We asked seven of our leading maestros which underrated composer they would like to be conducting, given half a chance. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

For all the banter and the ping pong balls, Asher Fisch and WASO has proved a match made in heaven.

The German tenor explores Parsifal and Lohengrin, plus interviews with Evgeny Kissin, Paco Peña and more. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Seven great maestros choose their favourite underrated composers, plus interviews with Simone Young, Piers Lane and more. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

WA’s mighty Fisch scales the NSW peaks and then some.

The orchestra was love at first sight for the Perth-bound Israeli conductor – the sounds, the instruments, the cigarettes, the coffee...

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…

The Swiss-Australian conductor will work with the Tasmanian and West Australian Symphony Orchestras in 2017.

I enjoyed this Brahms cycle. Fortunately, Asher Fish is not a member of the “Brahms Lite” Chapter or a Chailly/Gardiner – style speed merchant. What’s more, unlike the hapless, battle-jacketed George W Bush standing on the deck of that aircraft carrier, under a sign proclaiming “Mission Accomplished”, Asher Fisch really has accomplished his “mission” to transform the West Australian Symphony Orchestra from merely good into a potentially great instrument, on the strength of theses performances at least. It plays with confidence, sheen and finesse. The buoyant galumphing rhythm of the opening movement of the First Symphony is just right (no repeat observed – presumably because of the plan to fit this and the Second Symphony on a single CD) without diminishing the inherent drama. The second and third movements are really like lightly scored serenade movements buffering two huge epic book-ends, but it’s here the quality of the woodwind phrasing (and the depth of the orchestra’s talent) becomes apparent. This is warmly shaped, with oboe and clarinet solos notable but also a lovely extended reverie by concertmaster Jackson duetting with horns. The Finale, with its deliberately tentative opening, is always problematic but Fisch guides his players through treacherous shoals… Continue reading Get unlimited…

★★★★☆ Sublime performances from WASO’s Wagnerian dream team. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Despite a sprawling plot that offers precious little in the way of hope for humanity, La Forza del Destino is blessed with one of Verdi’s finest scores. Martin Kušej’s psychologically complex staging for Bavarian State Opera won’t appeal if you’re looking for a chocolate-box production, but it packs a punch and makes much sense of this rambling Spanish Revengers Tragedy. Set in a world of scrappy urban warfare, the kind haunting many a modern war zone, it conveys a constant threat of terrorist atrocities. The direction has its unrealistic moments – people leap, roll and slide on and off the family dining table like nobody’s business, while simulated sex and Verdi don’t always gel – but its visceral nature tallies with the opera’s grim themes of honour and revenge, and  graphic imagery of modern-day massacres will strikes chords. Musical standards are very high indeed, with Asher Fisch leading a dramatically punchy reading of the score. Kaufmann is thrilling, yet subtle as Don Alvaro and, despite a silly wig, puts in a convincing portrayal. Anja Harteros is a perfect, neurotic Leonora, voice rich and text imaginatively handled. Ludovic Tézier is a robust Don Carlo, Vitalij Kowaljow plays powerful double roles, and…

WASO Chief Conductor Asher Fisch traces the symphonies’ sometimes convoluted development from first to last. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in