Listen & tracks

3 of 13 tracks have a preview · 5 works · 67:22

1 The Sky Is Melting Linda Kouvaras 5:49
Occasional PiecesStuart Greenbaum 6 movements18:30
1. 2 How to be in the world 2:39
2. 3 Life Cycles 3:02
3. 4 For Alette 2:52
4. 5 The 4th Saturday in April 2:17
5. 6 Curves on the Great Ocean Road 2:30
6. 7 The Lake and the Hinterland 5:10
8 Argentinian Etching William James Schmidt 7:01
9 Sonus Dulcis Andrián Pertout 7:28
Bundanon Suite for Violin and PianoLinda Kouvaras 4 movements28:34
1. 10 Pulpit Rock 10:04
2. 11 The River Changes 5:58
3. 12 Ballad of the Singleman’s Hut 3:57
4. 13 Earth Art Could Fall from the Skies 8:35

They have appeared in concert at The Edge (Federation Square), Montsalvat, ACU, Melba Hall, Wyselaskie Auditorium, Waikato University (NZ) and Auckland. They present major works, such as the Franck Sonata, alongside new music: tradition interwoven with innovation.

This disc features music written for them by Melbourne composers. Soulful, intriguing and rewarding, it is a snapshot of Australian musical voices at the turn of the millennium, brought to life in vivid performances (beautifully captured at the ABC) that reflect the times we live in.

Reviews

In The Sky is Melting, Linda Kouvaras responds to the heat of the Australian summer – an idea translated into sound with great success by Australian duo Marianne Rothschild (violin) and Glenn Riddle (piano), whose new album is an impressionistic journey taking in a range of compositions from contemporary Melbourne. ★★★½

— Stephanie Eslake, Limelight Magazine

Rippling and cascading runs in the piano reminiscent of Reflections in the Water by Debussy, introduce the first track. The CD is named after this piece – The Sky is Melting. Linda Kouvaras also composed the major item, the Bundanon Sonata whilst she was artist in residence at the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd estate bequeathed to the nation. The track listing describes the work as a Suite for Violin and Piano and this might be a better description. Each movement bears a title relating to Bundanon. The first, Pulpit Rock, is reminiscent of Debussy's Sunken Cathedral reflected in the slow moving piano chords. Again, The River Changes is very influenced by French Impressionism. A jazz waltz follows and the final movement begins with a moto perpetuo opening with a very meditative ending. These Melbourne composers' works are stylishly performed by Marianne Rothschild and Glenn Riddle. Stuart Greenbaum is represented by Occasional Pieces and William James Schmidt by the very effective Argentinian Etching. Also highly effective, exhibiting a Japanese influence, is Sonus Dulcis by Andrián Pertout.

— Andrew Lorenz, AUSTA Magazine (Stringendo)

Here’s a window into a corner of the country’s musical composition world, one that is centred around Melbourne. Both performers are locals: violinist Rothschild studied at the Victorian College of the Arts and the Australian National Academy of Music and has freelanced round the country; Riddle is currently Lecturer in Keyboard at Melbourne University’s Conservatorium of Music and a pedagogical force in the national music sphere. Much of what they present on this now somewhat dated disc (released in 2014) is bound up with their collaboration; in fact, the major work on this recording, Linda Kouvaras’ Bundanon Sonata for Violin and Piano, was written for the duo. Andrián Pertout’s Sonus Dulcis – a construct that the composer keeps on re-framing – was arranged for these executants, who also gave the premiere performance of William James Schmidt’s Argentine Etching.

— Clive O'Connell, O'Connell the Music

Artists

Marianne Rothschild

violin

Marianne Rothschild’s violin traces heat, silence and colour through new Australian chamber music. In duo with pianist Glenn Riddle she has premiered and recorded Melbourne scores written for them, from summer haze to jazz waltz and spare lyric.

Glenn Riddle

piano

Glenn Riddle’s piano playing shapes contemporary Australian chamber music with clarity and atmosphere, from impressionist heat beside the violin to spare miniatures where silence weighs as much as sound.

Stuart Greenbaum

composer

Stuart Greenbaum’s sound has overt connections to jazz, pop and minimalism, yet is equally grounded in the Western art music tradition, across a large body of orchestral, chamber, choral and stage works.

Linda Kouvaras

composer

Linda Kouvaras is a pianist, composer and musicologist with a particular focus on contemporary Australian music. She has recorded, commissioned and premiered numerous new works for piano, and performs widely in city and regional centres.

Andrián Pertout

composer

Andrián Pertout (b. 1963) is a Chilean-born Australian composer who settled in Melbourne in 1972. His rigorously structured music draws on wide cultural and mathematical resources and has been performed in more than forty countries.