Our latest reviews
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…
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas: Alice Sara Ott
This is Alice Sara Ott’s first Beethoven recording, after three other highly successful releases through Deutsche Grammophon in the past few years. Aside from Piano sonatas No. 3 & 21 it also includes the work Rage over a Lost Penny…
Beethoven: Trio in B Flat/Brahms: Trio in A minor/Bruch: Eight Pieces: Ensemble Liaison
Ensemble Liaison have been around for a few years now, but this is their premiere recording. Featuring the interesting instrumentation of cello, piano and clarinet, they have recorded three works: Bruch Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Cello and Piano; Brahms Trio…
Monologues and Dialogues by Peter Sheridan
This is the second full-length recording from Melbourne-based low-flute specialist Peter Sheridan. As he branches out into more evocative musical landscapes than on his previous album, I am again impressed by the different styles of repertoire tackled by this musician…
Steve Reich: WTC 9/11, Mallet Quartet, Dance Patterns: Kronos Quartet
Written for string quartet, two pre-recorded string quartets and pre-recorded voices, WTC 9/11 is the new work written by Steve Reich. Commissioned and recorded by the Kronos Quartet, it integrates recorded words about the event itself (9/11), from the air…
Ragged Kingdom by June Tabor & Oysterband
After the serious business of making dramatic folk albums like this year’s Ashore, every couple of years June Tabor feels the need to lighten up just a little bit and rock out, with occasional partners in folk-rockdom, the Oysterband. Album…
Purpose and Grace by Martin Simpson
UK guitar master Martin Simpson has more than a few similarities to Ry Cooder. Simpson likes working as a collaborator/accompanist (after several albums and years of touring with June Tabor) and is a slide guitar virtuoso who has released a…
High Country by Richmond Fontaine
This concept album is the follow-up to Portland, Oregon band Richmond Fontaine’s We Used to Think the Freeway Sounded Like a River. The album is set against the backdrop of a mid-west logging community. A love story between a…
Duets II by Tony Bennett
In 2006, Tony Bennett released the original Duets album in honour of his eightieth birthday. It was an all-star collaboration which went on to be his highest-selling album and won him three Grammy Awards. Now, five years later, he has…
Mockingbird Time by The Jayhawks
I’ve been mighty fortunate with my reviews – and as a music fan in general – this month. Hot on the heels of the new Wilco record is the return of a band to whom the aforementioned owe more than…
Browse our reviews by category
