Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, May 8, 2013 - Page 85
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Radio: News from around Victoria ................... Page 86 Veritas: TV, radio, theatre news .......................... Page 87 The Spoiler: Neighbours, Home And Away latest ........ Page 87 Jim and Aaron: Movies, DVDs, Top 10 lists ................... Page 88 Cheryl Threadgold: Local theatre shows, auditions ............. Page 89 PLUS THE LOVATT”S MEGA CROSSWORD
LUST AND FORBIDDEN LOVE 200-voice choir at Melb. Town Hall
● Teddy Tahu Rhodes ■ Musical magic will be created on the Melbourne Town Hall stage at 5pm on Sunday (May 12) when the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic and Melbourne University Choral Society present Brahms' mighty Ein Deutsches Requiem Op. 45 (A German Requiem) and Morten Lauridsen's sublime masterpiece Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light). When operatic heart-throb, New Zealand bass baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes and award-winning Sony Classics recording artist soprano Greta Bradman join the 200-voice choir and 70 members of the RMP Orchestra (under the baton of RMP Chief Conductor Andrew Wailes), the result will be a powerful and uplifting experience. Added to the large choral and orchestral forces Wailes has assembled will be Melbourne Town Hall's mighty grand organ (the largest in the southern hemisphere), all combining to bring to life two emotionally powerful choral works. Whilst the Brahms work is already well known, Wailes is confident that many will be emotionally affected by the sheer beauty of the contemporary classic by American composer Morten Lauridsen. " Lux Aeterna is now one of the most performed and loved choral works in the United States -I had the privilege of conducting the Australian premiere in 2001 and since that time Lux Aeterna has established itself as one of the world's most performed choral masterpieces," says Wailes. Teddy Tahu Rhodes has graced most of the great opera stages of the world including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Opera Australia, for whom his powerful performance as Don Giovanni lit up the stage - and the audience! A new audience recently fell in love with Teddy at the Princess Theatre earlier this year when he sang the role of Emile in South Pacific. His 2013 engagements include a return season of South Pacific in Sydney, debuts in Chicago and Dallas, and New York's great Carnegie Hall. Singing the bass solos in Brahms' epic Ein Deutsches Requiem gives Melbourne audiences a chance to hear Teddy's deep and resonant voice at its best. Greta Bradman's debut CD for Sony, Forest of Dreams, reached number one on Australia's classical music charts and she has performed with the RMP several times. Greta will be leaving Australia in a few months to take up the prestigious Australian International Opera Award, which will take her to Cardiff for a year to the Wales International Academy of Voice, under the tutelage of renowned tenor Dennis O'Neill and iconic soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. As Greta is the proud mum of two young boys, it's most appropriate that she is singing in a Mother's Day concert. And as both works were composed to honour mothers, Mother's Day is an ideal day to celebrate Brahms and Lauridsen in the grand surrounds of Melbourne Town Hall. Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100. Enquiries: 0427 028 096. - Julie Houghton
By STEPHEN LEEDEN
● Joanne Redfearn and Matthew Connell in Scarborough, playing until May 18 at the Brunswick Arts Space. Photo: Tony Rive (Triggerpoint Photography) ■ In a faded beachside hotel room in Scarborough, a couple is having an illicit weekend away. Amidst the peeling wallpaper they laugh, quarrel and make love, but they don’t dare go out. Fiona Evans’s Scarborough is presented by up and coming Melbourne company The Honeytrap and directed by one of the company’s founding members, Celeste Markwell. The show takes you on a journey that is somewhat funny, somewhat intriguing and somewhat disturbing. I was promised an “electrifying portrayal of a dangerously charged romance, and its disturbing implications.” However, what I got was a slightly confronting yet stock standard portrayal of a love affair that was obviously doomed from the onset. Nevertheless, the cast of this production (Joanne Redfern, Matthew Connell, Doug Lyons and Libby Brockman) are engaging and captivating throughout. The four actors work brilliantly in the space and use the fourth wall effect of the audience to their advantage. The set is beautifully designed by Casey-Scott Corless and compliments the story well and the action that takes place within. As I left the show I wondered what the purpose and message really was apart from the obvious surface messages about lust and forbidden love. The cast and production crew should be proud though of the professional and well-constructed show they have produced. Season: Until May 18 Times: 8pm Thurs, 7pm and 9pm Fri and Sat Venue: Brunswick Arts Space, 2a Little Breese St, Brunswick Tickets: $27 Full, $19 Concession Bookings: www.thehoneytrap.net.au
‘Sunset Boulevard’
● Jim Sherlock discusses Sunset Boulevard, starring Gloria Swanson, on Page 88
Greg Evans on radio ■ TV-radio star Greg Evans will be special guest of the Sugar And Spice radio program on Mornington Peninsula radio station 3RPP FM tomorrow (Thurs.) from 9am. Bob and Judy Phillips present the show, which is also streamed on the internet
● Greg Evans
Bookery Cook: Art To Eat ■ Blogging is all the rage these days, and it seems to lend itself well to the subject of food. So thought the three Thompson sisters, Georgia, Jessie and Maxine, who decided to mix art, food and blogging - and then turn it into a book called The Bookery Cook: Art To Eat. Their blog, thebookerycook.com, features recipes, illustrations, reviews and interviews, with guest writers and illustrators. The new book showcases the work of several international artists, all bound by their love of food, and features 14 Melbourne artists contributing to this tasty project. The three sisters asked the artists to create art that focuses on recipes, including cultural references, ingredients, cooking techniques and the context of eating. There's a quirky sense of humour in The Bookery Cook: Art To Eat, with a pop art portrait of a cannellini bean in a top hat to accompany the Homemade Baked Beans recipe, and a golden horned ram's head sculpture next to the Lime and Peppercrusted Lamb Backstrap. The Thompson sisters grew up on a tropical hinterland farm on the Sunshine Coast, and have collectively worked and studied in the arts, design, fashion, travel and food industries. Enjoying meals was a huge part of the sisters' family life, so creating the blog and now the book springs from a life long love of food for Jessica, Georgia and Maxine. The book contains 120 recipes, 66 artists, and of course three sisters.
● Georgia, Jessie and Maxine Thompson And internet access has been a crucial element to getting the book together, as Jessica lives in Victoria, Georgia now hails from Queensland, and Maxine calls America home. So if you're looking for a Mother's Day present with a difference, this could be the answer. www.murdochbooks.com.au - Julie Houghton