David is a lecturer at the University of Sydney, specialising in nineteenth-century music. Educated at Dublin and Cambridge, he has published on Richard Strauss, Liszt and Wagner. He gives pre-concert talks for the Sydney Symphony, and sings with a number of chamber choirs.
Davide Livermore's new production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena offers moderate pleasures, with solid performances by Ermonela Jaho in the title role, and Carmen Topciu as Jane Seymour.
Graeme Murphy's new Madama Butterfly opens with arrestingly kinky imagery and heavily exploits digital projections thereafter, but the joy of the production is in the uniform excellence of the performers, headed by the outstanding Karah Son in the title role.
Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria is given the Pinchgut treatment, with an abstract staging complementing historically informed music-making under Erin Helyard.
Under guest director Lorenza Borrani a subdued ACO offers a programme of arrangements of Prokofiev and Beethoven sandwiching a new work by Dobrinka Tabakova.
For their 2019 season-opener, Tognetti and the ACO collaborate with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir to give a meditative, quasi-religious program centred on Bach and Pärt.
Setting aside a disappointing first movement of the Eroica, the Berlin Staatskapelle under Barenboim deliver another polished and persuasive performance in their third Sydney concert.
Having offered a strong feminist reading of Wagner's Ring, could Kasper Holten do the same again for Die Meistersinger? Opera Australia's co-production had moments of excellence, but ultimately left the viewer with more questions than answers
Richard Tognetti, David Grimal and Daniel Hope, three well-known violinists who also lead chamber orchestras, provide fascinating insights into the changing musical landscape today and the challenges of being both performers and leaders.
Ilya Gringolts brings his brand of unspectacular virtuosity to the ACO's latest programme, with the Paganini Violin Concerto no. 1 and Bartók's Divertimento clear highlights.
Pared-down forces of the ACO performed pared down masterpieces, in a brilliantly conceived programme which included works by Wagner, Strauss and Mozart.
Davide Livermore's digital set for Opera Australia's new production of Aida ushers in a new type of staging to the Sydney Opera House, and backs up a stellar performance from Amber Wagner in the title role.
On their return to Sydney, the Australian World Orchestra under Riccardo Muti offer a subdued reading of Brahms’ Symphony no. 2 and a thrilling account of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 4.
Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour returns with La bohème, in a fine production by Andy Morton, with star turns from Iulia Maria Dan and Ho-Yoon Chung in the lead roles.
Massanet’s Don Quichotte is mounted by Opera Australia, in a production which creaks but is held together by fine singing from Ferruccio Furlanetto and Warwick Fyfe.
Kosky’s The Nose hits Sydney, sweeping the audience along with hallucinogenic energy. Led by the outstanding Martin Winkler and John Tomlinson, singers and musicians deliver a wild evening's entertainment.
In their Sydney season-opener, the ACO with guest players from ANAM deliver a thoroughly satisfying account of two 19th-century standards and introduce two new works to Australian audiences.
An outstanding cast headed by Karah Son in the title role provides a fitting send off for Opera Australia’s much-loved production of Madama Butterfly in Sydney
Four years ago, the ACO mounted The Reef. Mountain is clearly its successor: another film project involving scenes of nature peopled by extreme-sports enthusiasts, screened while an eclectic soundtrack is played live by the orchestra.
