21st May 2017
by harryfiddler
0 comments
Articulation. Timbre. Pace. Pitch. Ornamentation. Tempo. Vibrato. Effect. Affect. There’s so much to think about once you enter the labyrinth of Historically Informed Performance. It sometimes feels like a loss of innocence – gone are the days of just playing, revelling … Continue reading
22nd April 2017
by harryfiddler
1 Comment
The latest addition to the ABC — Australia’s Banned Critics — has sent me in search of meaning again. First stop, some definitions. Criticism: the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad qualities of something or someone … Continue reading
17th February 2017
by harryfiddler
0 comments
There’s not much that can defeat the Song Company. This tight knit group can sing, act and, most important, think their way around pretty much anything you can throw at them. But with Cornelius Cardew they might have met their match. … Continue reading
8th January 2017
by harryfiddler
0 comments
Biographica Sydney Chamber Opera / Ensemble OffSpring Carriageworks, 7 January 2017 The life of scholar Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576) is an impossible tale. Obsession. Delusion. Murder. Betrayal. Invention. No one medium could do hope to do justice to the complexity of … Continue reading
15th December 2016
by harryfiddler
1 Comment
There’s no better antidote to the nuttiness of the end-of-year, end-of-term, end-of-everything scramble than 90 minutes of music from the Australian Brandenburg team. Their annual Noel Noel concert has become a permanent fixture in so many people’s calendars that this … Continue reading
1st December 2016
by harryfiddler
0 comments
I have a confession to make. Yesterday, at the first night of Pinchgut Opera’s Theodora, I did something I frequently do at concerts, but not at operas. I didn’t intend to, but I couldn’t resist. Yes, I admit it. I … Continue reading
27th November 2016
by harryfiddler
0 comments
It was a crowded house last night. Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, an all-star cast and a packed Concert Hall within. And without, all of Bennelong Point swarming with people either inside the enclosure, on the steps, or outside, … Continue reading
20th November 2016
by harryfiddler
3 Comments
I’ve started so many blogs commenting on how opera is faring in Australia. Here’s the start of yet another… Last Friday Mumbrella published a post covering a presentation on Opera Australia’s rebrand, given by its head of marketing and tourism, … Continue reading
12th November 2016
by harryfiddler
0 comments
To celebrate the start of this year’s Melbourne Ring Cycle, here’s my review of the 2013 cycle, which appeared originally in The Opera Critic. And so it arrives. The Ring Cycle, flagged as a key piece of Lyndon Terracini’s artistic … Continue reading
4th November 2016
by harryfiddler
1 Comment
In the grand tradition of writers writing about writing and painters painting pictures of painters painting, Opera Australia presents an opera about opera. They have the perfect setting, after all: a huge stepped stage with a stunning backdrop, lit by … Continue reading