Wednesday 7 August 2024 Sydney Opera House Sydney Symphony Orchestra Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Violinist Augustin Hadelich’s performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was a virtuosic performance of great proportion, it took our appreciation of this much loved concerto to a new level. From the opening bars we […]
Read More… from Review: Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the Sydney Opera House
Saturday 3 August 2024 City Recital Hall Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Dance Company Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) In Silence & Rapture the ACO combines the music of JS Bach and Arvo Pärt with contemporary dance choreographed by Sydney Dance Company’s Rafael Bonachela, and the question I am pondering is was it a […]
Read More… from Review: Silence & Rapture at the City Recital Hall
Monday 29 July 2024 Sydney Opera House King’s College Choir, Cambridge Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) I feel conflicted. When I look at the stage I see a couple of the boys fidgeting (they caught my eye because the rest of the choir were still, focused and disciplined). Fidgeting with their gowns, their hands, […]
Read More… from Review. King’s College Choir, Cambridge at the Sydney Opera House
Saturday July 20, 2024 Sydney Town Hall Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Not for the first time have we walked out of a Sydney Philharmonia Choirs concert feeling privileged that we had just witnessed something very special. Artistic Director, Brett Weymark’s curation of Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil combined lighting, staging, extraordinary […]
Read More… from Review: Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil at the Sydney Town Hall
July 5, 2024 City Recital Hall Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) A sumptuous night of harpsichord with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and guest harpsichordist Justin Taylor from France. For this concert Artistic Director, Paul Dyer and Production Designer, Trent Suidgeest recreated with great and authentic detail a salon from the Palace […]
Read More… from Review: Night in Versailles at the City Recital Hall
May 15, 2024 City Recital Hall Australian Chamber Orchestra Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Two of Australia’s biggest musical exports in mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby and tenor Stuart Skelton, return home for a season of late romantic masterpieces with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Works by Richard Wagner, Alma Mahler-Werfel and Gustav Mahler were all arrangements […]
Read More… from Review: Song of the Earth at the City Recital Hall
March 28, 2024 Sydney Town Hall Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) On Maundy Thursday, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs under Associate Music Director, Dr. Elizabeth Scott, reminded us why Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem is one of the most revered in that classical music genre. The concert begins with the now familiar Acknowledgement of […]
City Recital Hall Australian Chamber Orchestra Tuesday 13 February 2024 Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) After the success of Mountain in 2017, the Australian Chamber Orchestra immediately embarked on their next cinematic endeavour. After extensive deliberation and collaboration, River Live was ready to go on tour in 2021. We had all been receiving the […]
Read More… from Review: River Live at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place
Sydney Opera House Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Friday 15 December 2023 Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) As the audience kept pouring in to the Concert Hall, we soon realised it was a full house, only to notice all the boxes surrounding the stage were packed to the aisles with choristers. 600 hundred in all. And […]
Read More… from Review: Carols at the House – Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Sydney Opera House Friday 24 November 2023 Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) “The pinnacle of western classical music” is how AWO Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Alexander Briger describes Mahler’s 9th Symphony. It is a monumental work of 1.5 hours requiring 98 musicians to perform. But the Australian World Orchestra is no ordinary band. […]
Read More… from Review: Australian World Orchestra – Mahler 9
City Recital Hall, Angel Place Saturday 11 November 2023 Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) If you were to see 100 classical concerts, you would feel very privileged to witness what we saw and heard last night with the ACO and Russian pianist Polina Leschenko. Just wow! Richard Tognetti met his musical and spiritual equal […]
Read More… from Review: The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Chopin & the Mendelssohns
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra: “Poet of the Violin” City Recital Hall, Angel Place – Wednesday 1 November 2023 Reviewed by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) The Australian Brandenburg orchestra was on its best behaviour in the absence of Artistic Director, Paul Dyer. Instead we had Guest Artistic Director, Leila Schayegh from Switzerland leading the band brilliantly […]
Read More… from REVIEW: The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra: Poet of the Violin