Our latest reviews
Angel Arias by Marianne de Pierres
Earlier this year, I encountered the dreaded ‘reading slump’. I felt like I’d had my fill of paranormal young adult fiction, and couldn’t possibly read another page. Any more vampires and I’d go batty.
Then I came across Burn Bright…
Triptych by Krissy Kneen
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
We are inundated with post-apocalyptic books at the moment, so when I saw this new one I thought it was another in a long line. But then I read the blurb and was immediately intrigued.
Our heroine, Alex has run…
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
In a lot of children’s books, the good guys are perfect and the bad guys are just plain evil with no reasoning behind it. This book, however, is a seriously good exception.
The Empyrean is a starship en route to…
Bullets & Lullabies by James Rhodes
I’ve been hearing a lot of this name recently, James Rhodes. At first I thought, wonderful, another pianist to join the legions of already recorded, but then I met him. When I put the CD in the computer a video…
Sunburnt Aftertones, Chamber Music of Katy Abbott
I went to a concert in September of contemporary music ensemble, Syzygy at the Melbourne Recital Centre expecting to hear crazy modern repertoire that would stretch and interest me. This I got, but what I wasn’t expecting was to be…
The Guitar by Milos Karadaglic
Milos Karadaglic (pronounced: Mee-losh Kah-rah-dag-lich) is the new rising star of the classical guitar. His first CD is a mixture of pieces from Albeniz, Tarrega, Domeniconi, Theodorakis, Llobet and Granados. Many of these works have been performed before, but don’t…
Borodin: Symphonies Nos. 1-3: Gerard Schwarz & Seattle Symphony
Borodin, who was a chemist, essentially composed part-time, which is why his first symphony took five years to complete. But as it is said, all good things come to those who wait. These are works full of beautiful melodies –…
Breathing Lessons: Music for Saxophone Quartet: New Hudson Saxophone Quartet
Most people outside of conservatoriums don’t hear any sort of woodwind quartet regularly, but recently a number of high quality saxophone quartet recordings have been released. Breathing Lessons is the next one that, for any discerning listener of contemporary repertoire…
Ravel: Piano Trio/Brahms: Piano Trio: Streeton Trio
Have you ever heard of the Streeton Trio? I hadn’t until I saw the line-up for the 2011 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition – and it turns out they’re the only Australians to make the cut this year. My attention…