Lie back and listen to Ludwig: a didn’t-happen music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Instead of arriving at the Sydney Town Hall next Wednesday night to hear the SSO, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, organ, and four soloists perform Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, I’ll probably be waiting for an Uber-eat paper bag to arrive at home. Read more

Impressions from, Ravel, Mendelssohn, Debussy – and the Sydney Town Hall: a music review from Fraser Beath McEwing

The first concert in the SSO Masters Series for 2020 ushered in the beginning of a two-year stint in ye auld and venerated Sydney Town Hall while the Opera House concert hall is up for a rebore. Read more

Faust: McVicar’s devilish take on classic opera…an opera review by Victor Grynberg

One of France’s greatest ever composers, Charles Gounod had an immediate hit on his hands when his opera Faust finally premiered in Paris in 1859. Read more

Don Giovanni: singers shine in Mozart masterpiece

Don Giovanni is the tale brought to Mozart by his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte when he was looking for a story to follow his great success with The Marriage Of Figaro writes Victor Grynberg. Read more

John Bell’s Havana colours bring extra delight To Carmen: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

George Bizet died tragically at only 37 years of age, after 33 mixed-reviewed performances of his Spanish-themed opera Carmen. Read more

La Boheme: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

A summertime favourite at the Opera House almost every year, La Boheme received that rare Sydney accolade, an almost total standing ovation after this year’s opening night. Read more

A briefish Mahler fest: Music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

If you love Mahler, this was a concert for you. Read more

Peerless playing from Paul Lewis: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

British pianist, Paul Lewis, filled his Sydney Recital Hall program with just two works last night: Schubert’s Sonata in G D894 and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. No bonbons to be seen. Read more

The beauty of sadness: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

While concert programs are usually eclectic, so that everybody gets at least something they like, last night’s SSO offering in the Masters Series was unashamedly emotional from start to finish. And I, for one, loved it, not just for the program but the quality of the performance. Read more

Something completely different: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Although Geoffrey Lancaster is a world-renowned performer on the fortepiano, it was risky to devote one of the four piano series recitals to a period instrument. Read more

Music from beneath the Bolshevik boot: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Last night’s Masters Series concert was not for faint-hearted orchestral players, conductors or an audience that wanted orderly, familiar music. Read more

Bright young stars shine In West Side Story: a review by Victor Grynberg

If PORGY and BESS is the pre-eminent American Folk Opera, then certainly WEST SIDE STORY is the outstanding American Musical. Read more

Birth of the Cool

MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL – a documentary featuring the life and career of musical giant and cultural icon Miles Davis, a true visionary, innovator and originator who defied categorization and embodied the word, will be screened in a short season. Read more

Kirill Gerstein’s journey through genres: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Visiting 40-year-old Russian-American pianist, Kirill Gerstein, is at the top of his game. Read more

Whiteley: a stunning triumph for Opera Australia

Victor Grynberg reviews the premiere of a new Australian opera recounting the life of the iconic artist Brett Whiteley… Read more

Da-da-da-darr plus rarities: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Beethoven’s fifth symphony, a Verdi overture and a Prokofiev violin concerto made a perfectly balanced program for the Masters Series SSO concert last night. And that was before the bonus attractions of a female Chinese conductor and a celebrated Russian/Israeli violinist. Read more

La Traviata on the harbour

Opera Australia has announced that Verdi’s much loved work La Traviata will return to the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour stage in 2020. Read more

Move over Franz, Lang Lang is in the building: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

You know it’s a Sydney Opera House gala celebrity event when the concerto is played last. Read more

Madama Butterfly reaches new heights: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

When Opera Australia premiered their new era digital sets last year with the production of AIDA not everybody was as enthusiastic as this critic. Read more

Australian World Orchestra back together

Following last year’s sensational response to the concerts led by Maestro Riccardo Muti, the AUSTRALIAN WORLD ORCHESTRA (AWO) is returning with an eclectic and bravura program for this July, and to present the newly formed AWO SIX, an elite ensemble of AWO all-stars. Read more

An evening with The Scott Van Gemert’s Big Band: a music review by Ron Jontof-Hutter

I attended a concert given at Melbourne’s Paris Cat Jazz Club given by Scott van Gemert and his 17-piece jazz big band this week. Read more

Claytons Brahms and genuine Chopin: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Two composers who borrowed from Brahms flanked the real-deal Chopin in the SSO’s Masters Series concert last night at the Sydney Opera House. Read more

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in concert: a music/film review by Hila Tsor

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a Harry Potter nerd. At the beginning of the year I reread all the books and got sucked into a world of wonder, friendship and adventure again. Read more

Ludwig and Pyotr step up again: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

An SSO Masters Series concert with two sure-fire blockbuster works would usually leave room for something quirky from artistic director, David Robertson’s black book of offbeat music he likes to share, but it didn’t happen last night. We got the Beethoven violin concerto and Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony neatly divided by interval. Both these works are favoured with plenty of playtime around Australian orchestras because they are so popular. Read more

An exciting piano package from Alessio Bax: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Italian pianist, Alessio Bax, ticked all the right pre-concert boxes for his Sydney Recital Hall performance last night. Read more

Salome: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

Once banned. Still shocking. But Salome is bloody and fantastic. Read more

Werther: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

Suicide is painless when Massenet pulls the strings. Read more

A riddle in the middle: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

The first concert in the SSO Masters Series for 2019 (now sponsored by upmarket travel company Abercrombie & Kent) presented significant works by Janacek and Bartok, book-ending the Australian premiere of a piece by Steve Reich that had been co-commissioned by several orchestras, including the SSO. Read more

Eavesdropping on heaven: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

When a concert series combining the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir was announced, I had to be there – and so did a lot of other music lovers, judging by its sell-out. Read more

Wozzeck: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

After the glorious melodies of LA BOHEME and TURANDOT Opera Australia’s latest production is Alban Berg’s atonal opera, considered today a modern opera but written almost 100 years ago in 1925. Read more

Next Page »