Lynne's Theatre Notes

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/les-illuminations-by-camerata/#more-94261 CAMERATA AND QPAC : ILLUMINATIONS 11 JULY 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT Camerata ‘Illuminations’. Pic Alex Jamieson The latest captivating concert by Camerata  was filmed at QPAC and streamed by the ADCH . with the umbrella title  ILLUMINATIONS . The playing was magnificent, assured and accomplished. Mention must be made of  soloists  Thomas Chawner  on viola and  Karol Kowalik  on cello, and violinists  Brendan Joyce  and  Jonny Ng . The concert blended the subtlety and sensitivity of French Impressionist poetry and music ( Debussy ) with English aplomb (the  Britten  and  Elgar  works). The program began with  Edward Elgar’s  rich, multi-layered  Serenade for Strings, Op.20  (1892). It opened briskly with scurrying swirls and eddies but then changed and rippled and swelled passionately in a slo...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/daughters-of-eve-a-fabulous-debut-crime-novel/ DAUGHTERS OF EVE : A FABULOUS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL 10 JULY 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT Set right now in Sydney with identifiable places this is a gritty, gripping police procedural, impressively written that deals with the disturbing subjects of child abuse and domestic violence  as well as misogyny at work. It is adroitly and tensely written, a fabulous debut novel. I enjoyed some of the vivid descriptions of things, for example,  ‘The email trail he’d forwarded read like  a grenade had gone off at rush hour in Martin Place‘. Nina D. Campbell’s  A  DAUGHTERS OF EVE  is set in twenty eight chapters and opens dramatically, introducing us to the main character Detective Emilia Hart who, exiting Darlinghurst Courthouse, catches the crumpled body of a prominent barrister as he falls, shot right in front of her, landing at her feet. Hart at first vie...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/dinner-with-the-schnabels/ DINNER WITH THE SCHNABELS : GREAT READING 3 JULY 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT This is a terrific book, with a distinctive Australian voice from the opening page. It is at times witty and sarcastic, terrifically written. The characters are delineated superbly. The book features shrewd, ingenious prose and dialogue. It captures life during the Covid pandemic and its repercussions – we see Simon battling his troubles. It is divided into 44 short chapters and a prologue. Set right now in Melbourne, it is all described from Simon’s point of view. Once a rather successful architect who ran a small firm, Simon is now unemployed, and has turned into a depressed house husband couch potato. Everything is a blur. He seeks fulfilment but this particular week’s events derail everything. We feel much sympathy for Simon’s predicament. He is uxorious, glorying in his wife Tansy, and absolutely loves his children,...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/melissa-fu-peach-blossom-spring/ MELISSA FU : PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING 25 JUNE 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT Roaming across assorted continents and three generations, the reader gets swept along in this epic tale of love, regret , loss of family , language , culture and country , the horrors of war , migration ,a quest for identity – and yet also is there the possibility of hope ? Also, power and politics are crucial. This book is compelling and arresting . It is divided into thirty one chapters and an epilogue, with an ‘origins’ to begin. It scans the history of China from 1938 and takes the reader through to Taiwan and America in 2005. There is the symbolism of the scroll, stories based on the painting executed on the scroll, and peach trees . The book’s title is drawn from one of the classic fifth century tales depicted in the scroll, which Meilin treasures. It is, at times, very moving and harrowing. The book shifts between ...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/the-red-witch-by-nathan-hobby-an-illuminating-biography/#more-93802 THE RED WITCH BY NATHAN HOBBY – AN ILLUMINATING BIOGRAPHY 22 JUNE 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT   This is an absorbing, compelling biography of one of Australia’s major authors. It is divided into five parts, with thirty nine chapters, a preface and an afterword. There is a list of all Prichard’s works, a bibliography, an index and illustrations are also included. Extensively, meticulously researched yet written in a most easy to read style, we follow the life of Katharine Susannah Prichard, her many works and travels and see how she was regarded while she was alive, her life of fortitude, how attitudes towards her changed over her lifetime and since, and  her legacy now. The title of the book comes from the friendly moniker by which Prichard, living alone in the hills above Perth, was sometimes known in her later years. Prichard (hereafter referre...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/sounds-of-vienna-by-the-australian-romantic-and-classical-orchestra/ SOUNDS OF VIENNA BY THE AUSTRALIAN ROMANTIC AND CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA 18 JUNE 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT The latest wonderful concert by the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra has just completed a national tour and was filmed at the City Recital Hall and then streamed by the Australian Digital Concert Hall. Co-directed by  Rachael Beesley  and  Nicole van Bruggen  the ARCO specialises in historically informed performance of late 18th- to early 20th-century orchestral and chamber music repertoire on period instruments. This program consisted of two pieces :  Joseph Eybler’s   String Quintet in D Major  and  Franz Schubert’s  Octet in F Major, D.803 .The exquisite playing was passionate, accomplished and assured and paid close attention to the musical text and structure. It felt intimate and intense and t...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/bach-akademie-weapons-of-rhetoric/ BACH AKADEMIE WEAPONS OF RHETORIC 15 JUNE 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT This latest terrific concert by the Bach Akademie was filmed at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and streamed by the Australian Digital Concert Hall. Directed by  Madeleine Easton  it was an inspired performance with sumptuous playing that focused on the structure of the music. The concert is called WEAPONS OF RHETORIC as it draws on the book  The Weapons of Rhetoric  by  Judy Tarling , who examines the links between music and rhetoric , particularly in the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The works chosen for the concert highlight J.S. Bach’s brilliance at persuasive musical conversation. Before the various pieces,  Jonathan Biggins OAM  and  Jonathan Horton QC  read various snippets, defining and detailing how rhetoric can be used in both music and speech , while Bach Akademie ...

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/persians-the-age-of-the-great-kings/ PERSIANS : THE AGE OF THE GREAT KINGS 4 JUNE 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER   ‘Welcome to a story of greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery…all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts.’ No , don’t cue the musical  Chicago  rather this is an absorbing but shocking and bloodthirsty book about the world’s first superpower , a scholarly depiction of life and times under the Achaemenid kings of Persia ( now Iran) who were absolute ,autocratic kings. The empire was huge , including Egypt , Pakistan , Ethiopia and Libya as well as the Steppes of  Asia .The pulsating centre of the Empire was the almost mythical city and palace of Persepolis , where the  Achaemenid monarchs opulently , ruthlessly ruled and controlled. It is divided into three parts of 22 chapters, with a Prologue , Introduction and Epilogue It has a list of dramatis personae and further reading...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/victorian-operas-the-selfish-giant/ VICTORIAN OPERA’S THE SELFISH GIANT 1 JUNE 2022   LYNNE LANCASTER This delightful Green Room Award winning operatic version of  Oscar Wilde’s  story first premiered in 2019.It has just completed a short season at the Playhouse of the Melbourne Arts Centre and was also available online. Directed by  Cameron Menzies  , Wilde’ s story has been slightly changed, but it is still a story about how the Giant changes from gruff melancholy and bitterness, to acceptance, change and growth while also making observations about selfishness , integrity and position in society  . The opera has an arresting score by  Simon Bruckard  and a great libretto by Emma Muir-Smith that combine to moving tell Wilde’s allegorical tale.We follow the story of the giant ( Stephen Marsh ) as he returns from a long visit to find his garden inhabited by boisterous , noisy children playing . Marred by hi...