981 recording of Brahms’ Violin Concerto, has a conductor pumped Brahms’ orchestral introduction with such dramatic theatre and pizzazz. This is an opera that just happens to be scored for violin and orchestra, Pappano seems to be telling us, but the high-intelligence of Jansen’s musicality, not to mention her good taste, leads her to pursue a more expressively and colouristically nuanced pathway than this might imply. The genuinely startling feature of this new performance is witnessing Jansen scoop detail out from Pappano’s broad sonic wash. Like two swinging pendulums gradually locking into alignment, the bump-and-grind rootsy grit that Jansen brings to the folksy Finale meets Pappano head on; but otherwise the gossamer delicacy of the Adagio, and the uncountable rhythmic suppleness with which Jansen navigates Brahms’ airborne lines during the opening movement, moves largely by stealth. Bartók’s First Violin Concerto, a promising pairing on paper, proves less adaptable to this good cop/bad cop approach. The unwinding chromatics of the… Continue reading Get…

First the soft piano enters, then the words: “once upon a, once a, once upon a time…” It’s a familiar introduction to a not-so-familiar story. The Light Princess is an imaginative new musical adapted by Adelaide-born writer Samuel Adamson from a Scottish fairytale about a princess whose view of the world is so light, she floats. It’s a fabulous fable, and it’s got a few modern twists that’ll definitely delight contemporary audiences. The music is by singer-songwriter Tori Amos and her score is vibrant, fun and upbeat. Lyrics have a sweet, storybook vibe. The original cast recording sparkles with excellent vocal performances that won’t fail to enchant, particularly that of Rosalie Craig, who sings the titular role. The two bonus tracks, sung by Amos herself, Highness in the Sky and Darkest Hour, are a dreamy treat. Amos’s pedigree as a songwriter is the strongest influence on this musical’s stylistic direction, and tellingly the piano is a ubiquitous presence throughout. The score has a strong momentum, and while there are moments of repose and introspection, they’re a little too scarce in this forward-moving musical fantasy. The story is a strange one (not at all a bad thing), and with a hell of…

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.

Once, recordings of Ravel’s output for solo piano were rare. Now many young pianists have joined the fray.

Imagine the horror of being born into a family where you’re the only one among parents, grandparents and siblings who doesn’t excel at something! No such problems among the Ottensamers, father Ernst and brothers Daniel and Andreas aka the royal family of the clarinet, who share the Principal Clarinet positions of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics. Andreas, who was appointed to his Berlin Philharmonic position at 21 also declined a position at Harvard (as one does). Their ensemble, The Clarinotts, play an impressive range of E Flat, B Flat and A clarinets, bass clarinet and bassett horn and performs traditional classical music as well as arrangements, jazz and “edgy” contemporary repertoire. While their breathtaking (pun intended) virtuosity can be taken for granted, what makes The Clarinotts’ playing even more miraculous is their impeccable ensemble, as well as their flair for playing “out” in a soloistic manner, which many orchestral musicians find difficult. (It was the alleged inability of the clarinettist Sabine Meyer to blend in with the woodwind “choir” of the Berlin Philharmonic that caused the final rupture between the orchestra and Herbert von Karajan in the mid-1980s). Clearly the Ottensamers don’t have a problem in this department…. Continue reading Get…