‘Ode to Joy’ is commemorated in stone
Beethoven was paid £50 and was deaf when he wrote his Symphony No 9 Ode to Joy. Commissioned in 1822 by the Royal Philharmonic Society in the UK, it premiered in the UK in 1825, following its world premiere in Vienna the previous year. This weekend, a plaque commemorating the UK premiere and its venue will be unveiled…
‘Lady Sings the Viol’ giveaways – CDs and passes to launch
If you would like to be in the running to win one of two double passes to the cabaret style launch of the CD Lady Sings the Viol, created in style by director Christine Douglas on August 24th at The Independent Theatre in North Sydney – or – Win one of 4 CD giveaways of…
2013 Helpmann Award winners
The 13th annual Helpmann Awards ceremony was held earlier this week in the Joan Sutherland Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. Named after the legenday Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer Sir Robert Helpmann (1909 – 1986), the awards recognise excellence in live performance, acknowledging its significant contribution to the greater Australian community and recognising distinguished artistic achievement across the major disciplines of…
The voluptuous beauty of ‘La Traviata’
Check out these 9 glorious images from Opera Australia’s production of La Traviata which opened in Sydney this week. Images by Branco Gaica courtesy of Opera Australia
‘Composed Noise’ – a contradiction in terms?
There is a project coming to life in Sydney that is about to overturn long held ideas about composing and performing music. Most of the time, composing would be considered to be an act of deliberate planning. The composer sets out to express an intensely personal statement in harmony, melody and style. Score markings tell…
Thielemann’s ‘Ring’ on disc.
Wagner specialist conductor Christian Thielemann’s reading of the complete Ring Cycle at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2011 was recognised as one of the greatest Wagnerian events of recent times. On August 2nd, Deutsche Grammophon releases a recording of this performance as a boxed set of 14 CDs of the four Ring operas and 2 DVDs featuring four…
‘Anna Netrebko -Verdi’ explores new roles
In her first studio album for five years, Russian soprano Anna Netrebko celebrates the Verdi bicentenary and the dramatic power of his music with a new recording on the Deutsche Grammophon label, available from August 9th. Anna Netrebko – Verdi is a compilation of arias selected by Netrebko herself. They include some rarely heard works from major…
Garrick Ohlsson records Brahms ‘live’ with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
On sale from July 19th, ABC Classics presents the latest addition to the MSO Live Series with a 2 CD set recording of Brahms’ Piano Concertos Nos 1 and 2, in live performances by Garrick Ohlsson and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tadaaki Otaka. Robert Schumann described Brahms as ‘a player of genius who can make the piano…
Alexia Voulgaridou on playing ‘Tosca’
Floria Tosca has come to town with the with the steely determination and strong passions for which she is renowned. Thrilling Sydney audiences in the title role of Puccini’s 1900 opera is Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou. Coincidentally, it was as another Puccini heroine that Alexia Voulgaridou first came to international attention in 2002, singing Mimi…