The great thing about Puccini’s opera Tosca is its timeless appeal. It hasn’t dated at all since its première in 1900. That’s because human nature hasn’t altered in all that time. This production is set in an imagined present day, at a time of war and the occupation of Rome by a foreign power. Originally set during the Kingdom of Naples’ occupation of Rome in 1800, the story moves easily to the modern day with much of our media flooded with news and images of conflict and war. For many, I’m sure, the background in which the tale is set is all too familiar.  Floria Tosca is not a ..read more

Carl Orff always had a desire to reach the public with music that would be rhythmically dynamic and forthright. His most celebrated dramatic Carmina Burana (1936) – a theatrical work for solo singers, large chorus, a smaller chorus, boys’ chorus and orchestra – has always had great audience appeal. Pairing this work with the Choral Symphony (Symphony No 6) by the celebrated Australian composer Carl Vine was a guaranteed way for maestro Andrew Wailes to fill the Melbourne Town Hall to capacity with not a spare seat in the house – nor a spare inch on the stage. And what a sig ..read more

A large choir of 90-odd singers, and small orchestra of strings, trumpet, percussion and organ, performed the wonderful The Armed Man by the Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins to a full house in the enveloping acoustic of St Paul’s Cathedral. As the ABC’s Russell Torrance says, “Jenkins’s music is approachable, direct and refreshingly simple”, and the musical forces brought this to life under the baton of Mario Dobernig, conductor of both choir and orchestra.  This “Mass for Peace” was preceded by the well-known and well-loved Adagietto movement from Mahler’s 5th&nbs ..read more

Not long to wait now. This week sees what should be a memorable performance of Puccini’s operatic masterpiece. While some opera lovers might be doubtful about Margaret Court Arena being a suitable venue, this production really does promise to offer something exceptional.  The following media release from Opera Australia includes a range of details to whet the appetite. You will see that there is double casting for the three principal roles: Tosca, Cavaradossi and Scarpia. Might be a good idea to go at least twice.  Margaret Court Arena undergoes transformation for first ever opera pe ..read more

Musica Viva Australia continues to bring the finest chamber music ensembles to Australian audiences and Tuesday’s offering at the Melbourne Recital Centre was no exception.  Based in Germany, the award-winning Esmé Quartet has taken the world by storm since winning the 2018 International String Quartet Competition at London’s Wigmore Hall. Three of Esmé’s founding players were born in South Korea – violinists Wonhee Bae and Yuna Ha, and cellist Yeeun Heo. In 2023, the ensemble welcomed Belgian-American violist Dimitri Murrath, who said, “From the first note, I felt as if I had been playin ..read more

First-class programming has been a trademark of the Australian Chamber Orchestra under Richard Tognetti’s artistic direction. Mahler’s Song of the Earth was no exception – here the title work was preceded by two others that provided us with many points of musical and historical cross-reference. The concert opened with Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, the best known and certainly most successful small-scale work to have emanated from a composer who was otherwise the master of the very large. Wagner is of course the musician whose creative force and musical innovations haunted his European ..read more

Just last September, Korean pianist Joyce Yang thrilled Melbourne audiences with a memorable performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Hamer Hall. Brought to the Melbourne Recital Centre under the auspices of Piano+Recitals, a relatively new organization and concert promoter closely aligned with the Sydney International Piano Competition, Joyce is yet another of the formidable Van Cliburn Competition laureates to have graced our shores in recent years. VC laureates Yeol Eum Son, Nobuyuki Tsujii, and Lukáš Vondráček will also perform at the MRC l ..read more

The two major works on the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s “Jaime conducts Debussy & Strauss” program were Strauss’ tone poem, Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) and Debussy’s La Mer (The Sea).  Maestro Martín explained that the third work – Dame Ethel Smyth’s overture to The Wreckers – also concerned heroism and the sea. Smyth’s opera, The Wreckers, revolved around the destructive force of the sea (shipwrecks), while Smyth herself, Martín explained, displayed heroism in her advocacy for women’s rights. The MSO’s website describes Smyth as “a heroic rebe ..read more

Arguably the most famous of all “bel canto” operas because of a spectacular “Mad Scene”, a production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor comes with high expectations. Melbourne Opera, however, is supremely well equipped to meet them successfully due to 21 years of experience in mounting 63 operas, including that greatest challenge of all – Wagner’s Ring Cycle – plus many concerts, master classes and a host of other opera-related endeavours. What this company has achieved without any government funding beggars belief – it’s simply astonishing.  This year, Melbourne Oper ..read more

One of the music festival highlights of the year, the 2024 Albury Chamber Music Festival, has just been launched, first in Albury and then at the beautiful Camberwell home, “Asolat”.  If the Melbourne “tastings” of the musical menu are any indication, this year’s Festival will certainly be one to savour. With “Beyond Borders” as the theme, the program features works and performers from a host of countries – something for everyone. For the launch at “Astolat” on May 5, the Polish ingredient was featured in the form of Chopin played by renowned Melbourne pianist, Konrad Olszewski. Viol ..read more