Category Archive: MUSIC
Kronos Five Decades
(Adelaide Festival Theatre, 13 March 2023) Kronos Quartet is not a string quartet: it is an anti-string quartet. “The Kronos Quartet has broken the boundaries of what string quartets do” quoth the holy New York Times. “…the most far-ranging ensemble geographically, nationally, and stylistically the world has known” was the verdict of the somewhat less paper-of-record Los Angeles Times. The group is from Seattle, by way of San Francisco, which is surely a ‘tell.’ Violinists David Harrington and John Sherba, violist Hank Dutt, and cellist Paul Wiancko can play their instruments beautifully, as they demonstrated in the 2nd part of…
Continue Reading →Escolania De Montserrat
(AF, Adelaide Town Hall, 4 March 2023) Founded in the 13th century, this ensemble is the oldest extant boys’ choir in the world and its rigorous training and selection criteria ensure its standards never slip. The choirboys of Escolania are taught the Benedictine sacred repertoire at the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey in Catalonia (established in 1,025AD). Their core duty is to enliven pilgrims who come to Montserrat, so to see them on tour – 36 of the full complement of 50 – is quite special. Llorenç Castelló (see below) conducted the choir, who entered the Hall from the back,…
Continue Reading →Burt Bacharach – the Look of Love
(Burt Bacharach, 12 May 1928 – 8 February 2023) Musical polymath Burt created perfect classic pop-tunes, interwoven with Hal David’s intricate lyrics. He’ll be missed!! His Best Songs IMHO: “Please Stay” “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself” “Anyone Who Had a Heart” “Walk On By” “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” “What the World Needs Now Is Love” “I Say a Little Prayer” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” “I Still Have That Other Girl” “What’s Her Name Today?” “God Give Me…
Continue Reading →Tár
Directed by Todd Field (2022) To err is human; to forgive, Divine; to cancel, de rigueur. Lydia Tár (not her real name?) is a pianist, ethnomusicologist, composer, and the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. She’s as busy as a bee: at a festschrift, she plugs her new book to Adam Gopnik of the ‘New Yorker’ (they wouldn’t invite Steve Bannon, but this luvvie? No problem!) and she is preparing the forthcoming live recording of Mahler’s 5th. She’s teaching (and bullying) at Juilliard; lunching with a moneyman who wants to pick her brains; she’s hiring and firing; she’s…
Continue Reading →A Difficult Woman
Renée Geyer (11 September 1953 – 17 January 2023) “A white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama.” This how Geyer described herself, one of the true originals, and the first (and best) Australian woman to master Soul, Jazz, R & B songs (think “It’s a Man’s Man’s World,” “Since I Fell for You,” “Heading in the Right Direction,” “Stares and Whispers,” “Stormy Monday,” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Difficult Woman,” and the pop classic “Say I Love You.”) She was interpreting, and enhancing, the great world songbook long before Rod Stewart or Jimmy Barnes. Whilst…
Continue Reading →