Sibelius: Complete Symphonies and Kerelia Suite and Finlandia by NZSO review
A near-perfect set of all seven symphonies from Pietari Inkinen and the NZSO. [more]
Classical
Interview: the New Zealand String Quartet
The NZSQ tackle the Everest of the chamber music repertoire for their 25th anniversary. [more]
Sibelius: Complete Symphonies and Kerelia Suite and Finlandia by NZSO review
A near-perfect set of all seven symphonies from Pietari Inkinen and the NZSO. [more]
Classical albums: January 2012
BERNARD HERRMANN: MOBY DICK and SINFONIETTA, Richard Edgar-Wilson (tenor), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Danish National Choir and Symphony Orchestra, Michael Schønwandt (conductor) (Chandos/Ode). Hermann (1911-75) is best known for scoring films by directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut. His most famous score, Psycho, had its origins in the Sinfonietta of... [more]
Peter Walls interview
As chief executive Peter Walls leaves and Christopher Blake prepares to succeed him, what beckons for the NZSO? [more]
The 10 best classical CDs and DVDs of 2011
Our reviewers highlight the best CDs from the classical world. [more]
Anne Sofie von Otter interview
The Swedish mezzo-soprano brings a fraction of her repertoire to New Zealand this week. [more]
Plácido’s gift
Plácido Domingo’s big-hearted charity concert was musically and financially... [more]
Recent classical releases – 24 September
CALDARA IN VIENNA: FORGOTTEN CASTRATO ARIAS, Philippe Jaroussky, Concerto Köln, Emanuelle Haïm (director) (Virgin Classics). Antonio Caldara belongs to that company of baroque composers whose sometimes stellar careers were followed by almost complete obscurity, and a gradual revival centuries later, often at the instigation of dedicated musicologists. Caldara produced some... [more]
Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci review
This year NBR New Zealand Opera has demonstrated its international class by stepping aside from the Top 20, recognising New Zealanders are ready for more of the huge range of masterpieces that delight the rest of the world, including some by composers who are not quite household names. First Xerxes;... [more]
A Search for Tradition by Douglas Lilburn review
The search Douglas Lilburn began for a New Zealand classical tradition remains exhilarating. [more]
Recent classical releases – 3 September
HANDEL: SERSE, Anne Sofie von Otter, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Sandrine Piau, Lawrence Zazzo, Silvia Tro Santafé, Giovanni Furlanetto, Antonio Abete, Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (conductor) (Virgin Classics/EMI 3CD).
Handel’s late Italian opera was a tragi-comic hybrid, and with the considerable talents of Abete in the role of Elviro, this 2003 live... [more]
Elizabeth Futral interview
Lessons learnt in a Louisianan Baptist church and from diva Virginia Zeani helped make Elizabeth Futral the in-demand coloratura soprano she is today. [more]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, New Zealand School of Music
One of Benjamin Britten’s most inspired scores is finally performed in this country – thanks to the New Zealand School of Music. [more]
Vasily Petrenko
Brilliant young Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko is renowned for his passion for Shostakovich’s... [more]
Classical CDs – 23 July
Most classical recordings simply exhibit repertoire, but often as not early music discs develop themes. Jordi Savall’s is a lavish example: 400 pages (only 50 of them in English) of essays and illustrations, and three CDs exploring in music the history of the Renaissance Borgia family.
You can hardly go... [more]