Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser are two Croatian lads who have gone global after posting their two-cello version of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal on YouTube. They also happen, both, to have improbably chiselled jaws and cool hair. Now signed to Sony, they have released a debut album of covers, including Sting’s Fragile, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Coldplay’s Viva la Vida. Both are classically trained virtuosos of their instrument, who put plenty of verve into these rather neat arrangements. If you like your pop music played by hunky Croatian cellists, this is as good as it gets.
November 29, 2011
On Liszt’s 200th birthday, Leslie Howard proves the composer-pianist was no empty showman. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
October 21, 2011
This unconventional British virtuoso is shaking up the classical piano world. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
October 6, 2011
Is the Russian virtuoso really the “greatest pianist in the world”? Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
September 13, 2011
Tributes pour in to mark the Australian conductor’s quarter-century. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
August 19, 2011
Yes, classical music can be funny. Ten thigh-slappingly good piss-takes of the noblest artform.
August 17, 2011
In 2012, the reign of Terracini begins at Opera Australia. Here’s what’s in store for his first programmed season. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
August 9, 2011
The outgoing director of the Art Gallery of NSW on opera, Karajan and the danger of mixing artforms.
August 4, 2011
It’s been a charmed career so far for Hayley Westenra. At the age of 16, her crossover album Pure became the fastest selling album in the history of the classical charts, fuelled by Westenra’s blend of choirgirl voice and angelic looks. That was 2003, this is now, and the 23-year-old Westenra, after a stint with crossover hotties Celtic Woman, has scored an astonishing coup in getting Ennio Morricone to provide new bespoke arrangements for an album of his songs. The classic theme from The Mission has been given lyrics for the first time (penned by Westenra), reemerging as Whispers in a Dream alongside tracks freshly squeezed from Cinema Paradiso, Once Upon a Time in the West etc. All these arrangements are conducted by Morricone with his 120-piece orchestra, the Sinfonietta di Roma – no synthesized strings here. Westenra’s voice has retained all its fabled choirgirl purity; and although it’s far from smooth across its range, she is always pitch-perfect, which is all you need for melodies that basically sell themselves. The final result is as schmaltzy as all get-out, but Westenra deserves plaudits for pushing the boundaries of the crossover canon beyond Danny Boy and You Raise Me Up.
July 19, 2011
Best known for orchestral works and grand opera, the Russian group of composers known as “The Mighty Handful” (Balakïrev, Borodin, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky) are found here in the salon, with a bouquet of piano works. The centrepiece is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, played in the original version. British pianist Philip Edward Fisher is most convincing in its lighter episodes, serving up an effervescent Ballet of the Chickens in their Eggs. For the hulking Polish cart Bydlo and the rousing Great Gate at Kiev finale, his playing is a touch too staid and introspective, never rising above forte or the constraints of “niceness”. Balakïrev’s Islamey, meanwhile, is dissected by Fisher with refreshing rigour. It’s a laudable attempt to make musical sense of a work often abused as a vehicle for virtuosity, especially by competition pianists. Still, although technically assured, Fisher’s account doesn’t quite gel: the pedalling is dry, the transitions between passages choppy. Not much Orientalist rapture here. Happily, Fisher relaxes into a more lyrical mood for Borodin’s beguiling, rather Tchaikovskian Petite Suite – the real discovery of this release. One wonders why its dreamy Serenade is not heard more often on compilations of the Piano-Music-to-Make-You-Swoon variety. The very forgettable Cui…
July 19, 2011
For many the fortepiano is an unfamiliar soundworld, but it just might help us hear Mozart’s genius afresh. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
July 18, 2011
Limelight catches up with a young opera and theatre director on the rise. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
July 12, 2011
