Latest news
Music,Lights, Art And Food – Brian Ritchie On Synaesthesia+
Imagine being one of those rare individuals who sees colour when hearing a piano sonata; or who experiences taste on hearing a symphony. Such is the neurological wiring of approximately 5% of the population known as ‘synaesthetes’. If you’re not a synaesthete and you want a taste of what it’s like to be one, Synaesthesia…
Teddy Tahu Rhodes Talks About The Dark Side With The New ‘Don’
The eagerly anticipated new staging of Don Giovanni, directed by Sir David McVicar has opened in Sydney. Judging by its enthusiastic reception on opening night, it didn’t disappoint. One of Sydney’s favourite baritones, Teddy Tahu Rhodes reprised his role as the ‘Don’ – and who can forget his explosive, leather clad appearance on stage in the…
Why Der Rosenkavalier is Strauss’ best
Thespian Simon Callow believes that Der Rosenkavalier is Richard Strauss’ most successful opera. “The stage throngs with action, comic intrigues, genre scenes, farce, double cross-dressing, but …..it hinges on moments of the most sublime stillness: the Marschallin’s meditation on time in the first act, the presentation of the silver rose in the second, and that final trio.” Read the…
Corrupt Music Competitions
Cellist Julian Lloyd-Webber levels some serious allegations against music competitions writes Hannah Ellis-Petersen in The Guardian
Don Giovanni Picture Gallery
A brand new production of Don Giovanni hits the board tomorrow night in the Joan Sutherland Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. Opera Australia has recruited Glaswegian opera and theatre director Sir David McVicar to create this staging. Teddy Tahu Rhodes will again sing the role of ‘the Don’. Accustomed as we are to seeing him clad…
Ranieri Wins Kerikeri Piano Competition
Congratulations to pianist Alex Ranieri who has won the $15,000 first prize in New Zealand’s Kerikeri International Piano Competition held recently in the Bay of Islands. Alex also received the Jill Cottle award for the Best Sonata. Ranieri’s award-winning performance included music by Berg, Brahms, Vine, Granados and Messiaen’s Le Loriot, A graduate of the Queensland Conservatoium of Music from whence he graduated in 2013 with a University Medal and First Class honours in Advanced Performance, Ranieri is presently undertaking a Master’s degree offered jointly…
Latest reviews
CD Review: Handel’s ‘Messiah’/Minkowski/Deutsches Grammophon Virtuoso
Handel Messiah/Marc Minkowksi/Deutsches Grammophon Virtuoso. Nearly three centuries after Handel’s Messiah was first performed in 1742, and nearly a century after its first recordings in the 1920s, Deutsche Grammophon has re-released a 2001 Archiv recording conducted by Marc Minkowski on its Virtuoso label (Catalogue Number 478 6175). Virtuoso promises quality performances at an affordable price….
Review: Handel’s Messiah/St Mary’s Singers
Handel: Messiah St Mary’s Singers St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney 6 December 2014 Performances of Handel’s Messiah are a habitual prelude to the Christmas season, with presentations in churches and concert halls throughout the country. Musical styles are as varied as the performance locations, ranging from attempts to recreate original eighteenth century practices to massed…