Arts and culture
Xavier de Maistre
Gracie Fields used to sing: ‘I took my harp to a party but nobody asked me to play’. I can’t…
The Merry Widow
Not everyone celebrates a 55th anniversary, but if you are a national ballet company at the peak of its form,…
Terracotta bust of Edmund Barton by Nelson Illingworth (c.1901)
Although they are not especially grand, these houses are arguably the most significant in the country. The four official residences…
Thomas Hampson
Sir Andrew Davis became Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2013 and, happily, will continue until the end…
Vivica Genaux
Founded in 2002, Pinchgut Opera has presented 19 rarely performed works with such distinction that its audience has grown along…
Anne-Sophie Mutter
These are good times for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Chief Conductor Davis Robertson announced a glamorous 2018 Season. The Board…
Marion Hall Best in Marimekko, 1968
Her shop was one of the glories of Rowe Street, itself one of the glories of old Sydney, before it…
Hamlet Glyndebourne Festival
Shakespeare’s plays have frequently been the source of operas. Almost as frequently the operas have been only modest successes. Notable…
Sir Andrew Davis
Operas are subject to changes in fashion, suffering long periods of neglect. One such opera is Thaïs by Jules Massenet.…
Marble relief of a Roman trireme
Readers of Robert Harris’ thriller Pompeii might think they know a great deal about the devastating eruption of Mt Vesuvius…
Simone Young
She’s a local girl who made good — really good. Simone Young was born, educated and trained in Sydney. She…
The Father
A co-production by MTC and STC of a new play which has been acclaimed in Paris, London and New York…
Grace Cossington Smith, The bridge in building 1929
The viewer could treat this exhibition as an exercise in ‘compare and contrast’, or follow my preference and simply enjoy…
Nadine Garner
Three women who shared a flat as university freshers in 1983 and have maintained their friendship through the years are…
Alan Moorehead
He left Melbourne in 1936 to become a famous writer, and he did. Not just a famous writer but a…
Tom Roberts The sculptor’s studio 1884-85
We may have seen them before, but the prospect of the Australian Impressionism show is very alluring; it has now…
Andrew Nicholl A distant view of Derry through a bank of wild flowers
Last week came the welcome announcement of the State Government’s funding of the major extension, indeed doubling, of the exhibition…
Tom Conroy as Winston Smith
‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.’ That is the arresting opening line…
A N Wilson and Resolution
A sold-out session at the Sydney Writers’ Festival was an indication of public interest in the writer, A. N. Wilson,…
Jun Chen Grey Red 2017
At the age of 30, Jun Chen arrived in Australia post Tianamen Square. He settled in Brisbane where his first…
Vanessa Downing and Geoff Morrell in Black is the New White
I should have written about this play earlier; it is on now at the Sydney Theatre Company Wharf 1. Black…
Taryn Fiebig for Pinchgut Opera
Baroque opera is increasingly popular in Australia, particularly in recent years through the work of Pinchgut Opera. This administratively tiny…
Elioth Gruner 1882-1939
Last week I lunched at the Coogee Pavilion on the most perfect day. The scene before me was almost identical…
Alexander Campbell
Inheriting abilities from one’s parents is one of the happy accidents of birth. A remarkable example of inheritance of exceptional…
Isaiah Firebrace (centre) with Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasy
It’s been going since 1956. The 62nd season of the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Kiev, Ukraine, starts…
