Graham Strahle
Graham Strahle has a background in musicology and is as player of the viola da gamba. His interests shifted towards writing when he began reviewing concerts for The Australian in 1995. For many years he also wrote for The Adelaide Review and was senior writer at Music Australia from 2014 to 2021. These days he writes for ABR, InDaily’s arts section, InReview, and contributes now and then to teaching at the Elder Conservatorium of Music.
To say that Steven Osborne is one of the more uncompromisingly personal artists out there sounds like the kind of praise that is obligatorily handed to any performer who truly belongs to the top tier. But in the case of this Scottish pianist, his playing can be so individual that one has to enquire into the distinctiveness of his art in order to fully appreciate it.
In a sense, Osborne does not s ... (read more)
As much as it is a continual delight to hear the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) giving unfailingly wonderful performances in its national touring programs, one is often left yearning to know more about this ensemble’s inner workings and how it creates its magic. For in its artistic director, Richard Tognetti, one might say there is indeed something of the magician, evident both in his own un ... (read more)
Subtler in its purring resonances than the cello and more closely resembling the human form in its body, the viola da gamba was cultivated to its greatest heights in the court of Louis XIV. The great virtuoso Marin Marais will be the most familiar name for any who are acquainted with this instrument, but two later figures of equal ability were Antoine Forqueray and his son, Jean-Baptiste. Tumultuo ... (read more)
For anyone who encountered Compassion, the profoundly moving and beautiful song cycle by Lior and Nigel Westlake from a decade ago, the prospect of hearing another work from them was always going to arouse interest. Would their newest collaboration rise to the same magical level as their first, or perhaps even surpass it? Would it be entirely different?
Ngapa William Cooper (‘Father’ William ... (read more)