Kate Rockstrom
Kate Rockstrom regularly reviews classical music for Readings. She also performs as a flautist, as well as writing about music and books.
Reviews
Mozart: Piano Trios
There is something so assured in this recording of Mozart’s Piano Trios. A deft touch at the piano, a sense of style to the violin melodies and a warm rich tone for the cello. This is everything Moza…
Richard Strauss by Lucerne Festival Orchestra & Riccardo Chailly
There is silence. We wait … and wait … and then, out of this heavy hush, the trumpet speaks those famous notes. Riccardo Chailly brings his understanding of opera drama to these epically dramatic pie…
Terry Riley: Sun Rings by Kronos Quartet
2019 is the fiftieth Anniversary of the moon landing. So I think that this is the perfect time for the first ever recording that intersperses sounds from space with classical music. Sun Rings by Terr…
Sir John Tavener: The Protecting Veil by Matthew Barley and Sinfonietta Riga
When the first thing you see, as a performer, is the phrase ‘Transcendent With Awesome Majesty’, you know you’re going to be in for something epic. John Tavener wrote those words over the top of the …
Rise by Jess Gillam
Last year was a historic year for the BBC Young Musician awards. They had their first ever saxophonist in the finals. Now to those who don’t know, this is a bigger deal than you might think. It’s his…
Franz Schubert: Sonatas & Impromptus by András Schiff
The piano is a fascinating instrument that went through many iterations before it became what we know it as today. Originally known as the ‘fortepiano’, it was the first keyboard instrument to reliab…
Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos and Works for Solo Piano by Jan Lisiecki
It is very interesting listening to a recording when you know the soloist has chosen the orchestra and the repertoire. You would not have thought it would make such a big difference in the musicality…
Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow by Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra
I can think of no more fitting title for this complete series of Shostakovich’s symphonies performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra than ‘Under Stalin’s Shadow’. Born in 1906, Shostakovich suffered…
Schumann: Cello Concerto & Works for Cello and Piano by Sol Gabetta
One of the most heartbreaking things I read when doing my research for this review was that a piece that is loved and adored around the world today was never premiered during the composer’s lifetime.…
Himmelsmusik
The celebrated Baroque harpist and theorbo player (a type of lute) Christina Pluhar is a favourite of Readings. She has consistently released superb albums bringing a new life to early European music…
Arvo Pärt by Viktoria Mullova & Paavo Järvi
When I worked Sunday evenings at Readings in Carlton (some few years ago now) one of my favourite albums to put on in the shop to bring the vibe down and yet give it a frisson of emotion was Arvo Pär…
Bailar Cantando: Fiesta Mestiza en el Peru
Many regulars at Readings will know of Jordi Savall, the viola de gamba player and truly awe-inspiring early music specialist from Spain. Since the 1970s, Savall has been revolutionising period music…
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy & Violin Concerto No. 1 by Joshua Bell & Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell is widely considered one of the best violinists in the world, and when he was made music director of the prestigious Academy of St Martin in the Fields his world reputation was cemented. …
Pastoral Fables: Works for cor anglais and piano
Many people wouldn’t be able to name a cor anglais (or English horn) if they tripped over it. And it’s understandable, really, when it’s only sometimes used in orchestral music and almost never as a …
Concertante! by Les Vents Français
Hands up who’s heard of a concertante? Most people would know the format of a concerto – a soloist and an orchestra. But a concertante has not just one soloist, but two, three or even more! The epica…
Baroque: Music for Viola by Nils Mönkemeyer
Finally after all these years of reviews, I have a virtuosic viola album to review! The ‘King of Instruments’ (as it has been dubbed in certain circles), is often the considered the poor cousin to th…
Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov & Shostakovich by the Orava Quartet
Did we need yet another string quartet album in the world? I didn’t think so, until I listened to the latest release from Deutsche Grammophon of an Australian group, the Orava Quartet. What is most a…
Reich: Pulse/Quartet by International Contemporary Ensemble & Colin Currie Group
People often remark that Steve Reich’s music can be an acquired taste, one only for those serious, modern-classical music listeners wanting to expand their horizons. As someone who has been firmly en…
Paul Stanhope: Lux Aeterna by Sydney Chamber Choir & Paul Stanhope
Lux Aeterna is Latin for ‘eternal light’. Paul Stanhope’s works often have dense harmonic ideas, but here, there’s a constant sense of lightness – both in the musicianship of the Sydney Chamber Choir…
Schubert: Piano Sonatas D959 & D960 by Krystian Zimerman
I think I need to be honest and say I’ve been on a bit of a Schubert bandwagon lately – though mostly his symphonic and chamber repertoire – so it was a delight to review this piano album. I started …
Il Diavolo by Accademia Arcadia
Many people know the story of the Devil’s Trill Sonata by Tartini. How he dreamed one night he made a pact with the devil, who took up Tartini’s violin and played ‘a sonata so wonderful and so beauti…
Splendid Harmony by L'arpa festante
The concept behind this album is very interesting. It’s not an homage to a person as such, it’s a homage to his legacy through his teaching. It features five different composers, all of whom learned …
Medtner: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 by Jayson Gillham, MSO and Benjamin Northey
I love discovering new (but old and forgotten) composers and their long-neglected compositions. Everyone knows Rachmaninoff, his famous piano concertos (the second of which is on this album) and symp…
Mozart in Havana by Simone Dinnerstein & José Antonio Méndez Padrón
On the first listen through this album, I was presented with Mozart in his most recognisable form. There was bounce to the phrasing, with delicacy and depth to the timbre, without heaviness. The blen…
Chaconnes and Fantasias: Music of Britten and Purcell by Emerson String Quartet
At first glance, you might think Purcell and Britten have nothing in common bar their English origin. However, when you dig deeper you find that Britten was somewhat of a fanboy of Purcell and freque…
Songs Without Words by the Grigoryan Brothers
If you say the words ‘Grigoryan brothers’ to most classical music fans, they’ll smile and nod knowingly. Renowned for their musicianship since they were teenagers, they’ve released five albums togeth…
J.S. Bach: Trios by Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer
For many people, the name Yo-Yo Ma immediately brings to mind the Bach Cello Suites and Ma’s bestselling album; the album that has defined many a young cellist’s ideas about the performance of the wo…
Philip Glass: Piano Works by Vikingur Olafsson
Vikingur Olafsson is an unknown around this neck of the woods, but he has been voted ‘Musician of the Year’ in his native Iceland four times, is the music director of two major music festivals and is…
JS Bach: French Suites
Bach Piano music can be quite daunting for the uninitiated. The complex melodic ideas and constant rhythmic pulse typical of his style feels like it’s turning in on itself and it can be hard to follo…
Telemann: Sonatas, Sonatinas and Fantasias
When I listen to Genevieve Lacey perform I often forget something, I get distracted by her lovely turn of phrase, her clean and bright sound, and those fast, pattering fingers making light of difficu…
News
Classical Music for Winter
The weather is closing over and it’s getting darker earlier each day putting me in the mood for blankets, books and tea – and warming music. Here are my favourite picks to help chase away the winter blues.
Orchestral: Stravinsky: Le sacre du printempsIt’s been 100 years since there was a near-riot in Paris at the opening of Diaghilev’s ‘Ballets Russes Rite of Spring’. With a groundbreaking…
Classical Composers You Might Not Have Heard Of
There are more composers out in the world aside from the usual Beethoven, Bach and Mozart. The only problem is where to start with the plethora of music available.
I have a number of my favourite less-known composers I’d love to introduce you to today.
Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) was a Czech composer.
While his style was deeply entrenched in the Romantic style of composition (think big sym…
Classical Musicians Visiting in 2013
The year has well and truly started back with the usual grind and it’s about this time that we start seeing if there’s anything to look forward to in the year. We’re always really lucky in Melbourne to get a lot of visitors from overseas; some of the best performers currently in the world land on our doorstep on a regular basis.
(Meanwhile, as we wait for them to arrive their extensive recording…
Classical Music Anniversaries 2013
For the past couple of years I’ve looked forward to the new year and anniversaries of famous classical composers. This year is no different. I look forward to seeing box sets and celebrations of each of their music.
Looking back 450 years we have the celebration of the birth of English bard, John Dowland. Particularly known for his works for lute and voice, there are so many recordings already a…
Gift Ideas for Classical Music Lovers
Christmas is upon us again!
While an integral part of Christmas are the carols, Handel’s Messiah and many other classical works, there are many classical music lovers out there and you don’t have to be stuck on carols to appreciate the world of classical music at this time of year.
Here are 12 titles that caught my eye.
Jordi Savall, Hesperion XXI and Alia Vox bring out a beautiful box for e…
Listening to Sacred Classical Music
Kate Rockstrom talks about the pleasures of listening to sacred music, presenting a sample of some wonderful recordings.
Music written for the use in church services can be some of the most powerful music ever written. While most of the music written in the Western Art Music tradition is for different types of Christian services, you don’t have be a church goer to appreciate the majesty of t…