Australians around the world unite with Simon Rattle at the helm

By Zoltán Szabó, 02 August 2015

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Reviewed at Sydney Opera House: Concert Hall, Sydney on 31 July 2015

Debussy, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

Debussy, Ariettes oubliées (Orch. Brett Dean)

Bruckner, Symphony no. 8 in C minor, WAB 108

Australian World Orchestra

Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor

Magdalena Kožená, Mezzo-soprano

Zubin Mehta and the Australian World Orchestra in Sydney

Zoltán Szabó, 2nd September

Zubin Mehta conducts a trio of Strauss tone poems as the Australian World Orchestra arrives back in Sydney.

*****

World-class from Down Under: Australian World Orchestra at the Proms

Alexander Hall, 23rd August

Zubin Mehta, Siobhan Stagg and the players of the AWO were on top of their game in works by Webern, Debussy and Brahms, where the connections were as potent as the contrasts.

*****

From little things, big things grow: The AWO returns to Sydney

David Larkin, 2nd May

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.

****1

Rites of reunion: The Australian World Orchestra visits Sydney

David Larkin, 3rd October

At the end of yesterday’s concert, there was a lot of hugging on stage. This was only to be expected. The high-quality music-making to which the audience had been treated was, for the players, a brief and unrepeatable experience, for some of them a nostalgic pilgrimage back to their homeland.

****1

Love is in the hare: a new Cunning Little Vixen opens in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 28th February

The Staatsoper's new production of Janáček's opera buzzes with life thanks to Sir Simon Rattle's conducting and an excellent cast led by Vera-Lotte Boecker and Magdalena Kožená.

****1

Rattle and the LSO sell a travel package to Hungary and Spain

Roy Westbrook, 18th January

Opening her LSO Artist Portrait series, Patricia Kopatchinskaja plays Béla Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto before Rattle and the LSO whisk the audience to Falla’s Andalusia.

****1

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Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.