Radical 20th-century French composer Olivier Messiaen’s obsession with the transformative qualities of music and its power to connect the human soul with distant mysteries of the universe is channelled into his epic song cycle, Harawi.
Read More
Watching this live Song Company Salon on Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, thanks to the magic of the sound and camera artists at work on the sidelines, I was able to experience the joy of hearing some of Australia’s finest singers just gathered around the chamber organ and piano. It felt familiar and relaxed and there were many smiles cast around the room as the concert progressed.
Read More
For the past few months, all over the world, people have been participating in home activity in unprecedented numbers. Stuck indoors during the coronavirus pandemic, many of us have entertained ourselves, family and friends by making music, playing games and telling stories.
Read More
This week Christopher Waterhouse is in conversation with English-born soprano Amy Moore. Amy moved to Australia from the UK in 2015 having led a successful career as a soloist and ensemble singer.
Read More
Soprano Amy Moore sang a beautifully ethereal Ihr hab nun traurigkeit ( You are now full of sadness). In this case it was well worth the wait till the fifth movement as her voice’s crystalline clarity soared over the orchestra with the deeply moving lines “I will comfort you as someone is comforted by their mother.”
Read More
The vocal abilities of the female section of the ensemble particularly impressed, featuring a powerhouse, at times operatic soprano voice from Amy Moore and full-bodied mezzo warmth from Stephanie Dillon.
Read More
THE current Australian compositional landscape is filled with innovative and expressive composers. For this series of eight concerts, The Song Company commissioned 19 composers from across Australia to voice their talents.
The performers in “Nineteen to the Dozen” were, Anna Sandström, Amy Moore, Stephanie Dillon, Jessica O’Donoghue, Dan Walker, Koen van Stade, Hayden Barrington, Thomas Flint and conducting the artistic director Antony Pitts.
Read More
Amy Moore, who played Vicky and several other characters, has an attractive full-toned, expressive soprano and strong stage presence.
Read More
JS Bach’s St John Passion got its first airing on Good Friday in 1724 at St Nicholas Church, in Leipzig. It’s not so much an oratorio as a musical drama, almost operatic in form and structure. The central figure is the Evangelist, who narrates the story of Christ’s arrest, trial, crucifixion, death and burial, including Peter’s threefold denial, constantly drawing on direct quotes from the other main characters – Jesus and Pilate.
Read More
Willoughby Symphony Choir, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and soloists under the vibrant directorship of Peter Ellis delivered a joyous performance of Haydn’s colourful oratorio The Seasons.
Read More
It’s unlikely that Joseph Haydn had Lord Nelson in mind when he wrote this work but he was almost certainly thinking about Napoleon, who at that time was threatening the composer’s native country. Titled Mass for Troubled Times it reflected a world in turmoil, written at a time of intense fear for the future of Austria, whose citizens were not in the best of spirits. In 1797-1798 Napoleon Bonaparte was rampaging through Europe; he had defeated the Austrian army in four major battles, even crossing the Alps and threatening Vienna itself.
Read More
The roiling strings and keening winds of the opening of Bach’s St John Passion drop the listener straight into the drama and pathos of Christ’s last days. While Passions (and Messiah’s) abound at this time of year, the smaller scale St John often gives way to the later written and more popular St Matthew passion – but it is no less powerful a piece of music.
Read More
It is impossible not to be moved by this majestic musical journey celebrating the human voice. Paul Dyer Artistic Director and Conductor of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (ABO) undertook that his daring concert entitled ‘Mozart Requiem: 100 Voices would be one of most ‘intoxicating performances of the year’ and indeed it was impressive. This was an aural feast to behold, involving the Brandenburg Choir and a specifically selected Youth Choir, the Australian Brandenburg Young Voices.
Read More
“Intimate as it is, Sydney’s City Recital Hall offers its performers a dizzyingly high gallery which was the platform for the evening’s four soloists, soprano Amy Moore, counter-tenor Maximilian Riebl, tenor Paul Sutton and bass Alexander Knight in a crisp and witty a capella delivery of the satirical cameo Matona Mia Cara by di Lasso, a todesca (a 16th-century polyphonic song that lampoons Germans attempting to speak Italian). The elevation created a delightful resonance and the voices were beautifully blended as the sound percolated down to the audience.” - Shamistha de Soysa for SoundsLikeSydney
Read More
Next up, the four soloists (soprano Amy Moore, alto Max Riebl, tenor Paul Sutton and bass Alexander Knight) joined forces for a rambunctious rendition of Orlando di Lasso’s Mantona Mia Cara. Sung from the top loft above the organ, the song hilariously captures a German soldier boasting of his virility in Italian and bad French to an Italian girl, full of louche lines like “When I go hunting, I hunt with the falcon / I’ll bring you woodcock, fat as a kidney”, and “I will make love to you all night long, thrusting like a ram”. It was a brilliant romp, waggishly choreographed and executed with perfect timing.
Read More