How a Jewish girl went into hiding with a Nazi family

It is the last winter before Germany’s capitulation. The seventeen-year-old Anni Gmitruk walks alongside a man wearing a swastika armband. It’s dark, and the snow crackles under their shoes. They have just been to the cinema in Zerbst, a small city deep in the Third Reich, to see Heimkehr, a classic among Nazi propaganda films. Read more

Beethoven and Schumann favourites: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Every so often, Australian international pianist and teacher Sarah Grunstein forsakes New York to visit to her original home, Sydney and gives a recital in the Opera House’s Utzon Room. Read more

The Phantom of the Opera: a review by Victor Grynberg

A season virtually sold out before opening night was a definite indication that the local audience was expecting something special from the first Sydney Opera House staging of this mega-hit. Read more

Wall to wall Richard Strauss: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Before I go into raptures about the sound of the Australian World Orchestra and the remarkable coup to entice virtually-retired Zubin Mehta to conduct it again, I have to question the choice of an all-Richard Strauss program. Read more

Shake Rattle ‘N’ Roll: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

A cavalcade of song, movement and colour, Shake Rattle ‘N’ Roll breathes new life into the sounds of the ‘50s and ’60s with entertainment aplenty. Read more

Lucrezia Borgia: an opera review by Alex First

Soaring vocals and a bravura performance by soprano Helena Dix are among the many highlights of Lucrezia Borgia, in which subterfuge and skulduggery abound. Read more

The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith, and the Talmud – reviewed by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen

Maggie Anton has introduced us to a number of stories around Jewish life, beginning with her series on Rashi’s Daughters [3 novels] followed by Rav Hisda’s Daughter [2 novels] and one about personal relationships {Fifty Shades of Talmud]. Read more

Anna K: A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

By their very nature, human relationships are often messy. The vast majority don’t hit the headlines, but public figures are considered “fair game”. Read more

Hairspray: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

The spark burns brightly in Hairspray, a delightfully breezy musical with discrimination as its theme. Read more

Ray Chen plays Mendelssohn: a music review by Alan Slade

Ray Chen, the Taiwan-born Australian violinist who came with his parents to Brisbane as an infant, played his 1715 Stradivarius “Joachim” violin in a spectacular rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s E-minor concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor, New Zealand’s Gemma New, in the Thursday afternoon series in the just-reopened concert hall of Sydney’s Opera House. Read more

Laurinda: A Melbourne Theatre Company production reviewed by Alex First

Bullying and racism are not acceptable in any environment and yet the schoolyard can be a hotbed of discontent. Read more

I am Emilia Bassano: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

What’s the truism? Behind every great man, there is a woman. Read more

Two thirds and one Dean: A music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Albert Einstein is credited as saying: ‘Before Beethoven, music was written for the immediate. With Beethoven, you start writing music for eternity.’ Read more

The Marvellous Life of Carlo Gatti: A theatre review by Alex First

A pianist from an ice cream parlour (Connor Dariol), a psychologist (Shamita Siva) and a physicist (El Kiley) get together. Read more

The Importance of Being Jewish: a theatre review by Alex First

A romp, The Importance of Being Jewish showcases playwright Rob Selzer’s insight and wit. Read more

Portrait of an Unknown Woman: book review by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen

This is Daniel Silva’s twenty-fifth novel and the 22^nd, with Gabriel Allon as the chief protagonist. Read more

A little lunch music

The aptly named “A little lunch music” is a series of six musical experiences curated by Kathy Selby and Sydney’s City Recital Hall. Read more

Antarctica: An IMAX movie reviewed by Alex First

While it is the coldest place on Earth, where temperatures plunge to as low as 90 degrees below zero and the water temperature is freezing, Antarctica is a surfeit of riches. Read more

Unsolicited Male: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

A boss oversteps the mark and the consequences are devastating in Ron Elisha’s incendiary Unsolicited Male. Read more

Where the Crawdads Sing: a movie review by Alex First

A young woman whose life has been a series of letdowns faces the possibility of the death penalty after being charged with the first-degree murder of her former lover. Read more

The Opera House bares all with Mahler: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

There was more than music to celebrate the return of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to the Sydney Opera House concert hall last night. Read more

Caligula (Burning House) at Theatre Works, as reviewed by Alex First

There will be blood. That expression well sums up the tyrannical reign of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula. He was the third Roman emperor, who ruled from the years 37 to 41, before he was assassinated. Read more

Il Trovatore: an opera review by Murray Dahm

This new production of Verdi’s 1853 opera Il Trovatore directed by Davide Livermore had all the bells and whistles – the 14 LED digital panels supplemented with big, old-fashioned set pieces and a wonderful cast. Read more

9 to 5: The Musical – State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, as reviewed by Alex First

9 to 5 The Musical is energetic, sassy and colourful. Read more

Behind the scenes: La traviata assistant director Warwick Doddrell

Opera Australia assistant director for the La traviata season  Warwick Doddrell was first bitten by the theatre bug in the 1990s watching the Essgee Entertainment productions of Gilbert & Sullivan show starring Jon English (The Pirates of Penzance (1994), The Mikado (1995) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1997). Read more

Secrets: a theatre review from Melbourne by Alex First

Just how good are you at keeping secrets? Read more

Compartment No 6: a movie review by Alex First

We’re in Moscow in 1996. Read more

Sundown: a movie review by Alex First

An intelligent, slow-burn movie in which little appears to happen for a long time and much remains unsaid, thereafter the shocks come. Read more

Stacey Alleaume magnificent in classic Traviata triumph

If Giuseppe Verdi is indeed the greatest opera composer (which I certainly think he is ) then among his many great compositions La Traviata must surely be close to the very top…writes Victor Grynberg. Read more

A Little Lunch Music: a music review by Alan Slade

“A Little Lunch Music” is a series of 6 concerts in Sydney’s iconic Recital Hall, whose interior is modelled on Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and which is acknowledged to have among the best acoustics in the world. Read more

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