Magic mushrooms: Swiss scientist discovers fungus that makes wood fit for a Stradivarius. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

What does the Australian Chamber Orchestra's charismatic leader really think about music, orchestras and politics?

In 2013, the ACO premieres Brett Dean's electric violin concerto and brings Andreas Scholl out of his shell.

Classical music’s most extreme hipster reinvents himself with a striking new stage name. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Musica Viva and Limelight editor Francis Merson host an afternoon of intimate chamber music and conversation.

Violinist Tor Frømyhr was allowed to take his violin on board the Frankfurt-Abu Dhabi flight only after four young musicians intervened Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

From the elegance of Callas to Danielle de Niese's satin sheen and Stephen Hough's dapper hats...

Belgium ensemble Trio Dali are very serious about having fun with music. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Joshua Bell’s first disc of sonatas with Sony is well worth the wait. At its centre is the ever-popular sonata by Franck, alongside works by Saint-Saëns and Ravel. Both Bell and his accompanist friend Jeremy Denk revel in the ever-changing impressionistic colours of harmony and timbre that this repertory evokes and demands. There is plenty of Gallic flair in the Franck, and the tension between stasis and forward movements is finely judged, resulting in some exhilarating climaxes. The interweaving of major and minor elements in the famous finale are beautifully pointed by the violin and expertly underpinned by the piano. Bell’s judicious but unashamed use of sweet tone and sweeping portamenti is entirely appropriate. Saint-Saëns’s sonata is immediately appealing, with an imposing opening movement full of fire and passion succeeded by some improvisatory languor and concluding with an elegant, high-spirited finale with a dash of gypsy fiddling thrown in. By contrast, the worldly sophistication of Ravel gives Bell a chance to display some other colours, especially in the Blues movement where the violin is by turns banjo strummer or jazz chanteuse. Bell and Denk face steep competition in the Franck; this splendid trio of sonatas makes a winning proposition. Continue…

The Tokyo String Quartet have announced that their 2012–2013 concert season will be their last. Founded in 1969, the group has made a name for itself as one of the world’s leading chamber music ensembles, especially in the Beethoven string quartets. They have been artists-in-residence at Yale School of Music since 1977, and toured Australia for Musica Viva in 2009. Last year, the quartet announced that two founding members, violinist Kikuei Ikeda and violist Kazuhide Isomura, were retiring, and the remaining two, violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith, had instigated an international search for replacements. But they have called off the headhunters. “It is a difficult prospect to replace one long-standing quartet member,” said Beaver, but “to replace two of them simultaneously is a Herculean task. “With the retirement of our colleagues in our minds, we increasingly felt over the last few months that the most fitting way we could honour and celebrate our quartet’s long and illustrious career was to bring it to a graceful close.” Added Greensmith, “It has been a humbling and extraordinary experience to be part of such an ensemble, but it is time to step away from the hectic travel schedule and allow each…

The Stanford-based ensemble tours Australia with oboist Diana Doherty. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Only in recent years has Charles Ives been acknowledged as a founding father of American classical music, but there can be no mistaking the true grit in his four violin sonatas, all composed before 1920. Youthful brio, blistering technique and a fierce musical intellect make Hilary Hahn the ideal interpreter of her countryman’s work. She and Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa have been exploring the sonatas together for a few years and the synergy they have achieved is remarkable, considering the  two parts are often composed to sound entirely disjointed from one another. It’s clear from the duo’s mercurial rhythmic interplay just how much fun they’re having with this music. Hahn’s sweet-toned violin is closely-miked for a dry, honest sound that matches the directness of Ives’s borrowings from hymns, ragtime and spirituals. North Carolina-based Lisitsa calls these tuneful quotations “American as apple pie”, and that’s the spirit in which she attacks buoyant, punchy passages. But the players are just as expressive in gentle moments of reflection, easing into Debussyesque lyricism for the Autumn movement of Sonata No 2. Highlights: the wide-eyed adventure of the Sonata No 4 Children’s Day at the Camp Meeting, its final movement… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…