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Limelight|October 2016IT’S TIME FOR SOME ANSWERSWhat luxury! To be invited to guest edit this issue of Limelight was an opportunity too good to be missed. I grabbed the chance to indulge my curiosity about some enduring musical questions, which preoccupy many music lovers. One is the ‘lost’ art of improvising: lost, largely in classical music, but thriving, as ever, in jazz. Philip Clark, an expert in both, shines his musical searchlight, and comes up with some intriguing insights. November 9 marks the 27th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Amidst the spontaneous celebrations that erupted in Berlin, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, seated on a borrowed chair in front of a heavily graffitied part of the wall, played Bach. “I did it from my heart,” he said later. Jo Litson looks at orchestras playing under…2 min
Limelight|October 2016LettersSIPCA’S HORSES FOR COURSES It wasn’t only the pianists who were under stress at the recent Sydney International Piano Competition. In an early round I was sitting in the second row and was blasted by so percussive and overloud a performance that I thought of the judges, marking their clipboards like so many Beckmessers, trying to concentrate on a Rachmaninov sonata overload. Subsequent recitals increased my admiration for both pianists and contest. Standards have risen over the years, and we can now assume every pianist will have a dazzling technique. Even the young Rubinstein would probably not make the cull these days, as he confessed to laziness, preventing a finished performance of difficult passages. Unavoidably, judging becomes more subjective and it was no surprise to hear the ABC pianist-commentators agree…4 min
Limelight|October 2016Text neck damages the voiceA new phenomenon called “text neck” has reared its head – and the field of voice is not exempt. The term, which refers to the position of the neck when craned over a gadget or smartphone, has been shown to cause stress on the cervical spine, which can cause headaches and neck pain, compromise breathing and lead to early spinal wear and tear. A singer’s posture, fundamental to the correct and free production of sound, is therefore significantly inhibited when displaying the effects of “text neck”. Young singers are particular offenders, spending an unprecedented amount of time hunched over electronic devices. Writing for the website Musical Theatre Resources, Christianne Roll, a singer and head of the Musical Theatre Programme at Florida Southern College, describes how singers, up until a few…1 min
Limelight|October 2016The 2016 Art Music AwardsThe 2016 winners of the culturally important Art Music Awards were announced in August at a gala event held in Melbourne, hosted by raconteur and writer Jonathan Biggins. The Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music was presented to 80-year-old composer Helen Gifford OAM in recognition of a long and illustrious career. Born in Victoria in 1953, Gifford wrote music for Melbourne Theatre Company productions in the 1970s, and in 1974 she joined the Australian Opera as composer-in-residence. Describing herself as “a proud modernist”, Gifford has written a wide range of compositions including dramatic works, chamber music and vocal pieces. The Orchestral Work of the Year went to the epic Earth Plays by Catherine Milliken. The composition in six parts for orchestra and mezzo soprano was premiered by the Bavarian…3 min
Limelight|October 2016All around the worldWEDDED TO THE MUSIC, TANGLEWOOD Conjugal harmony reigned recently when a record 17 married couples took part in a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance of Verdi’s Aida. The spouses were either choir members or instrumentalists. Andris Nelsons conducted, while his wife, soprano Kristine Opolais, sang the title role. ADULTS ONLY COSÌ, EDINBURGH Edinburgh Festival was offering refunds to a controversial new Così Fan Tutte before it even opened – though it received mostly good reviews. Set in 1930s Eritrea by French director Christophe Honoré, it featured explicit sexuality, violence and blackface. Patrons were warned of “adult themes and nudity”. “SPELLBINDING” PROMS DEBUT, LONDON The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has made its first appearance at the BBC Proms with its new Music Director, 30-year-old Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla. The concert, featuring…1 min
Limelight|October 2016MAKING FRANKENSTEIN’S OPERA“For Rossini, writing an opera was pretty much like writing a newspaper article” Decisions, decisions, decisions. I have never been very good at decisions. Some people leap into decision-making as if they were at the beach. They stride down to the water’s edge and without flinching dive into the ocean, surfacing with a whip of the head and the spray of achievement. I tend to walk down slowly, then inch my way out through the water, jumping up over the waves, whimpering a little as the cold water splashes on my witchety-grub body until I can’t bear it anymore and finally plunge in. I have the same approach when it comes to creativity. Over the last months I have been working on a new show called Opera – The Opera.…3 min
Limelight|October 2016SLAVA GRIGORYAN“The baritone has thicker strings than my regular guitar so nails get affected a lot more” Around the age of 12, I started working on some of Bach’s Lute Suites. A few movements were compulsory competition pieces, I recall, so that’s how I was introduced to Bach for the first time. It was a very different language for me; very hard to understand the endless movement. I remember being hypnotised and not really understanding it all. At that age I was mostly playing lots of generic Spanish and South American music – not necessarily simple, but very natural on the guitar. Bach was a brand new world. After I’d finished school and moved to Europe, guitar presenters and promoters who were booking me would often ask for a lute suite…4 min
Limelight|October 2016AVI AVITAL“IT WAS LIKE I WAS PURIFYING THE ENERGY OF THE PLACE. I FELT THIS WAS CLOSURE FOR ME TO THE QUESTION OF HOW COME I, AS A JEWISH MUSICIAN, CAN CHOOSE BERLIN AS MY LIVING PLACE” As a young Israeli kid, what kind of music did you grow up with in the house? Not classical, would be my first answer. My parents are Jews from Morocco and emigrated as kids with their families in the ‘60s. They came to a young state, defining itself, and there was a big mixture of cultures. Their music was Moroccan Jewish religious music. When I was young I was going with my dad to the synagogue to hear these melodies. They liked French chansons as well, like Edith Piaf. When I hit high school,…6 min
Limelight|October 2016YEHUDI MENUHIN ON IMPROVISING“A real gap in my musical upbringing was improvising on the violin. Of course, music must be played as if improvising, born of that instant. I learned from sharing music with Ravi Shankar, a man who was a master of improvising. He was a wonderful teacher. He had such mastery. You don’t have to teach [children to improvise], you have to give the framework. Improvising is like liberty: it’s easily abused. People don’t understand that liberty is really a constraint. It’s constrained by the liberty of everyone else. You can enjoy your liberty within limits, especially if it harms nobody else and you carry the responsibility. The greatest liberty is liberty of thought. It’s the same with improvisation. It demands a very great discipline. In Indian music, the scale you…1 min
Limelight|October 2016THE TINGLE FACTOR“ THE BODY GROWS COLD, THE EYES CLOSE, THE SENSES AND FACULTIES REMAIN WITHOUT ” St. Theresa On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the hands of Michelangelo’s God and Adam almost touch, as if to show us that our highest aspirations will always be ever so slightly interrupted: the symmetry afforded through the image of God’s right hand reflected by Adam’s left is subtly disturbed reminding us that paralleling the divine remains beyond our reach. However, like St. Theresa in her Prayer of Rapture, the loftiest of aspirations continues – for better or worse – to define a part of us, that is perhaps reflected in a no less quasi-divine sensation. St. Theresa’s ‘chill’ might well strike a chord with music lovers who have experienced a similarly chilly, ecstatic…9 min
Limelight|October 2016RECOMMENDED DISCS...Keyboard Sonatas Vol 1 Danny Driver p HYPERION CDA67786 One of many a handful of recordings of CPE’s music played on the modern piano. Württemberg Sonatas Mahan Esfahani hpscd HYPERION CDA67995 Deliciously lively performances of these colourful keyboard works. Cello Concertos Hidemi Suzuki vc , Bach Collegium Japan BIS BISCD807 Sparkling playing of three works that deserve to be cornerstones of the repertoire. Magnificat et al RIAS Kammerchor, Akademie für Alte Musik/ Hans-Christoph Rademann HARMONIA MUNDI HMC902167 Bach’s own ‘retrospective’ of his work from a Hamburg charity concert in 1786.…1 min
Limelight|October 2016A COMPOSER’S LIFE IN MUSIC“Music as great as this ought to leave crude gender categorising far behind” Bacewicz Complete String Quartets Silesian Quartet CHANDOS CHAN10904 (2CD) And then there were three cycles – the Silesian Quartet’s version of Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz’s seven string quartets following on the heels of the Amar Corde Quartet (on Acte Préalable) and the Lutoslawksi Quartet (on Naxos), and securing her reputation as one of the best-known unknown composers around. Bacewicz died in 1969 and her quartet cycle journeys from makings of tonality that are known towards a hard-fought for personal harmonic wizardry that embraces 12-tone thinking without being overly concerned with ‘correct’ 12-tone technique. Secreted kernels of melody appear discreetly from behind shadowy, shuffling textures to anticipate the soundworld of latter-day Bartók quartets – and even Luigi…5 min
Limelight|October 2016Early promise revealed in Argerich recordings never before releasedIf you want to hear a dazzling young female pianist with a promising career ahead of her, try this. Such creatures are common today, but this set is special. It collects unreleased recordings Argerich made in 1960 and 1967 for North and West German Radio. At the time of the earliest of these, she was studying with Friedrich Gulda, who famously said he had nothing to teach her as “she could already do everything”. Argerich’s recognisable characteristics are here: lightning reflexes; pithy attack; astounding nuance at high speed. She has since abandoned the solo repertoire, so it is fascinating to hear her in Mozart (Sonata No 18, K576) and Beethoven (the Sonata in D, Op. 10 No 3). The latter particularly benefits from her vitality and velocity; it is a…1 min
Limelight|October 20161963: BEATLES AND THE DALEKS COUNTER DARKEST DAYS IN THE US“The Beatles record their debut album, Please Please Me, in just a single day” In January of 1963, George Wallace becomes Governor of Alabama – the first of three stints that will see him in the position for over 16 years. In his inaugural address, he laments the “tyranny” of racial integration, and proclaims “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever!” His national profile grows, and by the end of the year he will have announced his candidacy for US President. Before Wallace has a chance to run for the top job, the US political establishment – and the nation as a whole – is rocked to its foundations: in November, John F Kennedy is shot during a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. In near-freezing conditions, a ten-mile queue forms to…2 min
Limelight|October 2016FISCH GRILLS BARTÓKWest Australian Symphony Orchestra Perth Concert Hall AUGUST 19, 2016 Music spanning 175 years was the substantial ask of this highly enjoyable programme, one which gave West Australian Symphony Orchestra Principal Conductor Asher Fisch the chance to show off his band’s swanky sound in his beloved German Romantic repertoire, as well as giving the ensemble a showcase for individual talents in a pair of highly contrasting concertos. Perhaps the best example of where WASO is at right now came in the opener, Schubert’s rarely played Fourth Symphony. The warm solidity of the string sound was immediately apparent. A virtue of Fisch’s estimable focus on balance is that even when the serried ranks of violins, violas, cellos and basses are playing, a solo flute can still be heard – and let…2 min
Limelight|October 2016ALSO ON THIS MONTH…Giselle An innocent village girl is transformed into a tender spirit after dying of a broken heart. Choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Australian Ballet, NSW Regional Tour, October 4-19 Untamed A colourful double bill featuring the world premiere of Anima by Rafael Bonachela and Gabrielle Nankivell’s smash hit Wildebeest. Sydney Dance Company, October 18-29 Dance Territories Pairing an Australian and an international artist to explore the subtle connections ignited when their works collide. Les 7 Doigts, Melbourne Festival, October 6-9…1 min
Limelight|October 2016ALSO ON THIS MONTH…New Matter features recent work by Australian and international photographers who expand the limits of photographic representation. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sep 10-Feb 2017 The Moving Garden NGV presents Lee Mingwei’s acclaimed piece, an artwork that creates new, unexpected encounters in the city. National Gallery of Victoria, October 15-January 29 Unknown Land A political show demonstrating how artists use the visual as a means of protest, debate and robust dissent. Art Gallery of Western Australia, September 17-January 30…1 min
Limelight|October 2016BOOKS“Whiteley was an Icarus-like comet who dazzled with his unique approach to the line” VISUAL ART Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing Ashleigh Wilson Text Publishing, HB, 432pp, $49.99 ISBN 9781925355239 Wilson’s masterly biog captures an Aussie Icarus in full flight The last couple of years have seen the field of modern Australian art biography prosper with acclaimed writings on William Dobell, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen all published. Now Australian critic Ashleigh Wilson has written a full-blown biography of perhaps the finest artist since Boyd, Rees and Nolan. Undoubtedly the most gifted of his generation, Brett Whiteley was an Icarus-like comet who dazzled with his unique approach to the line, an artist who always leaned towards the figurative (particularly the feminine) even in his earlier abstractions. Yes,…4 min
Limelight|October 2016What’s onNATIONAL Tinalley String Quartet: Speak Less Than You Know Beethoven’s Letters interweaves the musical language of Beethoven’s quartets with the spoken words of his letters and memoirs. Actor and director John Bell portrays the man behind the genius in this unique, musical exposé. Mendelssohn’s Opus 13 Quartet opens the programme; a work inspired by the mature works of Beethoven with which Mendelssohn was fascinated. WHEN: September 26-October 4 WHERE: Sydney, Melbourne TICKETS: $30-$60 BOOK: Book Online [ tinalley.com.au ] Musica Viva: Benjamin Beilman and Andrew Tyson Two award-winning, young stars make their first recital tour of Australia. The programme reflects the equal nature of their roles: Saint-Saëns’ First Violin Sonata and Mozart’s Violin Sonata K526, works requiring two virtuosi to bring them off. WHEN: October 3-25 WHERE: Perth,…11 min
Limelight|October 2016WEEKLY SCHEDULEMONDAY - FRIDAY 6am Classic Breakfast There is no better way to start your day. Music from Scarlatti to Sculthorpe and everything in-between 9am Mornings New releases, classic performances plus the latest news and stories from the world of music 12pm Midday Interview guests share their stories and choice of music 1pm Afternoons Featuring major classical performers and highlights from our exclusive collection of Australian concerts 4pm Classic Drive A journey through classical sounds to relax your mind and soothe your soul 7pm Evenings Concerts from Australian and international ensembles 12am Overnight Featuring Australia’s finest musicians, all night long SATURDAY 6am Weekend Breakfast The relaxing way to wake up to your weekend 9am Saturday Morning Three hours of wonderful music to accompany your Saturday morning 12pm Music Makers Exploring the…1 min
Limelight|October 2016YONCHEVA TO BREAK 30-YEAR NORMA DROUGHT“In 1970, Norma appeared at Covent Garden with Joan Sutherland in the title role” It may seem remarkable for such a popular opera, but the Royal Opera House’s new production of Bellini’s Norma is the company’s first in nearly 30 years. Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano will conduct Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva as the eponymous druid priestess, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja as Pollione, her Roman lover, and Sonia Ganassi as her younger rival Adalgisa. Àlex Ollé, of the Spanish theatrical group La Fura dels Baus, has re-envisioned the druids as group of “pseudo-Catholic” fanatics. Norma, long considered a “vehicle for a great prima donna” according to Pappano, is a searing exploration of the hypocrisy of faith, foreign occupation and the complexities of love. Its demanding score…2 min
Limelight|October 2016Classical Caption No 25Historically informed performance seems more widespread than ever, but this period snapshot by the great James Gillray tells it like it really was. So what might be the work in hand? Or what words of wisdom might be passing between the players? ENTER TO WIN... A big box of Schubert Schubert Vol 1 DG has curated the most authoritative Schubert project ever made, featuring great masterpieces in timeless recordings on 39 CDs SEND YOUR CAPTION TO: Limelight Magazine, Suite 37, Level 13, 167 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000, or email caption@limelightmagazine.com.au For full terms and conditions, go to www.limelightmagazine.com.au. Authorised under NSW Permit Number: LTPM/14/00315 and ACT TP 14/01198.1.…1 min
Limelight|October 2016DAVID CAMPBELL“I really liked big, brassy, showbizzy stories, which became a gateway to musicals” My story is very much like Bobby Darin’s story because I grew up with my grandmother, thinking she was my mother. Early on I adopted her taste in music. Johnny Mathis and Nat King Cole were huge in my house, and Streisand. She also liked Matt Monro and smatterings of swing music. I used to like watching Solid Gold and Countdown like most of the other kids. But my alternative music thing was almost retro, listening to these beautiful crooners, so that’s where I got my first interest in that kind of music. We also watched all the MGM Musicals and Bill Collins on a Saturday night. I went through a real phase of loving Singin’ in…3 min
Limelight|October 2016ContributorsPHILIP CLARK IMPROVISATION UK-based composer-turned-improviser Philip Clark is a regular contributor to avant-garde music magazine The Wire. He also writes for Gramophone and The Guardian, and is writing a book about Dave Brubeck. He tweets as@MusicClerk. BENJAMIN MARTIN THE TINGLE FACTOR Pianist-composer Benjamin Martin performs regularly with the ACO, is a recording artist for Melba Recordings, and has also recorded for Chandos and BIS. Recent performances of his music include a 2016 premiere in St. John’s Smith Square by the UK-based Fidelio Trio. Benjamin is currently pianist for Firebird Trio. HALLAM FULCHER LISBON Hallam joined the Limelight team in 2013, following communication studies at the University of Leeds and music studies at Sydney Con. As a cellist, he regularly performs with the Newcastle-based Roxburgh Piano Trio. He enjoys cooking and…1 min
Limelight|October 2016Sydney Opera House upgrade unveiledThe acoustics of Sydney Opera House’s Concert Hall will be upgraded in the largest programme of works on the iconic building since it opened in 1973. The latest working project designs were unveiled in August by NSW Minister for the Arts Troy Grant. The NSW Government has committed $202 million from the Cultural Infrastructure Fund, which includes upgrading acoustics, accessibility, efficiency and flexibility of the Concert Hall. They also aim to convert office space into a new Creative Learning Centre, build a dedicated place for children, families and young people, and remove the existing, intrusive marquee from the Northern Broadwalk. In addition, they will build a premium function centre within the building envelope, create a car-free entrance under the monumental steps, improve access to what is hoped will be a…2 min
Limelight|October 2016IN BRIEFBARENBOIM HITS YOUTUBE Outspoken conductor, pianist and activist Daniel Barenboim has launched his own YouTube channel at the age of 73, describing it as a platform to discuss musical pieces that are close to his heart, as well as subjects “some social, some political” that preoccupy him. In a diverse selection of videos, he tackles subjects from Brahms’ First Piano Concerto to the responsibilities of freedom of speech. NEW MONASH ARTS CENTRE The Victorian Government has announced a new $45 million arts complex to be developed as part of Melbourne’s Monash University. It will include a revamp of the 586-seat Alexander Theatre and two new performance venues: a 130-seat Sound Gallery and a 200-seat Jazz Club. Financed by the government, the university and the philanthropic Ian Potter Foundation, the new…2 min
Limelight|October 2016ALBAN GERHARDT CELLIST1. Was the cello the natural and first choice for you as an instrument? No, my dream was the voice. I wanted to be like my mother, a singer. But I hated my voice, which led me to the next best thing, the cello. 2. In Melbourne you are playing the Dvoÿák, one of the pinnacles of the repertoire. What strikes you as its most compelling features? For me, the Dvorrák is one of the most personal concertos, maybe together with the Elgar. Dvorrák even changed the ending when he heard about the death of the love of his life, Josephine, his sister-in-law, who didn’t want him so he married the sister instead. In the second movement he quotes her favourite song (Leave me Alone, how telling...), and the most…3 min
Limelight|October 2016WHO BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN?Launching himself into a recital at the Edinburgh International Festival, 25-year-old Russian pianist, Daniil Trifonov won stellar reviews. The programme of Brahms-Bach, Liszt and Rachmaninov showcased his brilliant virtuosity. “From today’s younger stars of the keyboard, it is hard to think of a more complete artist... his body perilously hunched over the keys as if he’s breathing his last,” said The Times. Trifonov “makes the piano sing, whisper and melt into liquid,” gushed The Guardian. His Australian debut is next year.…1 min
Limelight|October 2016REMEMBERING BRIAN STACEY“His death affected so many in the music industry because he touched so many” Just 20 years ago this month I was in Melbourne with the cast of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard, rehearsing towards opening night on October 26th, 1996. I was Associate Conductor on the show, working with Musical Director Brian Stacey. As with any show approaching opening night there was a lot of nervousness in the air. It was a big, dark, expensive musical and we were also reopening the Regent Theatre, a vast space designed for cinema rather than the immediacy of human theatre. Two nights before opening, Brian conducted a successful preview. Crowds cheered at Debra Byrne as Norma Desmond and cheered even more for Hugh Jackman playing the Hollywood writer Joe Gillis,…3 min
Limelight|October 2016A 90TH-BIRTHDAY COMMISSIONIt happens, of course, less often than it might, but it’s always affirming to receive fan mail. Composing requires solitude, and, living 800 metres from my own letterbox I’ve perhaps taken that to an extreme, so it’s nice to be reminded that one’s work is out there. I was especially touched when, some time ago, I opened an email that began, “I have been a longtime fan of your music for years”. But it got better: my correspondent, Andrew Johnston, wanted to commission a new work from me to celebrate his father’s 90th birthday, which would fall in 2016. I have been very fortunate in regular commissions from philanthropic individuals. In most cases it’s a simple request for a work of a certain duration for a specific ensemble, but occasionally…2 min
Limelight|October 2016ACO: A YEAR IN THE LIFE“THINGS HAVE REALLY DEVELOPED AND CHANGED, AND I THINK IN AUSTRALIA WE’RE IN QUITE A GOLDEN ERA CULTURALLY. THERE’LL NEVER BE ENOUGH MONEY, I’LL ALWAYS HAVE WHINGES, BUT I DON’T FEEL LONELY. I FEEL I AM SURROUNDED BY GREAT MUSICIANS”Richard Tognetti When it comes to describing the Australian Chamber Orchestra, superlatives somehow don’t seem enough. This band of 17 full-time musicians attracts the kind of attention usually reserved for rock stars. Adventurous programming has seen collaborations with artists across many disciplines, inspiration coming from often surprising sources. It all adds up to an organisation that thinks outside the box, but always with music at its heart. The ACO is hard working, awarded and admired. Richard Tognetti leads his band with a dedication that has to be witnessed. One member said:…3 min
Limelight|October 2016MURRAY PERAHIA ON IMPROVISINGImprovising is a big part of what I do. I choose to play a phrase in a certain way spontaneously, and that changes the way I play the following one. After all, that’s the way the composer created the music in the first place, by inventing a phrase and then making something that follows on naturally. It’s about being responsible to the moment. The written piece comes out of improvisation, and the performance has to recapture that sense. I heard Arthur Rubinstein often in New York when I was a kid, and often he had to cover for a memory lapse. Those were often the best bits. Horowitz too was basically a creative musician, he composed in his youth, and I often feel his playing is a kind of disguised…1 min
Limelight|October 2016PUMEZA MATHSIKIZAWere you always surrounded by music? There is a lot of choral music in South Africa. I was singing in church, school, community choirs – that’s when I was not studying or looking after my youngest brother. You grew up in a South African township and moved around a fair bit with your mum and brothers. Was that hard for you? When you are in this type of environment, as a child you don’t think:“Oh, this is difficult”.You have nothing to compare it to, really.You feel something is not alright, and years later you think: “That was a horrible childhood”. So you saw a lot of terrible things? Yes. It was towards the end of apartheid and people were marching. It was a power struggle among political parties, between the…6 min
Limelight|October 2016COMPOSER OF THE MONTH CPE BachLIVED 1714–1788 MOSTLY IN BERLIN, HAMBURG BEST KNOWN FOR KEYBOARD SONATAS AND CONCERTOS, FLUTE CONCERTOS, CELLO CONCERTOS SIMILAR TO MOZART, HAYDN, CARL AND ANTON STAMITZ, JC BACH Dr Charles Burney, the distinguished music historian, undertook two tours of Europe for his groundbreaking A General History of Music. A high point, in 1772, was Hamburg and a visit to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Burney had “long contemplated, with the highest delight, his elegant and original compositions; and they had created in me so strong a desire to see, and to hear him, that I wanted no other musical temptation to visit this city”. His description, in The Present State of Music In Germany, of three meetings with Bach, from October 9 to 11, gives us a rare and intimate picture of…8 min
Limelight|October 2016LisbonTRAVEL INFO Average Temperatures: Winter: 11°C – Summer: 24°C Currency: Euro (AU$1=EUR 0.68) Best time to visit: Concerts and opera wind down in the summer, but the Festival of Saint Antonio should be experienced, held every year from June 12-13. TOURIST INFORMATION cm-lisboa.pt/en You might be surprised to learn that Lisbon is Western Europe’s oldest city – centuries older than Rome, Paris or London. It is also the most westerly capital on the European continent, located on the coast of Portugal at the mouth of the River Tagus. The city still celebrates a relaxing approach to time-keeping with over 270 days of sunshine each year, and brims with old-world charm. Spread across seven hills, vantage points to soak in impressive views of the sea and terracotta rooftops…6 min
Limelight|October 2016TAKING LINDBERG’S PULSE“Orchestrations are lush and powerful, making for a dynamic and full-bodied experience” Lindberg Orchestral Works Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Hannu Lintu ONDINE ODE12815 In the mid 1980s, Magnus Lindberg’s sound-world underwent a drastic overhaul. His mammoth work Kraft (1983-5) reveals a composer delving into the kaleidoscope of Modernism. Yet only a few years later, Lindberg’s works were sounding radically different, embracing tonal harmony, and drawing on a wealth of styles, from minimalism to Boulez. The works on this recent release bear a strong Neo-Romantic quality, if not in harmony, then in gesture. Al Largo is a scintillating work bristling with detail. Orchestrations are lush and powerful, rarely retreating below piano, making for a dynamic and full-bodied experience. Commencing with a startling brass fanfare, Lindberg conjures up a series of vivid…5 min
Limelight|October 2016The British duo’s award-winning HIP Mozart wrapped up in a bargain boxMozart Violin Sonatas Rachel Podger v, Gary Cooper fp CHANNEL CLASSICS CCSBOX6414 (8CD) Dutch label Channel Classics has released an attractive box set of the first complete series of Mozart violin sonatas to be performed on period instruments. The albums, featuring English duo violinist Rachel Podger and keyboardist Gary Cooper, were released individually from 2004 to 2009 when they picked up a swag of awards. Now they come in an eight-disc box, giving listeners the chance to appreciate the sweep of the 36 works that covered 25 years of the composer’s life. Cooper performs on a copy of a 1795 Viennese fortepiano by Anton Walter – the maker favoured by Mozart and Beethoven – while Podger plays her 1739 Pesarinius violin, made in Genoa by a student of Stradivari. For…1 min
Limelight|October 2016ZELENKA REHABILITATED“Luks himself has produced a complete edition, and the results are thrilling” Zelenka Missa Divi Zaveri, Litaniae de Sancto Xaverio Collegium 1704, Collegium Vocale 1704, Václav Luks ACCENT ACC24301 A composer of Catholic liturgical music in a Lutheran society, Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745) was fighting an uphill battle for popularity even during his own lifetime. After his death, his music all but disappeared from the repertoire, and still remains firmly on the fringes of concert programming. One ensemble, however, is doing more than any to change this. For over 20 years, Czech conductor Václav Luks and his superb Collegium 1704 choir and orchestra have been turning out eloquent recordings that celebrate the intricate counterpoint and bold harmonic gestures of the composer JS Bach so admired. Their latest is particularly…5 min
Limelight|October 2016Mitchell makes a magical opera painfully and wonderfully humanHandel Alcina Petibon s, Jaroussky ct, Prohaska s, Bradic ms, Gregory t, Baczyk b, Mädler s, Chorus of the Perm Opera, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/Marcon ERATO 9029597436 (2DVD) Katie Mitchell is a director who divides her audience. Some champion the probing psychology of her shows, their meticulous, realist visuals, their staunchly feminist agenda. Others balk at what they see as a prefab, one-size-fits-all approach. But whatever your camp, when Mitchell finds a show to suit her inherent sympathies the result is unassailable. This Alcina, originally staged for the 2015 Aix-en-Provence Festival, is the director at her very best – a marriage of concept and psychology so instinctive, so exhilarating in its invention, that it’s impossible to imagine it bettered. Unpacking the limits of power in all its forms – love, magic,…2 min
Limelight|October 2016JULIE ANDREWS BEARDS A SHAVIAN LADY“Anna O’Byrne is her own woman, stepping into the shoes vacated by her famous director” Opera Australia and John Frost Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 With all the buzz around the 60th anniversary of Lerner and Loewe’s smash hit musical – not the least of which is the remarkable fact that it is being directed by the original Eliza Doolittle – it’s easy to forget the merits of the show itself. Of course, the songs are a series of perfectly formed miracles. The prickly, complex Alan Jay Lerner was a natural to shape the prickly, complex Henry Higgins, a man who turns into flesh and blood before our eyes in a dazzling sequence of character songs. Equally natural was Frederick Loewe’s gift for melody, his operetta…4 min
Limelight|October 2016Provocative dance-theatreOff The Record Force Majeure Carriageworks, Sydney AUGUST 17, 2016 REVIEW Is it offensive to portray a disability on stage that you don’t have? Is it OK to poke fun at sign language or attempt to speak on someone else’s behalf? How much of our true self is it advisable to reveal to the world? Off The Record asks many questions, while playing with preconceptions and misconceptions to do with disability and ways of communicating – and it does so in a thought-provoking, gently amusing way. Produced by Force Majeure in partnership with Dance Integrated Australia, Off The Record was commissioned by Carriageworks under its National Arts and Disability Strategy, New Normal. Force Majeure was founded in 2002 by Kate Champion and has developed a reputation as Australia’s leading dance-theatre…3 min
Limelight|October 2016Lady eats apple on inflatablesPREVIEW Entering the auditorium for Lady Eats Apple, the latest work from Back to Back Theatre, audiences will find themselves in an unexpected environment. The production takes place in Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre Melbourne – but not as we know it. “You won’t recognise Hamer Hall because it’s been so changed,” says the Company’s Artistic Director Bruce Gladwin. Established in 1987, the Geelongbased company creates new forms of contemporary theatre with an ensemble of actors with disabilities. Their excitingly ambitious work includes the internationally acclaimed, award-winning (and controversial) Ganesh Versus the Third Reich. Lady Eats Apple, which premieres this month at the Melbourne Festival, is their largest-scale production to date in terms of its staging. Hamer Hall has a seating capacity of over 2,400 but Lady Eats Apple…2 min
Limelight|October 2016Basil Fawlty mentions the war, on stageFawlty Towers Live Michael Coppel, Phil McIntyre and Louise Withers Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney AUGUST 20, 2016 REVIEW As soon as the jaunty theme tune for Fawlty Towers begins, there is laughter and instantaneous applause from the audience. Then more laughter as the music (written by Dennis Wilson and inspired by Beethoven’s Minuet in G) continues beyond the few bars we know so well into something a little more discordant, promising a show that combines nostalgic familiarity with a twist of the new. In fact, Fawlty Towers Live, written by John Cleese, is a resolutely faithful stage adaptation of three of the episodes that he originally co-wrote with his then-wife Connie Booth, who played Polly to his Basil in the iconic BBC sitcom. First broadcast in the UK in 1975,…3 min
Limelight|October 2016COLLECTOR’S CORNER ROBYN STACEYCelebrated Sydney-based photographer Robyn Stacey presents an exhibition and sale at the Stills Gallery. The past three years have seen Stacey transforming entire rooms into walk-in camera obscuras. By boarding up the windows to leave only a sliver of light, the outdoor view is projected into the room s interior, inverted and presented upside down. This ethereal moving scene casts shadows of trees, clouds and buildings over the interior design of the room and the inhabitants’ belongings, with Stacey then snapping her pictures. In this new exhibition, Stacey subjects the studios and residences of notable artists into camera obscura marvels, including the Rose Seidler House in Sydney, Hans Heysen’s painting studio in Adelaide, Wendy Whiteley’s home at Lavender Bay and Yvonne and Arthur Boyd’s residence at Bundanon. Each photograph reflects…1 min
Limelight|October 2016GRIMAUD MEETS THE AYO“The lilting, gossamer sounds in the finale were a testament to Grimaud’s artistry” Comprised of members under the age of 25, and with many alumni going on to play in Australian and international orchestras, an appearance by the Australian Youth Orchestra is always eagerly anticipated. The AYO, fresh from their recent tour of Europe and China, marked their homecoming with a concert in Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on August 6. For those not able to attend, an 8pm broadcast on October 5 will give audiences the chance to experience the artistry of these exuberant young musicians. Led by guest conductor Manfred Honeck, Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and with an appearance by acclaimed French pianist Hélène Grimaud, the challenging programme included two classics and a contemporary Australian work. The…2 min
Limelight|October 2016FOR THE DIARY…FINE MUSIC 102.5 LIVE AND LOCAL October 6, 8pm Recorded in May at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, Jonathan Grieves-Smith conducts the Sydney Chamber Choir and the Orchestra of the Antipodes in Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Bach’s Magnificat. Soloists include Jane Edwards, Tobias Cole and David Hamilton. October 13, 8pm The Gagliano Quartet perfoms string quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Vivaldi. October 20, 8pm Recordings from Government House, Melbourne made by 3MBS of quartets by Mozart and Brahms and a Trio by Dring, with flautist Prudence Davis and oboist Jeffrey Credlin. October 27, 8pm Oboist Guy Henderson and pianist Rachel Valler join the Sydney Wind Quintet for performances of Mozart’s Quintet, after Piano Sonata No 17, Thuille’s Sextet and Beethoven’s Quintet in E Flat. Limelight loves your feedback. Here's…1 min
Limelight|October 2016AT PALACE CINEMAS THIS MONTH...The Deep Blue Sea When Hester Collyer (Helen McCrory) is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of loneliness and long-repressed passion. Behind the fragile veneer of post-war civility burns a brutal sense of loss and longing. October 8-12 Concerto – A Beethoven Journey Filmed over four years, Concerto - A Beethoven Journey follows acclaimed pianist Leif Ove Andsnes as he attempts to understand and interpret one of the greatest sets of works for piano ever written: Beethoven’s five piano concertos. Considered one of the top pianists of his age, Andsnes offers rare insights into…1 min
Limelight|October 2016WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR WEBSITE?Sydney Opera House: the opera Behind the scenes as Alan Johns’ The Eighth Wonder gets remade for Opera Australia’s 60th birthday. Stacey Alleaume (right) stars, and a Hills Hoist gets a cameo. Joyce’s peaceful protest Joyce DiDonato is one of opera’s most outspoken divas (below left). Ahead of her new project, she speaks to Limelight about how music can make a difference. Wesley Enoch unveils his festival The impassioned theatremaker (below right) is preparing to reveal his first Sydney Festival. Limelight chats to him about his unique vision for 2017. ‘Tis the Season It’s that time of the year again when Australian arts companies unveil their hopes and plans for 2017. Read the news of the launches as they happen online. www.limelightmagazine.com.au…1 min
Limelight|October 2016Jud ArthurWagner Der Ring des Nibelungen Metropolitan Opera DG 0734770 (8DVD) For Neil Armfield’s production I will be reprising Fafner and Hunding and covering Hagen. I’ve been enjoying rediscovering this incredible piece, and in particular Hans-Peter König’s wonderful singing. Taylor Swift 1989 UNIVERSAL MUSIC OK, so this is only because my two girls – Lucia who is 13 and Millijana who is 10 – are in charge of song selection on the journey to school. Although I always moan “not again”, I have to secretly admit that a song such as Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood is actually quite a catchy one. David Bowie Blackstar SONY Taryn Fiebig and I have a property at Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands. Whilst in transit I’ll often just chill, listening and singing along to old…1 min
Limelight|October 2016RequiemGÜNTER VON KANNEN 1940 – 2016 German bass-baritone Günter von Kannen, acclaimed for his compelling portrayals of Wagner’s villains, has passed away following a long illness in Karlsruhe aged 76. Von Kannen, born in 1940 in Mönchengladbach, Germany, originally studied to be a teacher. However, he was also learning to sing and not long after he won the ARD International Music Competition in 1965, appearing in several German opera houses before signing a contract with Zürich Opera in 1979. His breakthrough came in 1988, when his portrayal of Alberich in the Bayreuth Ring, conducted by Daniel Barenboim and staged by Harry Kupfer, demonstrated the dramatic intensity that was fundamental to his artistry. Subsequently, Alberich became something of a calling card, as did Klingsor in Parsifal, and Hans Sachs in Die…1 min
Limelight|October 2016TO DARE, OR NOT TO DARE“My current philosophy is that if something is going to happen, then it probably just will” There I was on top of a steep, bumpy ‘black’ (ski) run, scared to death and able to see, not only right down the slope, but all the way to central Vancouver, almost to the concert hall itself from high up on Cypress Mountain. “So what else you gonna do today, Freddy?” I remember that moment very well. I recall suddenly thinking that I did in fact have to play Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto that evening, which did increase the anxiety I was already feeling and may have been part of the reason why I did not manage to conquer that particular mountain on that particular day; and why I ended up falling over yet…4 min
Limelight|October 2016ERIK SATIE’S VEXING PIANO MARATHONThe longest piece of music written for piano is Vexations by the eccentric French “gymnopedist” Erik Satie – a work comprised of only half a page of notation. A note written by Satie at the top of the manuscript accounts for the 18-hour performance time. It informs the soloist that the curiously angular motif and eccentric enharmonic accompaniment is to be performed “very slowly” a grand total of 840 times. As if issuing a warning to performers, the composer also scrawled: “In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities.” Vexations was never performed during Satie’s lifetime and it remained completely unknown until 1949 when it was brought to John Cage’s attention by…2 min
Limelight|October 2016NICHOLAS TOLPUTT COUNTERTENORBORN TASMANIA, 1990 STUDIED UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE LIKES BAD CINEMA, HISTORY, FOOD DISLIKES EGGPLANT, HOT WEATHER, HAIRCUTS What drew you to singing as a profession? From as far back as I can remember I have been obsessed with classical music. Before I knew anything about the sounds that I was hearing, the composers, or the history behind the music, I would just listen to the radio for hours each day. As a kid I would sing along to symphonies and sonatas and eventually I realised that opera could be my way of connecting to the music I was so passionate about. As a young singer, did you originally sing in a more conventional voice type? Like a lot of countertenors, I started off as a baritone. My home town in…4 min
Limelight|October 2016THE LOST ART OF IMPROVISATION“IMPROVISATION HAS NEVER GONE AWAY, ALTHOUGH YOU DO NEED TO LOOK IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS TO FIND IT” Every Friday evening come rain, shine or hiccups on the London Underground, I dismount a train at Borough Station, buy a bar of chocolate at the newsagent on the corner, then walk for five minutes until I reach the imposing late 19th-century Welsh Congregational Chapel on Southwark Bridge Road where, for the last 17 years, the percussionist Eddie Prévost has led an improvisation workshop. I started attending six years ago when, for reasons that need not detain us for long, I decided I no longer wanted to compose music; time, I thought, instead to rescue my piano technique from its long dormant state. If I wanted to create 30 minutes of music, it…10 min
Limelight|October 2016ORCHESTRAS WITHOUT BORDERSGretchen La Roche, the Chief Executive Officer of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, remembers exactly where she was at 12.51pm on February 22, 2011 – for that was the moment an earthquake registering 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island. “I was on my lunchbreak in an upstairs café at the Arts Centre, huddled under a table watching the wall on the side of the building fall out and thinking this has to stop soon or we’re just going to have to make a run for it,” recalls La Roche. “As I ran out of the building I actually saw the cathedral collapsing. You could see the dust rising out of the city. A short time after, you could see people being carried…14 min
Limelight|October 2016THE Marriage of TRUE MINDSThe frantic lyricist is tapping away on his typewriter in a smoke-filled room, a cigarette hanging decorously from his lower lip. His composing partner tries out endless riffs and refrains at the piano. It’s the stuff of many a black-and-white movie. The reality, of course, is often very different, especially in the age of the Internet where a writer can dispatch a new lyric to a composer on the other side of the world at the push of a button. But how did the greats do it? What special connection led to names like Verdi and Boito, Gilbert and Sullivan, or Rodgers and Hammerstein being harnessed together for eternity? Not every composer has needed direct contact with his chosen writer in order to manifest that special bond. Peter Warlock feels…2 min
Limelight|October 2016Emmanuel Pahud on Emanuel BachI first heard some concerts of Baroque music during the summer holiday when I was seven, and there was a guy playing this crazy, strong, expressive and virtuosic music on the flute. A look at the programme revealed it was CPE Bach’s D Minor Flute Concerto, and I asked my parents to buy the recording afterwards so I could go on listening to his music. CPE Bach breaks with the rules, both those of the previous generation like his father JS Bach, and those of his sovereign Frederick the Great. His music is trying to escape from that old world, provoking yet stylish, with an urging and powerful call for freedom (something that Beethoven later achieved). It is therefore very different to his contemporaries in the more academic Mannheim style…1 min
Limelight|October 2016OPENING SALVO PROMISES FEAST OF SONG“Martineau’s musical imagination conjures just the right mood and pace for each song” Decades A Century of Song Volume 1 (1810-1820) Michael Schade t, Sylvia Schwartz s, Lorna Anderson s, Ann Murray ms, Florian Boesch bar, Malcolm Martineau p VIVAT VIVAT112 The big hitters of 19th-century song are well known, but how did they earn their reputations, who were their respected contemporaries, and how did the art form progress over time? It’s always been easy for a competent, or even an inspired composer, to get buried by the sheer overwhelming enthusiasm for a Beethoven or a Brahms, so a chance to examine the development of song from 1810 to 1910, decade by decade, might be expected to throw up a few surprises. And so it proves in the…2 min
Limelight|October 2016Benedetti scales the heights from Tzarist charm to Stalinist menaceShostakovich •Glazunov Violin Concertos Nicola Benedetti v, Bournemouth SO/Kirill Karabits DECCA 4788758 Nicola Benedetti is on the verge of entering the Isserlis/Hough/Lewis/Osborne pantheon of distinction: does she ever produce a dud note, let alone performance? Here, she plays two diametrically opposed violin concertos, by Shostakovich and his teacher Glazunov (a fact I was completely unaware of). There surely can’t have been a master and pupil in all music who wrote in such different idioms, even allowing for the different universes they both lived in, but the unlikely juxtaposition works! Shostakovich withheld his First Violin Concerto, composed in the 1940s, until after Stalin’s death in 1953, when the worst of the ‘terror’ appeared to have abated. Benedetti has described the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 1 as “harrowing” to play and…1 min
Limelight|October 2016FEAST OF FRENCH PIANO MUSIC“It’s a rich feast, that Ogawa partakes of with gusto, while always observing etiquette” Satie Complete Piano Music Volume 1 Noriko Ogawa p BIS BIS2215 The contemporary “easy listening” status of Eric Satie’s Gnossiennes and Gymnopédies belie his reputation in his own day as a musical iconoclast and innovator of the first order. And while they are among his earliest compositions, their outrageous simplicity and, in the Gnossiennes, lack of key signatures and bar lines, place them too in those dangerous regions of novelty and experimentation. Prolific pianist Noriko Ogawa, whose Debussy interpretations in particular have won her wide acclaim, begin and end this first volume of the complete piano music of Satie with the above works. What happens in between should prove to those who consider Satie’s music…5 min
Limelight|October 2016A pair of fine old Burgundians to satisfy the most jaded of palatesArnold and Hugo de Lantins Secular Works Le Miroir De Musique/Baptiste Romain RICERCAR RIC365 The music of the Medieval and early Renaissance is a startlingly unfamiliar language for modern ears with its strange clashes and cadences. Thanks to the tireless work of scholars, specialist performers and boutique labels, nowadays we can immerse ourselves in order to become sufficiently ‘fluent’, yet one can only wonder at what emotional responses this music must have triggered in the average 14th-century listener. Next to the big names of the Burgundian School, Arnold and Hugo de Lantins were second league but their works pop up in various codices alongside Dufay and Binchois. Little is known about Arnold but even less about Hugo – we’re not even sure they were brothers – but they were both…2 min
Limelight|October 2016FROM THE GOLDEN AGE AND ON“It is fascinating to compare contrasting approaches of different generations of singers” A 55-CD Decca Box provides a treat for opera lovers with room on their shelves. It consists of solo vocal recitals, beginning with the Belgian soprano Suzanne Danco in the early 1950s and running chronologically through to a 2010 recital from the Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja. Tantalisingly, the set gives us many debut recitals by singers who later became superstars. Here is Joan Sutherland’s first Casta Diva (from Bellini’s Norma) and her extraordinarily virtuosic rendition of the Bolero from Verdi’s I Vespri Siciliani – so early, it’s not Bonynge conducting but Nello Santi. Debut recitals from Luciano Pavarotti, Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming and Jonas Kaufmann are predictably treasurable, but there are others who did not reach those heights,…2 min
Limelight|October 2016OPERA AT THE CIRCUSVictorian Opera Palais Theatre, melbourne AUGUST 13, 2016 Laughter and tears. We know opera has both in abundance, even if not always in the same work. We also know the genius of opera is that its laughter and tears resonate with our own, leaving us hopefully better off as a result of the encounter. Victorian Opera’s latest show, in collaboration with Circus Oz, delivers plenty of the advertised emotional commodities and does indeed leave us better off at the end of the experience. The “tears” come presented in an engaging and relatively straightforward production of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, while the “laughter” is designed as a prelude to that well-loved verismo piece; contextualising the story and offering a pastiche of late Renaissance and Baroque vocal and instrumental morsels (including works from Monteverdi…2 min
Limelight|October 2016On the brink and on the rinkPREVIEW In 2005, a group of former figure skaters in Montreal, Canada decided to turn their back on the sequins and scoreboards of competitive skating and explore a new form of contemporary ice dancing under the moniker Le Patin Libre, meaning “free skate”. “We didn’t really know what Le Patin Libre was going to be. All we knew was that we wanted to break free from the constraints of the competitions and show business. So at the beginning it was just funny and rebellious with a bit of teenage spirit to it,” recalls Alexandre Hamel, one of the original founding members. Over the first five years, skaters came and went and the project gradually evolved. The current line-up has been together since 2011 and now tours regularly internationally, thrilling audiences…3 min
Limelight|October 2016ALSO ON THIS MONTH…A Midsummer Night’s Dream Director Kip Williams’ new vision for a classic adventure leads the Company into a forest full of desire. Sydney Theatre Company, September 12-October 22 Title and Deed From the pen of Will Eno, comes a 70-minute monologue of disarming wisdom perfomed by Jimi Bani and directed by Jada Alberts. Belvoir, Sydney, October 13-November 6 887 In his Melbourne debut, Robert Lepage, one of the world’s greatest theatremakers, turns his eye to the most difficult subject of all: himself. Ex Machina, Melbourne Festival, October 19-22 Switzerland Joanna Murray-Smith’s tale of cat and mouse features the original Sydney Theatre Company actors: Sarah Peirse and Eamon Farren. Melbourne Theatre Company, September 17-October Disgraced Kane Felsingerand Mitchell Butel star in the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama that proves politics and dinner parties…1 min
Limelight|October 2016Asian arts to headline Melbourne FestivalPREVIEW This year’s Melbourne Festival presents a wide-ranging programme of visual art. Prominently featured is the work of Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota, celebrated for her large-scale installations exploring the relationship between physical and psychological environments. Audiences are invited to step inside her installation The Home Within, combining architectural construction with the ephemeral beauty of the organic environment. The installation is made solely from red thread, metaphorically connecting the self to the outside world, our memory with experience and reality with imagination. It is presented at various city venues throughout the festival including Deakin Edge and Melbourne Town Hall. Presented at Federation Square, Collisions is a large-scale virtual reality project representing Nyarri Nyarri Morgan’s first experience of Western culture thanks to British atomic bomb testing undertaken in the South Australian desert…2 min
Limelight|October 2016NEWS IN BRIEFGROUNDHOG DAY OPENS THEATRE Tim Minchin’s Groundhog Day looks set to follow the incredible success of Matilda the Musical, after opening to rave reviews at London’s Old Vic Theatre. Based on the 1993 cult film starring Bill Murray, the show is written by Minchin with Danny Rubin (who wrote the film), and is staged by the Matilda creative team, led by director Matthew Warchus. The show is already locked in for Broadway. STAGING . MOULIN ROUGE! THEATRE Hot on the heels of the mostly poorly-received Strictly Ballroom The Musical, comes news that Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 hit film Moulin Rouge! is being adapted for the stage by a team of American creatives under the auspices of Melbourne-based production company Global Creatures. The “new” musical will have a book by US playwright…1 min
Limelight|October 2016FILMJoe Cinque’s Consolation Opens: October 13 Genre: Drama Duration: 102 minutes Garner’s murderous tale leads us to a place of deep mystery I suspect many readers will be familiar with Helen Garner’s gripping 2004 non-fiction book inspired by a 1999 Canberra murder trial revolving around a young man, Joe Cinque, who was drugged and killed by his law student girlfriend, Anu Singh following a macabre dinner party. At least some of the guests had previously been given the impression the evening would culminate with the double suicide of their hosts, Singh and Cinque. Yet none of the attendees intervened and the dinner party’s macabre raison d’être was never discussed at the table. It appears at least some of the guests regarded the suicide talk as one of the emotionally disturbed…4 min
Limelight|October 2016ABC CLASSIC FM JULIA LEZHNEVA AND THE ACOThe stratospheric Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva returns to Australia for a series of recitals with the ACO this month. Just 26-years old, this emerging singer is celebrated for her performances of the most challenging works in the repertoire and her technical command, purity of tone, and effortless coloratura have swiftly made her an audience favourite on the international stage. Lezhneva’s Australian debut in 2014, at Hobart Baroque with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, won over local audiences, netting her a Helpmann Award for Best Individual Classical Performance. This time, she returns with a programme dedicated to masterpieces of the Baroque, including selections from Handel’s Alessandro and Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa. Fans of the soprano will also have the chance to hear her perform the Porpora motet for soprano and strings, In…1 min
Limelight|October 2016HOW TO TUNE IN TO THE STATIONS...FINE MUSIC 102.5 Fine Music 102.5 (previously 2MBS) is Australia’s first FM radio station, broadcasting a mix of classical, jazz and contemporary music. To listen, tune in to 102.5FM or stream online at finemusicfm.com 3MBS 3MBS is a fine music community radio station in Melbourne. 3MBS passionately supports fine music, especially Melbourne musicians and composers, and is the only locally-based classical music radio station in Victoria. To listen, tune in to 103.5FM or stream online at 3mbs.org.au 4MBS One of Australia’s premier classical radio stations, 4MBS has received many awards for the promotion of young and emerging artists in Australia. Based in Brisbane. To listen, tune in to 103.7FM to listen or stream online at 4mbs.com.au 5MBS While mainly a classical station, Adelaide’s 5MBS also broadcasts a wide selection of…1 min
Limelight|October 2016CONCERTS AND OPERA ONLINEOctober 2, 4am on digitalconcerthall.com Matthias Goerne bar Berlin Philharmonic/Manfred Honeck Dvorÿák Rusalka Fantasy; Symphony No 8 Strauss Orchestral Songs Schubert Lieder October 2, 11am on dso.org Lang Lang p Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin October 7, 1pm on staatsoperlive.com Dmitri Hvorostovsky bar, Ildebrando D Arcangelo b-bar, Ramón Vargas t, Maria Pia Piscitelli s, Evelino Pidò conductor Verdi Simon Boccanegra October 9, 4am on digitalconcerthall.com Christian Elsner t Christian Gerhaher bar Berlin Philharmonic/Bernard Haitink Schubert Symphony No 7 Mahler Das Lied von der Erde October 10, 6am on dso.org Garrick Ohlsson p Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin Rouse Bump Copland Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue Milhaud Création…1 min
Limelight|October 2016THE LIMELIGHT QUIZ1. What is unusual about Handel’s operas Oreste, Giove in Argo and Alessandro Severo? 2. Who composed the Te Deum whose Marche en Rondeau is used to open and close the Eurovision Song Contest? 3. Who likely mucked up Rachmaninov’s First Symphony premiere by conducting half-cut? 4. The Dance of the Blessed Spirits comes from an opera by which composer? 5. Elgar composed his song-cycle Sea Pictures for which great British contralto? 6. In Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, who are the warring medieval monarchs? 7. Which Irish conductor and composer led the English premieres of Mahler’s Ninth and Shostakovich’s First Symphonies? 8. Which revolutionary composer claimed “Music is the electrical soil within which the mind thinks, lives, feels”? 9. Which German composer wrote the ballet Ondine for Sir Frederick Ashton in…1 min
