The founder of skincare company Jurlique, who gave Adelaide the UKARIA Cultural Centre, describes the cosmic power of Bach.

Yebin Yoo, Oscar Han and Natalia Harvey triumph in a contest of violins at the Gisborne International Music Competition Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

It is the earthy directness of violinist Franziska Pietsch’s sound, over Detlev Eisinger’s sepulchral piano, that captures the ear of the listener in this disc from Audite. Prokofiev likened a passage in the first movement of his First Violin Sonata to “wind sweeping across a cemetery” and Pietsch and Eisinger perfectly conjure this darkness, their spacious tempo giving the movement a sense of deep loneliness that periodically swells into pained longing. There is a gritty violence to the jagged Allegro brusco and the third movement is searingly plaintive. The intimate recording captures every detail of Pietsch’s resonant pizzicatos in the outer movements and the finale bristles with folk-energy, receding into quiet lyricism. The Second Violin Sonata – originally composed for flute but arranged for violin at David Oistrakh’s prompting – is almost pastoral. Composed during Prokofiev’s sojourn in the Ural Mountains during World War II, a jagged motif whose rhythm echoes the Morse Code “V for Victory” that accompanied the BBC’s broadcasts recalls the ongoing violence. The motif – three dots and a dash – sends aural sparks flying from Pietsch’s violin and there’s a quirky bounce to her Scherzo. Pietsch and Eisinger interweave soulfully in the Andante and… Continue reading…

Much of his compositional output was written prior to a heart attack in 1918 and remained unperformed until after his death, but American modernist Charles Ives is now well-established as a significant and pioneering composer. Ives’ father George was a bandmaster during the American Civil War, and taught his musically-inclined son skills that included playing the piano in one key while singing in another. In part, as a consequence of this, Ives’ works explored polyrhythms, dissonance, atonality, quarter-tones and other techniques that were to become international staples of experimentalism. Another of Ives’ enduring preoccupations was traditional American hymns and songs, references to which can be heard at various junctures in his Four String Quartets, composed between 1910 and 1917. There have been regular releases of the set since the premiere recording by Rafael Druian (violin) and John Simms (piano) in 1957, but only a handful are currently in print. Welcome then, is this new recording from French violinist Annabelle Berthomé-Reynolds and Belgian pianist Dirk Herten. Berthomé-Reynolds brings a delicate lyricism to these intricate but very accessible works, and the interplay between violin and piano is unified and sympathetic. Ives veers from rousing sprightliness to dreamy pastoral (sometimes within a few…

Experimental violinist Jon Rose creates a terrifying performance that brings his museum of instruments to life. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

With the English violinist’s new recording about to be released, she chats about the intellectual challenges of Bach. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Popular violinist Stephen Phillips has been killed in a car crash in New Zealand. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

We meet a violinist whose first language is music and who has become a UN Messenger of Peace.

The Serbian violinist talks about his eclectic album and the difference between good music and not-so-good music. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Move over Stradivarius! Spider-varius instrument is made from silk spun by the Australian Golden Orb Spider. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

An Israeli violinist Barolsky has released her debut solo album, featuring some notoriously challenging works, but even from listening to the first ten seconds of any of the tracks on the album, it is obvious that she understands her own capabilities as a violinist; the technique and knowledge required to successfully perform any of these works requires true dedication to modern repertoire. Introducing the CD with Berio’s infamous Sequenza VIII, Barolsky’s intensity and connection with the work is strikingly obvious. The work itself contrasts with the composer’s other sequenzas through its more melodic approach. Barolsky conveys the work’s musicality throughout, overcoming Berio’s stereotypically “ugly” timbres while portraying a consistent agitato over the full 13 minutes. The album features some other contemporary repertoire, including works for violin and various electronic effects. Dai Fujikura’s Fluid Calligraphy was included, curiously, without the visual aid of the film for which it was scored, which might explain the slight lack of extra sparkle on this track. A personal favourite was Amos Elkana’s Reflections, which features some sort of looping. The effect came across quite convincingly, despite some slight tempo inconsistencies. Barolsky also chose to include a… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per…

A Nagano high school student performs on an instrument made with wood from the Rikuzentakata pine. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in