Saturday 23 August 2025 ACO on the Pier – The Neilson Walsh Bay Arts Precinct Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) When I saw the program for the latest ACO Up Close recital at The Neilson, I was curious as to the connection between Valentin Silvestrov and Dmitri Shostakovich. Yes they were both Soviet era […]
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Monday 18 August 2025 City Recital Hall Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Four strings. One mind. It’s easy to see why the Takács Quartet is considered one of the pre-eminent string quartets on the planet and a regular guest of Music Viva Australia. An appreciative crowd gathered on a wet winter night at the […]
Friday 15 August 2025 Rebecca Jensen and Sydney Dance Company. The Neilson, Walsh Bay Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Having spent the early years of my career working as a foley artist and sound effects editor, when I heard about a contemporary dance work based on the art of foley, I was intrigued. Rebecca […]
Saturday 16 August 2025 Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Ensemble White Bay Power Station Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) What White Bay Power Station lacks in the elite acoustic of the City Recital Hall or the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, it more than makes up for with its dramatic pre-WWI industrial infrastructure […]
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Sydney Symphony Orchestra Friday 1 August, 2025 Sydney Opera House Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) I’ve often thought for an orchestral musician, the absolute honour of opening a symphony concert with an exposed solo must be so exhilarating and at the same time so terrifying. The audiences’ expectations are greeted by you alone (no […]
Read More… from Review: Sydney Symphony Orchestra with Javier Perianes
Australian Chamber Orchestra Saturday 28 June, 2025 City Recital Hall Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) After the sudden cancellation due to injury of scheduled guest director and violinist, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the ACO scrambled to come up with an alternative program for the tour branded ACO Unleashed. What they devised was a program of familiar […]
Sydney Opera House VOX (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs) Fri 27 June 2025 Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Eric Whitacre is the master of suspension. Not in the horror movie kind of way, but more in his ability to create musical tension through harmony, sustain it until you think it will burst, and then resolve it […]
Read More… from Review: Eric Whitacre & VOX – Eternity in an Hour
21 June – 6 October 2025 Art Gallery of New South Wales Naala Badu building Lower level 2 Review by Anthony Frater (Arts Wednesday) Just when you thought you’d seen it all in relation to an indigenous fine art exhibition, along comes the AGNSW with Yolŋu power: the art of Yirrkala. From the 1940s to […]
Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House Saturday 21 June, 2025. Sydney Symphony Orchestra Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) While the music was exceptionally good (as you would expect), being up close and personal with members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was a unique experience in this latest offering from the Utzon Music Series. And the […]
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra City Recital Hall Tuesday 17 June 2025 Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) In “Baroque Unleashed”, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra rises to a whole new level in a concert of standard Italian Baroque music from the great composers of the era. Without a guest international star or any colourful staging or lighting, […]
UNSW Gallery until 10 August Review by Anthony Frater (Arts Wednesday) On now at the UNSW Galleries is an exhibition that gives the viewer a unique opportunity to see some indigenous fine works of art rarely seen in such a complete and comprehensive way under the one roof, particularly in this case, works from an […]
Read More… from Review: Parlingarri Amintiya Ningani Awungarra: Old & New at Jilamara Arts
Wednesday 4 June 2025 Sydney Opera House Bangarra Dance Theatre Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) For their brand new production, Illume, Bangarra Dance Theatre have been allowed onto the stage of the Joan Sutherland Theatre for the first time, and this huge new space was barely big enough to contain their brilliance. Every aspect […]