Latest news
Hot off the press…..
Get to know the major benefactor behind Opera on Sydney Harbour, Dr Haruhisa Handa: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/opera/behind-every-good-opera-theres-a-very-generous-patron-20120323-1vpbb.html Pushing the boundaries with the upcoming ACO Underground concert on April 1st: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/underground-lovers-20120322-1vkuv.html Selby and Friends “A Ghost at the Cafe” reviewed: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/trio-harness-power-of-understatement-20120323-1vp0w.html John Shand reviews the latest release form Jordi Savall and his ensemble, featuring his wife…
Operaquatics – More pictures from the final rehearsals for La Traviata which opens tonight!
Tonight’s the night!! Sydney Harbour has been transformed and for the next three weeks the city will be in the thrall of a history making event as Verdi’s immortal opera La Traviata is presented on a floating stage surrounded by icons of the city and under a giant chandelier that seems like it has been strung…
Operaquatics – more production shots from La traviata on Sydney Harbour
Rachelle Durkin as Violetta. Image by Lisa Tomasetti
The BBC celebrates Brett Dean
A performance of Brett Dean’s Grawemeyer Award winning composition “The Lost Art of Letter Writing” in London, has been warmly received. Featured in a recent BBC Total Immersion day at the Barbican Centre, the four movement concerto for violin and orchestra was composed in 2006 and won the award in 2009. The concerto was premiered by the…
Conductor avoids the currents
Brian Castles – Onion will conduct the upcoming productions of La Traviata on the harbour. He talks to Steve Meacham of the Sydney Morning Herald about keeping his head above the water – metaphorically speaking: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/opera/orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark-pit-20120318-1vdo2.html
Happy Birthday to the coathanger
The Sydney Harbour Bridge turns 80 today! Eleven musicians from the brass section of the Sydney Symphony scaled the bridge to perform from the top. Guess what they played?! Check out these features: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/featurenews/view/1189848/1/.html http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/13205823/sydney-harbour-bridge-turns-80/
Latest reviews
“A stirring and insightful musical experience” – Turandot reviewed
Among his many virtues as a composer, Giacomo Puccini was above all, a master of contrast – musical, dramatic and ultimately emotional. He combined musical genius with an incisive theatrical instinct to create operas full of thrilling grandiosity and gripping intimacy, often within minutes of each other. Nowhere is this more evident than in…
…and another review
Murray Black reviews the same performance (SSO/Mahler 2) for The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/epic-conclusion-to-brilliant-cycle/story-fn9d2mxu-1226205361821