Latest news
Eloquence Launches New Website
Recording label Eloquence has launched a new website EloquenceClassics.com. The world-wide label established in 1999 is dedicated to the reissue of a vast backlog of recordings, the focus being on recordings not yet released beyond their vinyl format. The label has nearly 1000 titles in its catalogue. Reissues for 2017 will include material from the rich…
Album Release: Claire Edwardes Kammerbox
Claire Edwardes, Australia’s foremost virtuoso percussionist has released a new album, Kammerbox, an anthology of sparkling Australian chamber music written for and championed by Claire throughout her career. For decades Claire Edwardes has been collaborating with Australia’s top instrumentalists and commissioning chamber works by Australia’s foremost composers. Kammerbox showcases the best of Australian percussion with…
In conversation: Deborah Humble’s Twin Passions Of Teaching And Performing
It was a character in George Bernard Shaw’s play Man and Superman who said “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.” Mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble for one, has proved Shaw’s character wrong. The Welsh-born Australian trained singer combines a busy schedule of teaching and performing around the opera world. Right now, she has just finished…
Festival Of Summer Voices Concerts This Weekend
The Festival of Summer Voices is in full swing and tonight, the multiple ARIA Award winning a capella ensemble The Idea of North (TION), Resident Artists at the Gondwana Choirs National Choral School give one of their memorable concerts. TION alto Naomi Crellin has been spending the last fortnight at the choral summer school and…
Szymanowski’s Surreal Opera King Roger Opens Tonight
Lush with exotic melodies and rich harmonies, Karol Szymanowski’s opera King Roger takes you into the sub-conscious as you explore the mind of the king. Michael Honeyman sinds the title role in this Kasper Holten production presented by Opera Australia and opening tonight in the Joan Sutherland Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu…
In Conversation With Saimir Pirgu
If the state of Albania had its way, tenor Saimir Pirgu would have had a career as a violinist after state-sponsored talent scouts spotted him as a pre-schooler at the end of the Communist regime. His parents went along with the plan. But, in a case of State v Fate, the precociously gifted musician, inspired…
Latest reviews
Concert Review: Intrepid Voyagers/ Sydney Youth Orchestra
Intrepid Voyagers Sydney Youth Orchestra Verbrugghen Hall, The Sydney Conservatorium of Music April 2, 2017 Written by Deen Hamaker There is a constant undercurrent of commentary on the future of classical music and whether it can survive into the future as our attention spans shorten and audiences drift away from traditional art forms. In the…
Opera Review: La Traviata/ Opera Australia
La traviata, Opera Australia Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Tuesday 28 March 2017 Written by Deen Hamaker When Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata premiered at Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 1853, theatre management insisted that the opera be set in the early 18th Century. Verdi had wanted his opera in portrayed in contemporary times….