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Jonathan Sutherland

Jonathan Sutherland is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg. He is also an internationally renowned concert pianist specializing in the music of the 1930s. Jonathan’s first operatic experience was hearing Maria Callas sing Tosca in Covent Garden and he has since heard performances in all continents of the world including over 60 different productions at the Wiener Staatsoper. He has written for The Australian, Opera Today and The Opera Critic as well as Bachtrack. Jonathan speaks English, French, German and Italian fluently and is based in the south of France near Nice.

Author:Jonathan Sutherland

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Pierre Audi’s new Parsifal grinds the gears in Munich

By Jonathan Sutherland, 28 June 2018

Instead of telling a story of spiritual enlightenment and ultimate redemption through faith, Pierre Audi's reading is bereft of mystery and magic.

****1

Pierre Audi’s new Parsifal grinds the gears in Munich

By Jonathan Sutherland

David Marton turns Don Giovanni into a wrist-slashing wimp in Lyon

By Jonathan Sutherland, 25 June 2018

A disappointing new production by David Marton at Opéra de Lyon.

**111

Marton turns Don Giovanni into a wrist-slashing wimp

By Jonathan Sutherland

Diana Damrau and Nicolas Testé: a variable evening of Verdi in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 04 June 2018

Unlike the conucopia of duets Verdi wrote for soprano and baritone, his music for soprano and bass is much more limited and what exists is not exactly the acme of his output.

***11

A variable evening of Verdi in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland

Alexander Liebreich’s Mahler 3 in Katowice has mystery and melancholy but misses the madness

By Jonathan Sutherland, 11 May 2018

A stellar performance of Mahler’s cosmic Third symphony reinforces the reputation of Katowice as a bone fide member of the premier European music league.

***11

Mystery and melancholy, but missing the madness

By Jonathan Sutherland

Berliner Philharmoniker redefine Shake, Rattle & Roll in Baden-Baden

By Jonathan Sutherland, 25 March 2018

Elīna Garanča brings subtle sonorities to an otherwise bravura and boisterous concert by Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.

****1

Berliner Philharmoniker redefine Shake, Rattle & Roll in Baden-Baden

By Jonathan Sutherland

Nothing false about La finta giardiniera in Baden-Baden

By Jonathan Sutherland, 25 March 2018

Christian Carsten’s hilarious production of Die Gärtnerin aus Liebe reveals Mozart’s non-judgmental social satire and irrepressible sense of fun.

****1

Nothing false about La finta giardiniera in Baden-Baden

By Jonathan Sutherland

Dieter Dorn’s Parsifal in Baden-Baden brings the full Monty to Monsalvat

By Jonathan Sutherland, 24 March 2018

Dieter Dorn’s staging robbed Wagner’s final masterwork of magic and mystery while Simon Rattle set new speed records.

***11

Dieter Dorn’s Parsifal brings the full Monty to Monsalvat

By Jonathan Sutherland

Alessandro Stradella: cloaks, daggers and musical genius

By Jonathan Sutherland, 26 February 2018

A swindler and a seducer who met his death at the hands of a seducee's furious brothers, Stradella was also one of the pioneering figures of the baroque, whose little remembered music sounds fresh and exciting to this day.

Alessandro Stradella: cloaks, daggers, genius

By Jonathan Sutherland

Mature musicality and seasoned virtuosity from Jan Lisiecki and Krzysztof Urbański in Lyon

By Jonathan Sutherland, 10 February 2018

With a pianist of the calibre of Jan Lisiecki, Krzysztof Urbański has created an award winning collaboration which puts the two Poles way apart from many other soloist-conductor combinations.

****1

Mature musicality and seasoned virtuosity from Jan Lisiecki and Krzysztof Urbański in Lyon

By Jonathan Sutherland

Respighi rarity a riotous romp at Opéra de Lyon

By Jonathan Sutherland, 09 February 2018

L’Opéra de Lyon’s new production of Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco was an operatic pastiche with fairy tale fantasy and foxtrots thrown in for good measure.

***11

Respighi rarity a riotous romp at Opéra de Lyon

By Jonathan Sutherland

Götterdämmerung splutters to a tepid conclusion in Dresden

By Jonathan Sutherland, 04 February 2018

With a plethora of theatre seats, stools and benches it was as if Willy Decker and Wolfgang Gussman had been elected ‘Chair-men of the bored”.

***11

Götterdämmerung splutters to a tepid conclusion in Dresden

By Jonathan Sutherland

Christian Thielemann's Staatskapelle Dresden excels in Siegfried

By Jonathan Sutherland, 01 February 2018

The third installment of Semperoper Dresden’s Ring des Nibelungen cycle ups the ante with an outstanding ensemble performance.

****1

Christian Thielemann's Staatskapelle Dresden excels in Siegfried

By Jonathan Sutherland

Valkyries scramble over theatre seats as Semperoper Dresden's Ring advances

By Jonathan Sutherland, 30 January 2018

Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra are let down by sub-optimal singers in Willy Deckers chair-laden production of Die Walküre.

***11

Valkyries scramble over theatre seats

By Jonathan Sutherland

All hands on Decker for Das Rheingold in Dresden

By Jonathan Sutherland, 29 January 2018

Wagner demands vocal resilience from the large cast of singers in Das Rheingold, but Willy Decker wants strong thigh muscles as well.

***11

All hands on Decker for Das Rheingold in Dresden

By Jonathan Sutherland

Bringing a picnic to the poltergeist: Don Giovanni in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 14 January 2018

Jean-Louis Martinoty’s scenically seductive Don Giovanni comes as a welcome relief from recent Regietheater aberrations.

***11

Bringing a picnic to the poltergeist

By Jonathan Sutherland

Ingo Kerkhof's production of Salome stripped bare in Hannover

By Jonathan Sutherland, 22 December 2017

Ingo Kerkhof’s specious contemporary staging was only redeemed by a gruesome scalp and some marvellous playing in the pit.

***11

Salome stripped bare in Hannover

By Jonathan Sutherland

West Side Story visually vibrant but musically mediocre in Hannover

By Jonathan Sutherland, 21 December 2017

Matthias Davids’ impressive production needed the dynamism of Dudamel to do justice to Bernstein’s marvellous music.

***11

West Side Story visually vibrant but musically mediocre in Hannover

By Jonathan Sutherland

Guy Joosten’s La bohème a feast for voyeurs in Hamburg

By Jonathan Sutherland, 19 December 2017

Johannes Laiacker’s inspired set designs were a perfect example of how a modern setting can avoid being gratuitously iconoclastic.

***11

Hamburg Bohème a feast for voyeurs

By Jonathan Sutherland

Rousseau and a boxing ring: Ariodante in Stuttgart

By Jonathan Sutherland, 17 December 2017

In Jussi Wieler and Sergio Morabito’s pugilistic production of Ariodante, the singers needed as much physical and gymnastic dexterity as vocal finesse.

***11

Rousseau and a boxing ring: Ariodante in Stuttgart

By Jonathan Sutherland

Putting frippery before Freud: Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s Arabella at the Wiener Staatsoper

By Jonathan Sutherland, 14 December 2017

The current stage-setting of Arabella at the Wiener Staatsoper proves that “all that’s Glittenberg” is not gold.

***11

Putting frippery before Freud

By Jonathan Sutherland

Constantin Trinks’ cut and paste Siegfried is far from idyllic at the Theater an der Wien

By Jonathan Sutherland, 09 December 2017

Tatjana Gürbaca’s whole scale tampering with Wagner’s Siegfried had so many flashbacks and flashforwards there should have been a warning for photosensitive members of the audience.

**111

Trinks’ cut and paste Siegfried far from idyllic

By Jonathan Sutherland

Uwe Eric Laufenberg’s Elektra a disappointment in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 05 December 2017

German theatre director Uwe Eric Laufenberg freely incorporates some of Stanley Kubrik’s horror story concepts into his Elektra, but in ignoring both Sophocles and Strauss, is a long way from shining.

***11

Laufenberg’s Elektra a disappointment in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland

Die schweigsame Frau: a commedia del Kosky staging in Munich

By Jonathan Sutherland, 15 November 2017

Barrie Kosky’s clever direction enlivens a Strauss rarity at the Bayerische Staatsoper but the minimalist stage setting sinks HMS Schweigsame Frau.

***11

A commedia del Kosky staging in Munich

By Jonathan Sutherland

The combination of Mozart and Rott makes for a memorable concert in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 10 November 2017

After Jan Lisiecki gave an immaculate interpretation of a perennial Mozart piano concerto, Sebastian Weigle revelled in the brassy bravura of a symphony which remains virtually unknown in the city where it was composed over a hundred years ago.

****1

Mozart and Rott make for a memorable concert in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland

Leonore 1805 a boon for Beethoven buffs in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 24 October 2017

Beethoven lovers were expecting an authentic recreation of the first version of Fidelio but instead they got Leonore à la Jacobs.

***11

A boon for Beethoven buffs in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland

Salome in Vienna is big on decibels, but short on detail

By Jonathan Sutherland, 21 September 2017

Gun-Brit Barkmin’s Salome was neither sexy, salacious, psycho-erotic nor particularly well sung.

***11

Big on decibels, short on detail

By Jonathan Sutherland

La Currentzis di Tito: a Mozartian mishap in Wrocław

By Jonathan Sutherland, 17 September 2017

Mozart was supposed to be the composer of La clemenza di Tito but it was really a critical edition of Metastasio’s opus by Teodor Currentzis.

**111

La Currentzis di Tito: a Mozartian mishap in Wrocław

By Jonathan Sutherland

Il giardino armonico’s bouquet of Baroque bonbons causes a sensation in Wrocław

By Jonathan Sutherland, 10 September 2017

A concert at the Andrzej Markowski International Wratislavia Cantans Festival that was anything but traditional or predictable.

****1

Il giardino armonico’s bouquet of Baroque bonbons causes a sensation in Wrocław

By Jonathan Sutherland

Very variable Vespers at the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland

By Jonathan Sutherland, 09 September 2017

Jean Tubéry’s virtuosity as a maestro di cornetto made up for disappointing vocalism in Monteverdi’s Vesperis in Festis Beata Mariae Vergine

***11

Very variable Vespers at the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland

By Jonathan Sutherland

Diana Damrau almost dazzles at the Grafenegg Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland, 27 August 2017

Diana Damrau performs Mozart and Strauss at the Grafenegg Festival, located about an hour’s drive from Vienna.

***11

Diana Damrau almost dazzles at the Grafenegg Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland

Sarah Connolly brings the best of British to Tuscany

By Jonathan Sutherland, 05 August 2017

Dame Sarah Connolly and Julius Drake savour the al fresco surrounds of the Villa Foce to produce a delightful evening of eclectic music in four languages. Delizioso!

***11

Sarah Connolly brings the best of British to Tuscany

By Jonathan Sutherland

A day at the Palace – not Buckingham, but Rundāle in Latvia

By Jonathan Sutherland, 21 July 2017

Good music is good music no matter where it comes from or when it was written. For 23 years, the International Early Music Festival in Riga proves the point with sold-out seasons leaving legions music-loving locals clamouring for more.

A day at the Palace – not Buckingham, but Rundāle in Latvia

By Jonathan Sutherland

Dido and Aeneas enjoys a meticulous musical makeover from Christian Frattima in Riga

By Jonathan Sutherland, 07 July 2017

Almost all the singers, orchestra and conductor were Italian, but it was local soprano Elīna Šimkus and the Latvian Radio Choir who sang Purcell’s magnum opus as if to the English manner born.

***11

A meticulous musical makeover in Riga

By Jonathan Sutherland

Latvian Radio Choir resplendent in Gregorian chant and the Eton Choir Book

By Jonathan Sutherland, 06 July 2017

In the tiny Baltic state of Latvia, music loving locals are hell-bent on going for Baroque.

****1

Resplendent in Gregorian chant and the Eton Choir Book

By Jonathan Sutherland

A bazaar performance underscores Istanbul’s Unusual Music Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland, 04 June 2017

Serpents steal the show in one of Istanbul’s most charming shopping centres.

****1

A bazaar performance underscores Istanbul’s Unusual Music Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland

Celebrating the human voice: Giovanni Antonini takes the reins at Wratislavia Cantans Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland, 08 June 2017

Giovanni Antonini's latest challenge is the Artistic Directorship of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wrocław Poland, intending to raise its profile on the European scene.

Giovanni Antonini takes the reins at Wratislavia Cantans Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland

The Music Route: A feast for peripatetic music lovers in Istanbul

By Jonathan Sutherland, 03 June 2017

An arcane Armenian orthodox chapel, two glittering Greek Orthodox churches, a waterfront palazzo and a sumptuous Austrian villa were fascinating venues for a delightful day of mini-concerts at the Istanbul Festival.

****1

A feast for peripatetic music lovers in Istanbul

By Jonathan Sutherland

In Istanbul, Beethoven's Violin Concerto comes with cannon and muezzin obbligato

By Jonathan Sutherland, 01 June 2017

Although Beethoven was none too fond of despots, self-proclaimed emperors, or religious intuitions, one can image his approbation for Justinian’s stupendous Hagia Eirene basilica as a perfect venue for his music.

***11

In Istanbul, Beethoven comes with cannon and muezzin

By Jonathan Sutherland

Kandinsky and Chagall fail to camouflage patchy playing in Istanbul

By Jonathan Sutherland, 31 May 2017

Mikhail Rudy’s recital adapting music to animated art projections disappoints.

*1111

Kandinsky and Chagall fail to camouflage patchy playing

By Jonathan Sutherland

An esoteric combination opens the aptly named Unusual Istanbul Music Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland, 29 May 2017

Most music Festivals only have to deal with demanding divas, mercurial maestros or bad weather. In Istanbul there is a lot more at stake.

***11

Opening concert of the Istanbul Music Festival

By Jonathan Sutherland

Stefan Vinke’s smiling hero saves an otherwise sluggish Siegfried in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 28 May 2017

Stefan Vinke was a convincing, petulant, pouty Siegfried in the third episode in Wagner's Ring cycle in Vienna.

***11

Vinke’s smiling hero saves an otherwise sluggish Siegfried

By Jonathan Sutherland

Peter Schneider takes the Valkyries on a wild ride in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland, 21 May 2017

Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s minimalist staging brought the protagonists’ complicated psychological interaction into focus but to the detriment of Wagner’s myth and magic.

***11

Peter Schneider takes the Valkyries on a wild ride in Vienna

By Jonathan Sutherland

Closer to St. Trinian’s than Braveheart: Lucia in Hamburg

By Jonathan Sutherland, 13 May 2017

Neither Sir Walter Scott nor Donizetti were well served by the farcical staging, but finally bellissimo bel canto prevailed over the production.

***11

Closer to St. Trinian’s than Braveheart: Lucia in Hamburg

By Jonathan Sutherland

Mother of all bel canto: Florentine Klepper’s Norma self destructs in Graz

By Jonathan Sutherland, 06 May 2017

Not only was the production devoid of Druids or Romans, it turned Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece into an implausible, trite, contemporary crypto-Che Guevara misadventure.

***11

Klepper’s Norma self destructs in Graz

By Jonathan Sutherland

Music Festivals in Italy are as prolific as permutations of pasta

By Jonathan Sutherland, 20 April 2017

Italy has such an abundance of la dolce vita musicale it can be overwhelming, especially in the long, languid summer months when music-lovers, culture-cognoscenti and garrulous gourmands alike can savour the best of what this extraordinary country has to offer.

Italian music festivals: As prolific as pasta!

By Jonathan Sutherland

Don Carlo in Zagreb is a feast for musicologists and fulsome fare for gourmands of grand opera

By Jonathan Sutherland, 10 April 2017

Octogenarian maestro Elio Boncompagni has dug deep into the plethora of Don Carlos partiture and come up with a precious musical treasure. Derek Gimpel's direction disappoints.

***11

Don Carlo in Zagreb: a feast for musicologists

By Jonathan Sutherland

Mariusz Treliński turns La traviata into a tawdry travesty in Warsaw

By Jonathan Sutherland, 07 April 2017

Mariusz Treliński's Traviata had nothing to do with Dumas, Piave or Verdi. It's as if he confused La Dame aux camélias with Lulu.

**111

A tawdry travesty of a Traviata in Warsaw

By Jonathan Sutherland

Postcard from Wrocław: visually enchanting and historically fascinating

By Jonathan Sutherland, 03 April 2017

The hardest task facing foreign visitors to the fascinating Polish city of Wrocław is how to pronounce it.

Postcard from Wrocław

By Jonathan Sutherland

Andreas Homoki’s Rigoletto brings the Bundesliga to the Hamburg Staatsoper

By Jonathan Sutherland, 16 March 2017

At least the colour-coded characters in Andreas Homoki’s farcical production made it easy to know which team to barrack for.

**111

Homoki’s Rigoletto brings the Bundesliga to Hamburg

By Jonathan Sutherland

Jan Lisiecki tames Toyota’s troublesome acoustics at the Elphi in Hamburg

By Jonathan Sutherland, 15 March 2017

Jan Lisiecki displays total control in Chopin, troublesome acoustics mar Bernstein and Rachmaninov.

***11

Jan Lisiecki tames Toyota’s troublesome acoustics at the Elphi in Hamburg

By Jonathan Sutherland