Kate Rockstrom
Kate Rockstrom regularly reviews classical music for Readings. She also performs as a flautist, as well as writing about music and books.
Review — 19 Sep 2022
John Adams
I’ve recently been recovering from the dreaded lurgy and my attention span has been completely shot. Yet somehow I listened to this complete album with no breaks, from the very…
Review — 30 Aug 2012
Espana Antigua, Jordi Savall
If you don’t know who Jordi Savall is, then there are many fabulous recordings you are missing out on. A viol virtuoso from Catalan, his whole family are involved in…
Review — 30 Aug 2012
Beethoven: Symphonies, Immerseel
Sometimes Beethoven can be ridiculously overstated, but this beautiful box set from Jos Van Immerseel & Anima Eterna has a fabulous lilting sense of musicality to it. Each of the…
Review — 11 Apr 2012
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful Romeo and Juliet than this production from the Royal Ballet. Not just in ballet, but film and theatre as well…
Review — 31 Jul 2022
Flute Perspectives: Australian Contemporary Flute Music, Volume 3
Did you know that as an Australian flute player, I am spoilt for choice for repertoire? Not only do I have the standards from France, England and beyond, but I…
Review — 31 Jul 2022
The Enchanted Loom: Orchestral Works by Carl Vine
One day, early on in my musical studies, I was handed a work by a contemporary Australian composer. The music looked black on the page and terrified teenage me, having…
Review — 28 Jun 2022
Musa Italiana: Orchestral Works
This album takes the idea of fusion to a more heightened ideal, with all the works written by Austro-German composers in the ‘Italian style’. What does this mean you might…
Review — 31 Aug 2022
John Williams: Violin Concerto No 2 & Selected Film Themes
Ninety years young is how I would describe John Williams after listening to his latest recording, both as composer and conductor. Working with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he presents his…
Review — 28 Jun 2022
Lys: Works for Violin by Mari Samuelsen, Scoring Berlin & Jonathan Stockhammer
The theme to this month’s reviewed albums is one of melding, fusion and blending. Not so much the crashing together of different musical worlds, but rather the layering of ideas…
Review — 30 May 2022
Fable: Works for Solo Harp by Australian Women Composers by Jacinta Dennett
One thing I learnt during my many years of music study was that the harp is a much harder instrument to play than it seems. Not only does each string…
