Music
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 need to be individually tuned, there are pedals to contend…
Mendelssohn: The String Quintets by Dorix String Quartet & Timothy Ridout
I started listening to this album while I was doing some housework. As I listened, I found myself admiring the musicianship, gracious melodies and an overall greater depth of sound than I had expected from a quartet – until I…
Mozart & Birchall: Clarinet Concertos
It is an interesting concept writing a new, contemporary work for an old instrument. One such instrument – an instrument that has fallen out of favour and indeed could be called ‘Mozart’s lost clarinet’ – is the basset clarinet. Anton…
Metamorphosen: Works by R. Strauss, Korngold & Schreker
When you think of Richard Strauss you think of lush Romantic works, big orchestral moments and dramatic opera. While his work, Metamorphosen, uses all those skills, it is something else – a strangely gentle meditation on life and death…
Matthew Locke: The Flat Consort
Children love writing their names on things, and eight-year-old budding classical composers are no exception. Mathew Lock was training as a chorister, composer and musical theorist at Exeter Cathedral and was obviously very bored when he scored his name and…
Women of Note: Celebrating Australian Composers, Volume 4
I have had men in my life comment, ‘surely everything’s equal now’, but when a new release album has a world-premiere recording of an important 1956 piece by a prominent female composer, it reminds me that, no, not everything is…
Ross Edwards: Frog and Star Cycle & Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
Ross Edwards holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Australian classical music lovers. For myself, I relish any opportunity to play his music, and listening to this album was such an enjoyable experience. Every time I hear…
Pyrotechnia: Fire and Fury from 18th-Century Italy by Bojan Čičić & The Illyria Consort
Vivaldi’s music has been played around the world for hundreds of years, and yet still I am astounded with the beauty and technical proficiency required by musicians to truly make this music jump off the page. And it certainly jumps…
Brahms: Viola Sonatas and Sonatensatz & Schumann: Adagio and Allegro by Philip Dukes & Peter Donohoe
While the violin has frequently hogged the spotlight, I have always had a soft spot for the viola: the resonant tone, singing melodic lines and technical prowess that is particularly impressive when you remember that not all violas are the…
Underwater by Ludovico Einaudi
Ludovico Einaudi is one of the most streamed classical artists worldwide, and I will admit to considerably adding to those numbers. When I’m not sure what to listen to, when I’m feeling a bit out of sorts, Einaudi is my…
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