Sandra Bowdler was born and educated in Sydney, and has pursued a career as an archaeologist since graduating from the University of Sydney in 1970. She is now Emeritus Professor of Archaeology and a Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia in the School of Social Sciences and the School of Music. Since attending a production of Handel’s opera Alcina at the Sydney Opera House in 1982, she has become a devotee of the works of GF Handel, and Baroque music generally. In 1996 she began writing opera reviews for online outlets, graduating to more professional sources by 2000. In 2007, she inaugurated Festival Baroque Australia in Perth, Western Australia, Australia’s first Baroque music festival. Under that banner, she curated two festivals and several concerts in Perth.
A single performance of Rossini's Cinderella story in Launceston, Tasmania was an unmitigated delight, with a sparkling cast of international performers.
A thrilling performance of one of Handel's most dramatic oratorios was rapturously received at the Göttingen International Handel Festival, rising from the Covid ashes this year
George Petrou and the FestspielOrchester Göttingen receive a rapturous reception in the opening concert of the resurrected International Handel Festival at Göttingen.
Vivaldi's opera Farnace presents a basically insoluble problem: how to produce a more or less complete version. While this is not solved by the Ferrara production, it is strong musically and enjoyable.
Whether one considers Messiah to be really appropriate for Christmas, it always a welcome gift for the Handel aficionado, and this performance from Rotterdam, while suffering some unfortunate cuts, is an otherwise solid musical offering.
An intriguing programming of old and new works, covering the time period 1893 to 1976, which themselves contain elements of old and new, beautifully performed.
Handel's Rodelinda comes to Göttingen a year after the planned centennial anniversary event, but is worth the wait with respect to musical values led by conductor Laurence Cummings with Anna Dennis in the title role.
A distinctly odd pairing for an Easter concert in Perth, with the almost morbidly solemn Duruflé Requiem followed by Bach’s jubilant Easter Oratorio, both exceedingly well performed.
This electic performance of Pierrot Lunaire was preceded by a clutch of contemporary Australian works (and a poem), which served to demonstrate that Schoenberg's modernity is still way ahead of the times.
Neil Armfield's enchanting production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream finally comes to Australia as the centrepiece of the 2021 Adelaide Festival, making a virtue of necessity with its astute casting of Australian talent.
Melbourne Opera has produced a critically and popularly successful Das Rheingold, which bodes well for the planned development of a full Ring cycle over the next four years.
The Australian String Quartet joins the West Australian Symphony Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot for an enjoyable and timely round of Beethoven interleaved with John Adams' homage to the 250-year old composer.
Vivaldi's Farnace is reconstructed by Pinchgut Opera in ways which might not do the composer full dramatic justice, but the production and high musical values provide an excellent night of operatic drama.
Nina Stemme returns to Hobart and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra under Marko Letonja, with an all-Wagner concert, ably assisted by Swedish bassJohn Lundgren
