Sydney Theatre Company’s year-round cheap ticket scheme could revolutionise access for thousands. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Artist wins a second Archibald Prize for her “sincere, deep, generous and creative” portrait of actor Hugo Weaving. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Met’s legendary Carmen passes away at her Manhattan home at the ripe old age of 99. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

In 19th-century Poland, composers faced a real dilemma. The country had been partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria, super-powers with a vested interest in keeping nationalistic music firmly out of the public domain. That left
 you two options. The first was 
to become a composer-virtuoso (the path taken by Paderewski along the way to becoming Polish Prime Minister) so you might be able to export your music to an international audience. Juliusz Zarębski (1854-85), complete with flamboyant shock of hair, was one such showman, gaining a European reputation for his performances on a double keyboard piano. The other possibility was to stay at home and teach, the sedate choice of Władysław Żeleński (1837-1921). These two gentlemen of two roads diverg’d are the subjects of this fascinating disc from Hyperion. Zarębski’s Piano Quintet, a 40-minute work as rich in melody as it is strong on motivic development, was heard in Martha Argerich’s impassioned 2011 Lugano Festival release. The composer was clearly something of an innovator, employing bold tonal shifts and quirky rhythmic devices. The 
 Żeleński Piano Quartet is entirely new to CD but should make many friends on this showing: as tuneful as the Zarębski but with an added layer……

Strange as it may seem now, Prokofiev’s most famous ballet had a particularly painful birth. The Soviet director Adrian Piotrovsky suggested a ballet adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy to the composer in 1935, but the Bolshoi pronounced the finished work “undanceable”. The Kirov agreed to stage Romeo and Juliet (complete with happy ending!) but plans were rapidly shelved after the dramaturge
 was denounced in the Pravda article Balletic Falsehood. It was his libretto for Shostakovich’s ballet The Limpid Stream that 
had offended. Piotrovsky was arrested and shot the following year – a definite nadir for the arts in Stalin’s Russia. The revised version (now with acceptable tragic ending) didn’t see the light of day until 1940, when the Bolshoi turned out to be able to dance it after all. Since then it has conquered the world, danced by the likes of Fonteyn and Nureyev. The three suites are regular concert items. Sydney Symphony chief Vladimir Ashkenazy clearly identifies strongly with the work, having recorded it for Decca
 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ten years ago. He rightly treats it as Prokofiev’s most elevated piece – sincere, emotional and unflagging in its inspiration. So how does the new CD stack up? On…

The gypsy is spellbinding but Bizet’s intimate tale lacks, well…intimacy in this operatic spectacular.

On the eve of its Sydney opening, Limelight catches up with the show’s award winning composer, Grant Olding. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The new issue reveals the results of our critical blind-testing of six of Australia’s top orchestras. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Sydney first and Tassie last in first ever blind-listening test of Australia’s orchestras. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Vincent Plush’s new orchestral work for the Canberra Symphony celebrates the vision of Walter Burley Griffin. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Kneehigh’s Brief Encounter and Sylvie Guillem in PUSH will headline at this year’s Festival. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Something for the weekend: scientific research proves that vibrators are good for your vocal health.