Melba Recordings

Melba eNews | July 2012

Three World Premieres and more

Magisterial
Boyle

Timothy Young plays
the virtuoso piano music of
George Frederick Boyle


World premiere recording
 
…..an inspired series of releases that have restored unjustly neglected music to the catalogue….Audiophilia
 
magisterial  …a valuable celebration of this forgotten part of our national musical heritage  Tony Way Limelight

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Liszt Wagner Paraphrases  -
Meistersinger, Fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde
 
 
Asher Fish, the acclaimed conductor of the Adelaide Ring performs Liszt’s Paraphrases of Wagner’s music: Wagner “unplugged”; with favourite concert selections stripped to their essence. These performances are Asher Fisch’s gift to the listener, suffused with musical insight and deeply satisfying.
When a conductor offers a recital on the piano, it is a special event. Asher Fisch’s poetic readings of Liszt’s Wagner paraphrases were developed through a career in the opera houses of Europe. Fisch brings the lyricism of a singer’s conductor to the piano: his refined sensibility for balance and space combine with a vocal poise allowing Wagner’s melodies to unfold ineffably and logically.

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Asher Fisch
The State Opera of South Australia
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra


"sensational - The best sounding cycle on the market to date, bar none" Gramophone

A Super Audio Stereo and 5.1 Surround-Sound two disc compilation from Melba's landmark recording of the State Opera of South Australia Ring .This selection comprises the most popular Ring highlights guaranteed to thrill any lover of Wagner’s music.
Asher Fisch brings his Wagner experience in Bayreuth and Berlin with Daniel Barenboim to bear in these beautifully crafted performances.
Singers include the mighty Lisa Gasteen as Brünnhilde; Stuart Skelton as Siegmund and Deborah Riedel as Sieglinde. The highlights booklet features Melba’s customary luxurious presentation with libretti in German and English and an essay by Mike Ashman.

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1813
WAGNER & VERDI

Peter Bassett
Reviewed by Ian Perry
It is a great pleasure to come to know Peter Bassett’s beautifully written and informative comparison between two colossi of 19th Century opera, Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi; both men coincidentally born in the same year, 1813.

Read the rest of Ian Perry's review of the book together with Peter Bassett's essay on Wagner in Australia.

Amir Farid
Ewen Bramble
Lachlan Bramble

 
World Premieres

Music by Ross Edwards, Paul Stanhope,
Matthew Hindson, Nicholas Buc


The vibrant Benaud Trio rose to national prominence after winning the Piano Trio prize at the 2005 Australian Chamber Music Competition. In their debut recording these three young instrumentalists bring great verve to their performances of new Australian repertoire proving that contemporary chamber-music can be exciting, attractive and capture the imagination. They embody the essence of youth, talent and joie de vivre.
As distinguished Australian composer Ross Edwards says, ‘The Benaud Trio is just what Australian music needs – excellence combined with youthful vitality and a dedication to showcasing the new and refreshing the old.’
The ensemble’s name is a tip of the cap to their shared love for cricket and their belief that the performance of the most exalted and refined of music can sit quite comfortably with a passion for the other riches of culture.
 
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The Art of Nance Grant
2 CD set
World Premiere Recording

Acclaimed and cherished as one of Australia’s finest operatic artists’
with Geoffrey Parsons and others

Nance Grant is one of the most memorable and majestic artists to have appeared on the Australian operatic stage, possessed of a voice with beauty and power, an ease of technique, a perfection of phrasing and taste that cemented her place in the hearts of Australian music lovers. This long overdue tribute presents one of the great Australian voices in recordings previously thought lost.

Nance Grant chose to stay close to her family in Australia rather than pursue an international career, even though Sir Edward Downes insisted he could ‘fill her books’ with performances in Britain and Europe.

The original tapes from radio broadcasts of the sixties and seventies have been carefully restored to offer those who never had the opportunity to hear her the gift of discovering a voice of magnitude and generosity and for music lovers who grew up hearing her on stage the chance to reacquaint themselves with her artistry.

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DIE WALKIWIS RIDE INTO AOTEAROA!
You can join them in the long white cloud

Opera in Concert: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, PIETARI INKINEN
A stellar cast of singers and symphony orchestra, featuring more than 100 musicians, will join forces to perform the ground-breaking music of Richard Wagner’s epic music drama –Die Walküre in Wellington 22/7, Christchurch 25/7 and Auckland 28/7.

SIMON O’NEILLSiegmund
EDITH HALLER Sieglinde
CHRISTINE GOERKE Brünnhilde
JOHN WEGNER Wotan
JONATHAN LEMALU Hunding
MARGARET MEDLYN Fricka

Supported by an astounding hoard of eight “Valkiwis” (Kiwi Valkyries!), with a super-sized New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, including three harps, four Wagner Tubas, steerhorn and even a thunder machine, this extraordinary musical event, conducted by critically acclaimed Music Director Pietari Inkinen, will be a night to remember.

Competition for Melba customers
Be in the draw to win 2 free tickets to one of the three Die Walküre concerts in New Zealand in Wellington, 22/7, Christchurch, 25/7 and Auckland 28/7. Please note: this is only an offer for 2 free concert tickets and does not include airfares or accommodation.
From now until 15 July, when you purchase from our website simply email via the CONTACT US option, tell us which concert you would like to attend and we will enter you in the draw to win 2 free tickets to a concert (accommodation and airfares are not part of the prize).

Competition drawn 16 July, St Kilda, Melbourne, EST 9:00am. winners notified.

For Sharolyn Kimmorley AM, sublime music experiences and a welcome revelation in the Tyrolean Festival Erl which opened July 5th.

We first heard about the Erl Festival last year in Salzburg, at a Press Conference announcing the programme. This was to be a Festival lavished with impressive sponsorship Euros. Even so we were astonished at the quality of the LIVE recordings of the previous Festivals. Erl is an enterprise taken very seriously by musicians, sponsors, and now audiences., and the recordings match the lofty aspirations of all involved. How wonderful to be so excited about music making at a time when government sponsorship of the arts is waning.

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Melba Recordings Pty Ltd & Melba Foundation Ltd
www.melbarecordings.com.au
PO Box 415, Elwood Victoria 3184 Australia
Phone: 613 9534 5004  Fax: 613 9593 8533  Email: info@melbarecordings.com.au

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