Written at the height of his powers, Bedrˇich Smetana’s third opera Dalibor polarised critics and failed to capture the public imagination. What a loss, for as the liner notes to this magnificent BBC recording point out “Dalibor is Smetana’s loveliest operatic score and a great deal subtler than his first two works for stage,” (The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and The Bartered Bride). In fact, Smetana grew resentful of the Bride’s success, dismissing it as a “toy” for those who thought he was incapable of writing a comedy. The tragic chivalric tale of Dalibor with its plot reminiscent of Fidelio is full of superb music, particularly the beautiful duet in Act 2 when Milada, disguised as a minstrel boy, smuggles an old fiddle into Dalibor’s cell. Packed with great solos shared among five major characters, the vibrant score covers a broad canvas and there are some great theatrical moments, including the pompous Judges’ March which almost pre-empts Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. However, the Prague musical establishment considered Dalibor too Wagnerian for the new national musical movement and it was shelved. Although revived in the 1890s after Smetana’s death, with Mahler conducting a performance in Vienna, it has… Continue reading Get unlimited…

This is a splendid album from five musicians who are at the top of their game.

The English pianist Paul Lewis continues to stamp his considerable imprimatur on some of the world’s best-loved repertoire.

★★★★½ A behind-the-scenes look at Wagner’s influence in words and music. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Mozart and the two Haydns prove a crowd-pleaser for period ensemble.

★★★★★ An invigorating tour of Vienna with a star violinist. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Boston Early Music Festival singers and period instrument players, co-directed by lutenists Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, are in cracking form on this studio recording of Handel’s buoyant pastoral. The vocal ensemble are exceptional, especially in their opening number O the Pleasure of the Plains (which always reminds me of For unto us a Child is born from Messiah). Handel wrote Acis and Galatea for the Duke of Chandos to celebrate his marriage and the building of his lavish mansion, the Cannons, in Middlesex. The house had its own orchestra as well as extensive gardens with the latest water features. It didn’t survive for long, however, for within 20 years it was demolished and its features sold off when Chandos’s fortune took a dive in the South Sea Bubble. In Ovid’s tale, the shepherd Acis is metamorphosed into a fountain by his lover Galatea after the jealous cyclops Polyphemus launches a boulder which crushes him. Thus the gardens of Cannons made the perfect setting for this pastoral tale. Handel was briefly the Duke’s resident composer while things were quiet in London (and where he was having trouble managing to stage his Italian operas). Hats off to the excellent soloists, tenor…

Why Johannes wasn’t ready for the pipe and slippers.

★★★★½ Young Barenboim carries on the family business in an impressive Sydney recital. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Following their acclaimed album of works by Arensky, British outfit Leonore Piano Trio moves to France to take on the three trios by Germanophile Édouard Lalo. These attractive works are full of melody, combining Gallic charm with a weightier feel. As Roger Nichols’ liner notes wittily describe the Scherzo in No 1: “rather like fairies dancing in lederhosen.” The Leonores – Benjamin Nabarro violin, Gemma Rosefield, cello and pianist Tim Horton – play with the assurance of noted soloists in their own right but also with precision and sensitivity as an ensemble. Although Lalo was a violinist, playing in several of Berlioz’s concerts, it is the solo cello that introduces the first and last movements of the First Trio where the footprints of his musical hero Schumann lie deeply embedded. This serves as a reminder that the Frenchman also wrote a characteristically melodic and energetic concerto for cello. Schumann is also an influence in the passionate Second Trio, written a couple of years later in 1852. For the next 12 years Lalo suffered writer’s block until he remarried and his creative spark rekindled. This was the time of Symphonie Espagnole and eventual success. His Third Trio, from 1880, is a…

Lyric soprano Nicole Car has been tipped by Opera Australia’s Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini as the next big thing in opera, as confirmed by her recent triumphs at Covent Garden. “She has the genuine, real potential to be the most important Australian opera singer since Joan Sutherland,” he says. Terracini may have a vested interest, but if they haven’t already seen her, Sydney and Melbourne operagoers will get a chance to gauge what all the fuss is about when she stars in two Opera Australia productions this year: first in the title role of Verdi’s Luisa Miller and then as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte. They can also get an idea from this, her first solo studio recording, which is excellently produced by the ABC Classics team. The 30 year-old from Essendon, Melbourne, built her reputation with roles like Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in 2014. Then last year she made a triumphant Royal Opera House debut in Onegin and as Micäela in Bizet’s Carmen (arias from both are featured on The Kiss). Car has a versatile voice – she started studying jazz singing before turning to orchestral – and… Continue reading…

★★★★½ Crack British outfit launches Sydney Opera House’s chamber music series. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in