Burglar in just a towel impersonated Bell to gain access to the violinist’s safe. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Whatever you do when you listen to Nigel Kennedy’s The Four Elements, don’t expect anything like The Four Seasons… The British violinist is known, firstly, for his visceral performances of Vivaldi’s four most famous concertos and, secondly, for his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, symbolised by his very non-classical hairdo. Kennedy’s own take on “The Four Somethings” idea melds these two facets of his personality. Writing for instruments more commonly encountered in pop or rock, Kennedy has composed four pieces entitled Air, Earth, Fire, Water – plus an overture and a finale. It’s just like Vivaldi – but it rocks. At least, that’s the idea. In reality, The Four Elements is a rambling work not quite interesting enough for the classical genre, nor punchy enough to succeed as popular music. Vivaldi fans will be turned off as soon as the electric bass and drums thud into motion in the overture; while the veneer of classical nerdiness will turn off mainstream listeners (despite the trip-hop beats in Air and a rap solo from Kennedy in Earth). The playing is top-notch throughout, and the instrumental writing is quite accomplished – but the flaw of Kennedy’s work is… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access…

David Garrett was a gifted young violinist who performed as soloist with the London Philharmonic at the age of ten. He “crossed over” a few years ago to record a series of song-based albums, and never has that act seemed more like crossing to the dark side. It began with the rather jejune Free (2007), a bouquet of tunes by Morricone, Bernstein and Bizet, but reaches an apotheosis of awful with Rock Symphonies – Garrett joined by an orchestra and heavy metal band. The violinist wields his bow like a machete, castrating composers of talent from Beethoven (first mvt of Fifth Symphony) to Kurt Cobain (Smells Like Teen Spirit). What makes it especially heinous is that Garrett’s playing isn’t even that refined, despite the Juilliard training. He can “shred” all right, but he doesn’t have the variety of phrasing to make rock music sound natural on the violin; he’s out of tune in Guns and Roses’ November Rain; and his solos seem conscribed to the pentatonic scale. It’s almost like Garrett is the André Rieu of rock – the schmaltz king of metal. Bad taste release of the year. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already…

New York guitarist/art rocker Nick Zinner presents his ambitious string symphony at the Sydney Festival.

Modern-day instrument makers emerge triumphant over master luthier Antonio Stradivari. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Sigur Rós's former string section has come into its own, bringing bucketloads of instruments, quirky tunes and charm to the Sydney Festival.

What happens to a BBC Young Musician of the Year winner nine years on? In Jennifer Pike’s case, she signs a contract with Chandos. The youngest-ever winner of the BBC award at 12, Pike has matured into a confident and expressive musician. This program brings together three of the best-known violin sonatas by French composers (more or less; César Franck was Belgian). Throughout, Pike is alert to every nuance of light and shade. In Debussy’s offering she takes a cool, modern approach: exquisitely detailed, but eschewing old-fashioned portamenti in the yearning, falling phrases of the second movement. Her Ravel is technically brilliant, the third movement’s Perpetuum mobile dashed off as though it were the easiest thing in the world. In the bluesy second movement, she does not dig deeply into the strings and sex it up in the manner of the sultry Maria Bachmann (Endeavour Classics/Allegro), but allows the movement to build naturally to a bracing conclusion. Pike is most at home in Franck’s sonata, spinning a poised legato line in the first movement and finding plenty of heart for the climaxes of the Recitativo-Fantasia. In all this she has the huge advantage of… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access…

A musician sets out to play Bach in the highest-altitude performance ever given on land. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

It’s good to see the Scandinavian company BIS persevering with the high-end SACD format at a time when the majority of music buyers no longer seem to care about quality audio reproduction at all. This disc has three audio layers to choose from: SACD Stereo, SACD Surround and standard-CD. When played through a good system boasting SACD reproduction, it shows just what the format is capable of. The sound here is simply superb. The violin has its natural warmth with plenty of bite, and the detail in the orchestral sound is exemplary, revealing layer on layer. Of course, that would be worthless if we were listening to a mundane performance. This is anything but. Soloist Vadim Gluzman and the Bergen Philharmonic under Andrew Litton give a committed interpretation of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto, and we can understand from this fine account why the success of this work overshadowed the rest of the composer’s career.  The Romance for Violin and Orchestra is a pleasant enough piece, much like a stocking-filler at Christmas. But the rarely heard String Quartet in A minor is a revelation. Written in 1918 when the composer was 80 and near the end of his life, this… Continue reading Get unlimited…

Music filmmaker Christopher Nupen was "haunted" by Paganini as he delved into the life of classical music's first rock god.

The guest director of the ACO pays tribute to his beloved hometown in an all-Viennese program. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

In this concertante piece, banjo and accordion serve as continuo instruments but with plenty of soloistic flourishes.