The Cream Of Classical
The Age
Saturday May 30, 2009
WHAT WanderingsWHEN June 11, 7pmWHERE South Melbourne Town Hall, The Butterfly Club, free, 96457911, anam.com.auBRITISH cellist Matthew Barley (above) visited the Australian National Academy of Music two years ago; this time, they have given him the building for a night. Moving outside the ANAM space, Barley will also take over the nearby Butterfly Club, filling the spaces with performances both planned and unplanned, putting the well-trained ANAM musicians through some unexpected hoops.WHAT Duo PianistsWHEN June 21, 6.30pmWHERE Rippon Lea, $35,9527 2851IN THE stately mansion's ballroom, the Team of Pianists presents an original program with Robert Chamberlain and Darryl Coote taking on the massive and idiosyncratic glories of Messiaen's 50-minute Visions de l'Amen. Later, Coote and TOP founder Max Cooke perform the Nutcracker Suite in an arrangement by Tchaikovsky's friend, Eduard Langer.WHAT Daniel Harding ConductsWHEN June 26, 8pmWHERE Melbourne Recital Centre, $50/$25; 9645 7922, anam.com.auDYNAMIC British conductor Daniel Harding whirls into town for a one-night stand with the ANAM orchestra, contributing a reading of Haydn's Symphony No. 83, The Hen, to this year's bicentenary celebrations. This happy work balances the grave Sibelius Symphony No. 7, with horn expert Geoff Lierse as soloist in the Australian premiere of Ligeti's Hamburg concerto.WHAT Freshwater TrioWHEN July 8, 6pmWHERE Melbourne Recital Centre, $30/$20, 96993333, melbournerecital.com.auFOLLOWING the pattern of their first Salon recital this year, the Freshwaters will play arrangements - this time, by Adam Starr - of some Songs Without Words by birth-bicentenary-celebrating Mendelssohn, as well as transcriptions for their instruments of several Bach arias. The program's central focus is the sprawling, powerful Schubert Piano Trio in E Flat.WHAT Ariadne auf NaxosWHEN July 21-27WHERE Playhouse, Arts Centre, $138-$38, 1300 723 038, victorianopera.com.auA COMEDY about an opera inside an opera, this bubbling masterpiece by Richard Strauss appears in a new Victorian Opera production by James McCaughey and features a wealth of local talent directed by Richard Gill. Elizabeth Stannard sings the title role, John MacMaster the god Bacchus, with Ireni Utley as the scene-stealing Zerbinetta.WHAT Steven Isserlis and Denes VarjonWHEN July 28, 7pm; August 1, 8pmWHERE Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, $108-$49, 9699 3333, mva.org.auFREQUENT visitor Steven Isserlis (above) indulges his enthusiasm for Schumann in a Musica Viva program that includes everything the composer wrote for cello-piano duet, including a version of the Marchenbilder Op. 113 and Isserlis' own arrangement of the last violin sonata. One of our era's great performers, the eminent cellist is partnered by Hungarian pianist DenesVarjon.WHAT An Evening with Mr HandelWHEN August 2, 5pmWHERE Melbourne Town Hall, $70.65/$54.10, 1300 136 166FOLLOWING the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic's all-Handel program in April, artistic director Andrew Wailes takes his forces into the familiar pages of Handel's Coronation Anthems, operatic arias, and solos and choruses from oratorios. Soprano Sara Macliver and counter-tenor Tobias Cole return to celebrate Handel's achievements.WHAT Australian Chamber OrchestraWHEN August 9, 2.30pm; August10, 8pmWHERE Hamer Hall, Arts Centre, $96.55/$56.30, 1300 136 166, aco.com.auSPANNING a wide spectrum, the ACO under Richard Tognetti performs three 20th century masterpieces for strings: the elegiac Metamorphosen of Richard Strauss, the equally retrospective Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams, and Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. For light relief, the ensemble works through Iannis Xenakis' Shaar.WHAT Charlotte Bronte: A Life in LettersWHEN August 16, 11amWHERE Iwaki Auditorium, Southbank, $35, 1300 136 166THIS recital/recitation offers an intimate picture of life in the Haworth rectory where the three Bronte sisters' talents blazed in obscurity. Actress Helen Morse reads from the letters and works of Charlotte, interwoven with pieces from the Brontes' music room, including transcriptions of orchestral music played by a quartet of MSO regulars and pianist Caroline Almonte.WHAT Mozart's Voice in MelbourneWHEN August 30, 2.30pmWHERE Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, $79/$20, 9699 3333A RARE treat, this concert exposes some of Mozart's finest neglected scores. The Melbourne Chamber Orchestra will begin with the Masonic Funeral Music before the noble optimism of the Sinfonia concertante with violinist Rebecca Chan and violist Stefanie Farrands. The Machlak/Kharatanova pianos perform the Concerto in E flat for 2 pianos, and the program ends with the early G minor Symphony No. 25. -- CLIVE O'CONNELL
© 2009 The Age
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