Thomas Hampson on the Language of Music

J S Bach’s Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 must have one of the most thrilling and celebratory openings ever heard. Hope you enjoy this version of the opening chorus Jauchzet frohlocket from the Frauenkirche Dresden in the heart of  Saxony. The Staatskapelle Dresden, is conducted by Christian Thielemann, Sophie Koch (Mezzosoprano) und Thomas Hampson (Baritone).

Listen to Emma Matthews sing the Nightingale Aria from For the Love of the Nightingale by Richard Mills, presented by Opera Australia and premiering in Sydney right now.

When Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died last week, his career as a singer was dissected and analysed in meticulous details. The loss of his once incomparable voice was rightly lamented. However, as with many individual of prolific talent and intellect, a rare voice was not his only gift.   As well as being a writer, (he wrote…

Ukrainian bass-baritone Andrei Bondarenko in his Cardiff Singer of the World final in 2011. He won the competition’s Song Prize. You can hear him in Sydney this weekend with the Sydney Symphony, singing the role of Yeletsky in a concert version of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Queen of Spades’

  Today, December 2nd 2013 marks the 90th birthday of the incomparable Maria Callas.   Born Cecilia Sophia Anna Maria Kalogeropoulou in New York on December 2nd in 1934, she moved to Greece, her ancestral home at the age of 14 and entered the Athens Conservatory in 1940. In 1942 she sang Tosca in Athens and after several more roles…