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Simon says “See Falstaff”
Image by Branco Gaica, courtesy Opera Australia. Opera Australia’s production of Falstaff opens in the Joan Sutherland Theatre of the Sydney Opera House tonight, Friday February 15th, in its continuing ‘Verdi-fest’. Based on Shakespeare’s comic play The Merry Wives of Windsor, this production is directed by Simon Phillips and conducted by Antony Walker. Warwick Fyfe…
Orchestra Victoria under review
Orchestra Victoria, the Melbourne based orchestra scheduled to play for the Melbourne Ring Cycle and which plays for the Australian Ballet, Opera Australia and the Victorian Opera, is under review. The Australian reports: Click here to read.
The Idea of North turns 20 with a new CD and a national tour
For The Idea of North, 2013 marks 20 years since they began to compose, arrange and perform music in a style that is quintessentially ‘TION’ and which has taken them not just around the nation but around the world. To mark this milestone, the ARIA award winning a capella quartet is undertaking a national tour…
Contemporary composers dominate the classical Grammy awards
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony has flashed past for 2013. The 8 awards for classical music out of a total of 81 awards, were handed out before the worldwide telecast. Major classical artistes were honoured amongst the list of nominees and winners – albeit most of them American. The award for Best Classical Compendium was…
Mozart in art
If you’re travelling to Europe between now and April, an exhibition by the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation sounds like a good excuse to visit that city. The exhibition which is entitled Mozart Pictures – Pictures of Mozart displays 12 portraits of the composer. Only 14 were painted of him during his lifetime, and the Foundation…
A Change of Seasons for Vivaldi
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, composed in 1723, is so ‘accessible’, it has suffered the fate of overexposure. Its four heady concerti pass through summer, autumn, winter, and spring, depicting folk life and evocative landscapes in bite-sized chunks. Some of its passages are so instantly recognisable that they have suffered the ignominy of being used as background music in commercials. Enter German-born…
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Vivaldi recomposition rekindles a first love
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons must surely be one of the most recorded works in history. Amazon’s listing of available recordings stretches to over 2000. It is a work that represents a coming of age for any violinist aspiring to a solo career. Perlman, Kennedy, Jansen, Shaham and Mutter have added their names to the roll…
The Gods go crazy – ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ opens in Sydney
It was the final rehearsal of Opera Australia’s production of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini’s pre-curtain up announcements presaged something different. For this performance only, the audience was encouraged to tweet and secondly, they would be allowed to take photos during the final curtain calls. Stepping even further away from…