Bach in the Dark 2012
Cellist Rachel Scott is presenting her series ‘Bach in the Dark’ again in 2012. In these unusual concerts she invites her audience to the crypt of St James’ Church in King Street Sydney for programmes of music that are founded in the compositions of the great JS Bach, but which she then takes to another…
Science evaulates the art of of the violinmaker – with surprising results!
The Sydney Morning Herald reports on experiment conducted by a researcher at the University of Paris which casts doubt on the superior qualities of violins made by the Italian masters. At the proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, Professor Claudia Fritz and her colleagues reported on their double blinded trial in which 21 violinists attending…
Thomas Quasthoff leaves the stage
“Quasthoff has a mellifluous bass baritone (more and more drifting down toward the bass end of the spectrum) with deeply felt musical instincts and a radiant artistic intelligence”. The New York Times 2008. German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff has announced his retirement from the stage after a performing career of several decades. He says: “After almost 40…
ACO scores half a century of tours with latest successes in Europe
The Australian Chamber Orchestra has wrapped up a hugely successful and comprehensive tour of Europe with a private recital for Prince Charles and 150 invited guests at St James’ Palace. During the tour, the ACO performed in Birmingham, London, at Vienna’s Musikverein, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, in Antwerp, Wilhelmshaven, Luxembourg and Basel. This brings up their half century…
The ABC’s top 100 20th century works
This weekend, the ABC revealed its list of ‘Classic 100 20th Century Works’ culminating in a live broadcast from the Adelaide Festival Centre. The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Northey were joined by soloists Kristian Chong (piano), Ji Won Kim (violin), Simon Tedeschi (piano) and Pei-Jee Ng (cello) to perform from the works that…
Sumi Jo Review
Here it is: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/virtuosity-comes-as-excellence-and-parody-20111202-1ob0l.html Were you there? Tell us what you thought!
In Search of Beethoven
This is the link to the SMH and SkyArts presentation of the 2009 production “In Search of Beethoven”. It features, amongst others, Emmanuel Ax, Roger Norrington and Riccardo Chailly. http://www.smh.com.au/tv/show/in-search-of-beethoven/in-search-of-beethoven-20111202-1oaij.html
When the goat’s bell rang for ‘Sappho’
It was July 2009 in Bali’s hill town of Ubud, tucked in by the Ayung river gorge. The wild clanging of a goat’s bell from the Greek island of Mykonos shattered the tranquility of tropical bird calls and the cascading river. Jennifer Condon was celebrating. The emerging conductor was achieved a nine year ambition to…
Music @ St James’ in 2012
There was much anticipation and comraderie last weekend, when the Friends of Music at St James’ Church in King Street, held a soiree to lauch the 2012 subscription series presented by the Choir of St James’. The series of 6 concerts will feature the Choir and Orchestra of St James with soloists, directed by Warren Trevelyan-Jones. Fans of Baroque music will be delighted as…