Most people are familiar with the self portraits, but it is the artist’s depictions of nature that provide a glimpse into his soul.

The Romantic’s housekeeping books reveal more than just the Marks and the Pfennigs.

Director of the new HIP Bach Akademie Australia, Madeleine Easton explains (with help from John Eliot Gardiner).

Okay, so we know Bach's Passions deserve to be here, but if you've had your fill of Messiahs, try these Easter alternatives.

Chimes and gentle winds open A Celestial Map of the Sky – the title track on this disc by British-American composer Tarik O’Regan – before the Hallé, led by Sir Mark Elder, is joined by the choir. The luminous opening soon gives way to powerful, driving intensity, O’Regan setting extracts of poetic texts (by Walt Whitman, Mahmood Jamal and more) that reflect his response to a pair of woodcuts – star charts – by Albrecht Dürer. Haunting vocal meditations are entwined with a glittering, astral score. Jamie Philips conducts the Hallé in the remaining works. O’Regan takes the Adagio of JS Bach’s third Violin Sonata (BWV 1005) as his jumping off point in Latent Manifest. Solo violin is joined by harp and percussion, O’Regan extrapolating Bach’s quadruple-stops into a whorl of vivid orchestral colour and sizzling rhythms. Both Raï and Chaâbi (which was commissioned for the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s 2012 tour) derive from O’Regan’s memories of childhood visits to relatives in Algeria and Morocco. Raï is full of fierce strings, rhythmic drumming and bright momentum from the Hallé, while shifting string textures in Chaâbi create a reflective mood. The finale is Fragments from Heart of Darkness, a dramatic… Continue reading…

The company has broken its box office record with ticket sales of more than $14 million between New Year’s Eve and April 1.

Ahead of his Musica Viva Festival, the Artistic Director talks about the allure of intimate performer-audience relationships.

Alan Gilbert accuses the "really horrible" President of playing on people’s fears and lying as a political strategy.

Musica Viva's AD and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Director of Learning share their views on the furore.

Rock solid a cappella mastery in a thoughtful programme by Sam Allchurch.

A fine outing of an underappreciated Passion – with a new HIP band to boot.

Mulvany’s smart, funny and fast-paced farce picks up the foibles of history and runs with them.