October 2023

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Features

We explore the mystique of Wagner’s magnum opus as it goes digital.

by Jansson J. Antmann

AWO Artistic Director Alexander Briger helps unravel the Mahler Nine.

by Clive Paget

Adapting the best-selling novel The Dictionary of Lost Words for the stage.

by Cassie Tongue

Sir Eugene Goossens and his role in creating the Sydney Opera House.

by Vincent Plush

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Soundings

Interview

Sir James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater has its Australian premiere this month. The Scottish composer discusses why it is such a human text, how his Catholic faith has deepened, and why composing is such a compulsion.

by Clive Paget

On the Record

This month we are in vocal heaven with period instrument Rodgers & Hammerstein, Shakespearean song, an operatic take on Wuthering Heights, and a resurrected Parsifal.

by Clive Paget

Classical Music

Ahead of his upcoming tour with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, violinist Joshua Bell discusses making up for lost time and the meaning of music in our lives.

by Jansson J. Antmann

Classical Crossover

Il Divo’s American tenor David Miller discusses returning to Australia for the first time since the death of the group’s Spanish baritone Carlos Marín.

by Jo Litson

Opera

Students from NIDA and the Sydney Conservatorium are staging Elena Kats-Chernin’s jazzy reimagining of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea.

by Deborah Jones

Opera

★★★★ This engrossing start to Barrie Kosky’s new Ring Cycle can be seen in Australian cinemas this month.

by Clive Paget

Cutting Edge

Curator Jonathan Wilson explains his ideas for Volume, a new festival at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

by Maddy Briggs

In the Limelight

A round-up of our recent news reports.

The buzz around live performance.

Radio and streaming concert highlights.

Coda

Guy Noble's Soapbox

Pondering our dopamine addiction and obsessive need to feel good, Guy Noble wonders if boredom is a necessary counterpoint to genuine happiness.

Playing Up

Born in America and now based in Sydney, Riley Lee was the first non-Japanese person to attain the rank of Dai Shihan or Grand Master of the shakuhachi. He traces his journey.

World Premiere

Dharug composer Christopher Sainsbury has written a new opera for Victorian Opera, with a libretto by First Nations playwright Jane Harrison, based on her play.

by Harriet Cunningham

5 Questions For

The celebrated Peruvian tenor discusses making his Australian debut with a recital tour.

My Music

The Sydney Opera House CEO reveals she often cries in concerts and practises the cello every morning before work, after starting lessons five years ago.

Playlists

Staff and Contributors

Print Editor
Jo Litson

Digital Editor
Jason Blake

Designer
Tristan Main

Editor-­at-­Large
Clive Paget

Staff Writer
Maddy Briggs

Contributors
Peter Berner, Harriet Cunningham, Peter Donnelly, Louise Herron, Jansson J. Antmann, Deborah Jones, Riley Lee, Guy Noble, Vincent Plush, Cassie Tongue

Publisher

Limelight Arts Media Pty Ltd

Chief Executive Officer
Cara Anderson

Subscriptions & Operations Manager
William Jeffery

Sales Manager
Carla Bird

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