Music Education &
Performing Arts Consultant
Stellar Sopranos (The most dazzling, death-defying, dizzyingly stratospheric arias ever written) ABC Classics 480 5514 Terrific Tenors (The most thrilling, handsomely heroic, devastatingly tragic arias ever written) ABC Classics 480 5512 Bravura Basses (The most brooding, prfoundly deep, mellifluously magnificent arias ever written) ABC Classics 480 5513 Playing on singer stereotyping, this collection of three … Read more
The explosion of interest in early music has just been phenomenal as people are re-discovering music of the Baroque and earlier times. Coupled with performers who dedicate themselves to uncovering the essence of the music they play, using period instruments, this music comes alive with a fresh perspective. Reuniting after studying at the Royal Conservatory … Read more
In 2000 and 2001, ABC Classics released The Best of Joan Sutherland: Live from the Sydney Opera House, (Volumes 1 and 2) with the Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge. Ten years on, these two discs have been re-packaged in one box set as Classic Australian Performances. Now a year since the passing of … Read more
Originally a pianist, Claire Edwardes is now one of Australia’s most highly acclaimed percussionists. On her second recording for the Tall Poppies label, Edwardes has compiled a selection of 33 short pieces, some from her days as a fine pianist (Bach, Schumann, Shostakovich, Kabalevsky, Tchaikovsky, Bartok and Corea) and others are by Australian composers, some … Read more
Perhaps there are no other piano sonatas than these which have attracted such wide difference in interpretation. These sonatas written (1821-22) at a time when Beethoven was very ill and deafness had overtaken his life. He was also greatly obsessed with devotion to his nephew, Karl. Beethoven triumphs with these lasting testaments to the human … Read more
I never tire of listening to the “48” for they hold an incredible spiritual sense, deriving, I suspect, from Bach masterfully working in all 24 keys (12 major and 12 minor) with inspired polyphonic intricacy. Listening (and playing) these works can give an experience, not only to the soul and intellect, that is profound. Australian … Read more
There is a growing market for sight-reading exercises. Great to see, but it still comes down to the student doing this activity regularly. I became more than competent at sight-reading from an early age for two reasons; (1) I had an older sister who had lots and lots of music (all originals – there were … Read more
Notepad – Issue 7 Esquith, R., Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56, New York: Penguin Books, 2007 Largely constructed from anecdotal material collected from an impressive and extensive career in teaching, Esquith has formulated a document which should inspire and engage any teacher, young or old, who is … Read more
This is an unusual but very welcome addition to the piano repertoire for young people. It caught me by surprise as there were non of the expected names. Rather, the composers (mostly Australian or Italian) chosen for this enticing disc are Sofia Manta, Paul Smith, Holly Harrison, Ji Yun Lee, Adrian Barr, Michael Atherton, Diana … Read more
The debut album of Sydney pianist, Sally Whitwell is a couragious and landmark recording for the ABC. It shows a pianist of extraordinary skill in re-interpreting the solo piano music of Philip Glass using the equally innovative and powerful Stuart & Sons grand piano (complete with 102 keys). In the hands of Whitwell, the tonal … Read more