Soon to unveil her Norma for Melbourne Opera, the Australian soprano talks about the challenges of accompanied recitative, the tension between words and music, and putting her own stamp on bel canto's Mt Everest.

With the opening weekend of the Brisbane Festival in full swing, we check in with the outgoing Artistic Director.

Director Greg Eldridge discusses how he’s coming to grips with Aribert Reimann’s Ghost Sonata, an operatic adaptation of a Strindberg play that’s all about the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive.

In 2018, aged 10, he won the Junior First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition. Now he is playing with the likes of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Sydney Symphony – after a banana.

The South African music theatre ensemble's founder Mark Dornford-May tells us about a new staging, which combines Bach with traditional South African music and marimba orchestra.

The Brazilian conductor shares with us the secrets of Diaghilev's success ahead of his Ballet Russes-inspired concert with students from the Australian National Academy of Music.

Simon Phillips talks about meeting Tom Stoppard, how The Real Thing is beautiful as well as brilliant, and why Australian actors need to understand that for Stoppard the brain is sexy.

The composer shares the story behind his new work for the Australian String Quartet, a “shrine in music” to the memory of his late sister Kate.

Comparisons to the piano seem wrong-headed, says Erin Helyard, the Artistic Director of Pinchgut Opera. A virtuoso on the harpsichord (and fortepiano), he believes it’s the instrument on which Bach sounds best.

The beloved soprano reflects on her new role as WAAPA’s Head of Classical Voice and Opera Studies ahead of her From Broadway to La Scala tour.

As the American conductor returns to lead the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, he reflects on his leadership style, his musical tastes and having fun with Dvořák.

This issue includes features on streaming classical music, the life of Tchaikovsky, English actor Maxine Peake, Kronos Quartet, Tom Stoppard and more.