David Alden’s new production of Verdi’s Otello opened at the English National Opera last week with two Australian born singers in the lead roles – Stuart Skelton as the Moor and Jonathan Summers as Iago. Andrew Clements in The Guardian says “It is Jonathan Summers’s totally compelling Iago who holds centre stage.”
Songs of Splendour – A Venetian Coronation The Choir of St James’/The Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral/Australian Baroque Brass Conducted by Paul McCreesh St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney 21 May 2014 It is now twenty-five years since Paul McCreesh first compiled his conjectural reconstruction of the music performed at the coronation of Doge Marino…
The Sonata Project Bernadette Harvey Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music 11 November 2017 Written by Ria Andriani One of the aims of Bernadette Harvey’s new concert venture The Sonata Project is to bring back the atmosphere of Romantic soirees in European salons, offering a new experience in classical piano music for contemporary audiences. This…
Bedlam Strange Bedfellows Leadbelly, Newtown 7 August, 2017 Written by Deen Hamaker The Strange Bedfellows are a formidable duo comprising Jacqueline Dark and Kanen Breen. Dark is a renowned mezzo-soprano famed for her performances in opera (Herodias, Fricka, Amneris) and more recently as Mother Superior in the national tour of The Sound of Music. Breen, star…
Pastoral Melodies Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra/ Sydney Chamber Choir City Recital Hall 25 March, 2018 The Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra lived up to its name in Pastoral Melodies performed in collaboration with the Sydney Chamber Choir. Three works from the Romantic canon and one from the Classical era, were performed with panache, under…
Bach’s Universal Light Bach Akademie Australia Melbourne Digital Concert Hall October 2, 2020 It was a concert for our times when the Bach Akademie Australia presented Bach’s Universal Light, on Melbourne Digital Concert Hall. Livestreamed from the Cellblock Theatre at Sydney’s National Art School, founder and artistic director of the BAA, Madeleine Easton, gathered an…
Sydney Chamber Choir, Jonathan Grieves- Smith guest conductor Dixit Dominus City Recital Hall, May 28, 2016 The two giants of the Baroque faced off against each other, straddling two smaller contemporary works, when the Sydney Chamber Choir performed with guest conductor, Jonathan Grieves-Smith and the Orchestra of the Antipodes, led by Matt Bruce. It was…