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In this issue
Fame Came too late
Rex Burgess explores the story of Georges Bizet
The French composer Georges Bizet was born in Paris in 1838, living most of his life on the southern slopes of Montmartre before dying just 36 years later, on 3 June 1875. He became a highly accomplished pianist, and also wrote orchestral music, piano pieces and almost 50 songs and various choral and incidental works, including music for the ballet L’Arlèsienne. But for all practical purposes his career may be seen as beginning and ending with opera.
Georges was an only child, his father a hairdresser turned singing teacher with a few compositions to his name, and his mother a talented pianist who also came from a musical family. Georges’ introduction to music started when he was only four.
June Program Highlights
Orlando Gibbons: ‘The best hand in England’
Related program: Baroque and Before, Friday 6 June at 10pm
Susan Foulcher highlights the composer's virtuosic prowess
What is it about Orlando Gibbons that made him Glenn Gould’s favourite composer? Gibbons, who died 400 years ago, on 5 June 1625, was the best-known member of a musical family dynasty, a leading composer of vocal, consort and keyboard music and a transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Shostakovich: Defeating the tyranny of cowards
Related program: Special series of programs in June, July and August
Paolo Hooke showcases the composers enduring legacy
Shostakovich’s music will be relevant for as long as there are dictators and oppressive regimes in the world. That makes it as important today as ever …His works reveal what it is like to live in fear, isolation, and hardship under a government that oppresses dissent and forbids freedom of speech…As more and more people find themselves in this situation, Shostakovich expresses the courage and determination that can defeat the tyranny of cowards, and gives those of us who are more fortunate the empathy we need to be able to help wherever possible.
– Mark Wigglesworth, British conductor and Shostakovich specialist
Taronga Idyll
Related program: Taronga Idyll, Friday 20 June at 1pm
Heather Middleton explores the connection between music and the natural world
Each emerging musical era defines the social world in place and time and reflects the value the natural world holds. This connection is no more apparent than when composers turn their hand to exploring the world of animals.
Musical observations of the character of species and clever imitations of animal cries have been present in the Western world for at least 500 years.
From the Archives - Across oceans and time
Related program: Life of a Composer, Saturday 21 June at 8pm
Nicky Gluch explores the relationship between British conductor John Wilson and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein and John Wilson were two men separated by oceans and time, whose fates are linked. With both being conductors, arrangers and lovers of the stage, it is no surprise that it was Wilson who was chosen to honour Bernstein in his centenary year, 2018. The greater mystery is how a man from Gateshead on Tyneside came to be so enraptured with the Broadway master. Perhaps Shakespeare holds the answer.
Interviews
Hi Five with Lucy Clifford
Barry O'Sullivan speaks with the Australian bassist and composer
Lucy Clifford has built an international career performing, touring and recording globally with Grammy-winning artists and notable ensembles across many genres. She was the 2022 recipient of the Jann Rutherford Memorial Award, which celebrates women in jazz, and is an active member of the Australian music community.
CD Reviews
Piano Diary by Andrea Lam
-Michael Morton-Evans
Anyone who watched the fabulous ABC TV show The Piano will know two things about Australian pianist Andrea Lam, firstly that she is a ‘gun pianist’ (defined by Wikipedia one whose fast, rhythmic style of playing … mimics the rapid fire of a gun) and secondly that she is a sentimentalist.
Ember by COAST
-Barry O'Sullivan
Drummer Paul Derricott released his sophomore album, Big Sea, in 2010, followed by the energetic self-titled debut from his band COAST in 2018. After the successful release of Skim in 2019 and Live 2023 earlier this year, Derricott’s compositional project returns with nine more calculated tracks of experimental jazz fusion.
Arcs & Rivers
by Joel Lyssarides and Georgios Prokopiou
-Robert Vale
This duet album brings together Swedish pianist/composer Lyssarides and Greek bouzouki player Prokopiou. The pairing of a pianist with the player of an instrument from the plucked lute family has been a most successful formula in recent years. The late Chick Corea’s partnership with banjo player Bela Fleck in 2007 and that of Stefano Bollani with mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda in 2013 particularly come to mind.
Gold
by Australian Chamber Choir
-Michael Morton-Evans
There’s no doubt whatsoever that the members of the Australian Chamber Choir are great singers, but listening to their recent release, Gold, I just wish they were a little more adventurous. Gold showcases the work of eight different Australian composers, ranging from Luke Speedy-Hutton to Sir Malcom Williamson, all of whom, apart from Williamson, are vaguely similar.
Download the June Program Guide
Musical trivia
Crossword and cryptic crossword puzzles
