Posts Tagged Opera

Archive

March 30, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 323

Rigoletoo Quartet, Bella Figlia Dell Amore [EP] Sometimes – it doesn’t happen that often now, although it just happened then – I’ll go sifting through a record shelf and find something I don’t know anything about. Why I own it? Where it came from? Etc. And so that’s the case with this 7” classical single/EP. It probably came […]

Archive

July 12, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Songs For Nobodies: Theatre

Songs For Nobodies Direction: Ross Gumbley (written by Joanna Murray-Smith) Circa Theatre; Circa One (July 7 – August 4) [Ali-Cat Productions Ltd] Ali Harper here performs ten roles, a dozen voices, as – variously – the famous singers Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas. But she is also the “nobodies”, […]

Archive

March 18, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Gig Review: Anne Sofie von Otter w/ NZSO (March 15, Wgtn)

Anne Sofie von Otter w/ NZSO MFC Thursday, March 15 Anne Sofie von Otter is one of the great operatic singers of her generation. A master. Such lightness – but strength. There’s a great joy she conveys, in the very act and art of singing. And of course she’s capable of the full range of […]

Archive

May 28, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 551

The Modern Jazz Quartet, Plays The Music of Porgy and Bess (1965) I’ve never seen a production of Porgy and Bess, never seen one of the filmed versions either…but I know the music well, from so many different records and renditions. I think I first heard it through my grandfather; one of the only ways […]

Archive

December 8, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

V/A: Christmas at Downton Abbey

Various Artists: Christmas at Downton Abbey Warner Bros. I might be taking this new enthusiasm for Christmas music/albums a bit far by telling you that I really quite like this double CD (45 tracks!) of Christmas music from the cast of Downton Abbey (and others) performed to fit/evoke the era of the show. But I’m […]

Archive

October 22, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Moses Mackay/Amitai Pati/Pene Pati: Sol3 Mio – Our Story

Sol3 Mio: Our Story Moses Mackay/Amitai Pati/Pene Pati Penguin Sole Mio (or Sol3 Mio as it is stylised) had the biggest selling album in New Zealand in 2013 – they backed that up with concerts that showcased down-to-earth personalities and homegrown humour. They quickly became – seemingly out of nowhere – a phenomenon. So now, […]

Archive

May 28, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 1115

Otto Klemperer/New Philharmonia Orchestra, Bach: Mass In B Minor (1968) Bach was the thing for me – in terms of classical music, baroque music, any sort of “instrumental” music outside of film scores. And what hooked me on Bach was hearing The Brandenburgs – realising I’d actually heard them before, heard things derived from them […]