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

By David Larkin, 04 May 2018

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“his mastery was more often visible in physical restraint”

Reviewed at Sydney Opera House: Concert Hall, Sydney on 2 May 2018

Brahms, Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op.73

Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 4 in F minor, Op.36

Verdi, Nabucco: Overture

Riccardo Muti, Conductor

Australian World Orchestra

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.

*****

Australians around the world unite with Simon Rattle at the helm

Zoltán Szabó, 31st July

The idea of bringing together a country’s best players from all around the world to show off their combined might is all too familiar for football fans during any FIFA World Cup. It is far less common, indeed, almost unknown in classical music.

*****

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

Chicago Symphony’s Principal Trumpet makes local solo debut

Graham Meyer, 12th June

Esteban Batallán, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's top trumpet, plays piccolo trumpet concertos by Telemann and Michael Haydn with the home team, under former CSO music director Riccardo Muti.

****1

Riccardo Muti makes his long-awaited Philharmonia return

Dominic Lowe, 27th March

All the hallmarks of a Muti performance are on display as the maestro returns to conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra in a magnificent reading of Verdi's Requiem.

****1

More reviews...

David Larkin

David Larkin is a Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the University of Sydney, where he specialises in nineteenth-century music. Educated at Dublin and Cambridge, he has published on the music of Richard Strauss, Liszt and Wagner. As a reviewer, he has reported from the Bayreuth Festival and reviewed opera and concert performances in four different countries. He gives regular pre-concert talks and educational lectures at venues all around Sydney and enjoys singing with choirs and playing the piano (in private).