Music reviews
Bach & Telemann: Cantatas for Baritone
Despite his mature sixty-two years, Christoph Prégardien possesses a voice of youthful agility. I first heard Prégardien singing Schubert’s ‘Die Schöne Müllerin’ in his delectable tenor register, but…
The Prodigal Son by Ry Cooder
Legendary guitarist and American roots music interpreter Ry Cooder is back, firing on all cylinders. After a six-year break this is one of his best efforts ever. His previous topical albums, Pull Up …
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…
John Adams: Violin Concerto by Leila Josefowicz
Sometimes, when listening to John Adams’s violin concerto, I expected the soaring violin line to continue to rise. It was not so: Adams’s music is full of the unexpected. Although (a decade ago now) …
The Lookout by Laura Veirs
I first listened to Laura Veirs new album, The Lookout, in my car. I had it on rotation and just let the songs flow effortlessly from one into the other. My biggest problem was that I wanted to pull …
Djarimirri by Gurrumul
Djarimirri was four years in the making. It features twelve beautifully harmonised chants and traditional songs. The dynamic, modern, orchestral arrangements remind me of the work of Philip Glass and…
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…
Vocalise by Nuria Rial
Heitor Villa-Lobos dreamt up the imaginative combination of eight cellos and soprano soloist. His famous composition for such an ensemble is Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 – part vocalise and part lamen…
Wayfaring by Umberto Clerici & Karin Schaupp
Wayfaring, a collaboration between Italian-Australian cellist Umberto Clerici and German-Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp, traces a path ‘from birth to death, with everything in between’. Consideri…
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