http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au MAY 2017 LIMELIGHT 13
KEYNOTES OYOUNGEST CONDUCTOR
In April, 11-year old Matthew Smith from
Nottingham in the UK, became the
youngest person to ever conduct an
orchestra. A master of violin, viola, piano,
drums and guitar, he picked up the baton
after watching a video of an Uzbekistani
boy conducting the overture from
Johann Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus.
Smith became infatuated with the score,
which he conducted with the 75-piece
Nottingham Symphony Orchestra.BOWING FOR THE QUEEN
Young Australian violinist Courtenay
Cleary, who is currently studying at
London’s Royal Academy of Music, had a
right royal time in March when she
played for a distinguished audience
including Her Majesty The Queen and
His Royal Highness the Duke of
Edinburgh. The Brisbane-born 23-year
old played at Westminster Abbey for
the Commonwealth Service, Britain’s
largest annual multi-faith celebration.KAUFMANN'S TIME LIMIT
Jonas Kaufmann has pulled out of the
Metropolitan Opera’s highly awaited new
Toscafor next season. The news followed
his return to the stage after a a series
of cancelled European performances to
recover from a burst blood vessel on his
vocal cords. The star tenor, who resides in
Germany and has three children, said in a
brief statement that he intends to curtail
his future engagements outside Europe
to two weeks to spend more time with
family. His appearance in Opera Australia’s
concert performances of Parsifal in August
will presumably be unaffected, given the
comparatively short rehearsal period.IN BRIEF
The world's fastest viola runner
How often do you see a sprinting viola? Well,
a student at the Birmingham Conservatoire
in the UK has broken the Guinness World
Record for running the fastest half marathon
dressed as a musical instrument.
Alistair Rutherford suited up in a custom-
made viola costume to run the Liverpool
Half Marathon on April 2, clocking up
a time of one hour, 19 minutes and 32
seconds. The world record was previously
held by Rakshith Shetty, who completed
the SBI Bengaluru Midnight Marathon in
India in 2015 in one hour, 26 minutes and
57 seconds dressed as a guitar.
Rutherford's viola costume was created
by costume designer Brian D Hanlon
and made from Pastazote foam.
He was raising funds for the
UK-South African project, Cape
Gate MIAGI Centre for Music
& Birmingham Conservatoire- or ARCO – which has seen
young string students in South
Africa given weekly Skype
lessons by academics, students
and alumni of Birmingham
Conservatoire. The project
aims to bring music and music
education to children living in
the most deprived circumstances.
Rutherford's viola stunt is only the latest
fundraising event he has organised for
ARCO – he ran the equivalent distance of
the length of South Africa’s coastline (
kilometres) last year and organised an
evening of chamber music at Birmingham’s
Ikon Gallery earlier this year.
“After running the distance of the South
African coastline during my third year of
study at Birmingham Conservatoire, and
previously running a marathon when I was
17, I was struggling for fundraising ideas,”
Rutherford said in an interview on the
Birmingham Conservatoire website.
“One evening whilst in our local pub
myself and fellow ARCO teacher Matt
Johnstone joked about a Guinness World
Record involving both the things I love;
running and the viola.”
Staff and students were full
of admiration for Rutherford’s
“adventurous and rather ‘off
centre’ project,” said Birmingham
Conservatoire’s Head of Strings
Louise Lansdown, adding that
they'd enjoyed his training sessions:
“Alistair and his viola [could] be
seen running around Edgbaston
Reservoir most mornings around
7am – a sight not to be missed.”MUSICAL JOKE
What's the difference
between a violist
and a sex worker? A
sex worker knows
more positions.AS TOLD BY...
Henry Liang, FlautistCARMEN TEAM
CREATES A FUSS
Two days before the opening of this year’s
Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – a revival
of 2013's Carmen – the production’s original
director Gale Edwards, costume designer
Julie Lynch and set designer Brian Thomson
issued a statement criticising Opera Australia
for refusing to invite them back to oversee the
remount. “Therefore, we advise that we cannot
guarantee the work's integrity,” they said.
OA responded that it is common practice
for opera companies around the world to use
revival directors. “In keeping with this practice,
Opera Australia employs a wealth of talented
directors and craftspeople who painstakingly
and lovingly present these productions as true
to their original format as possible.”
After the opening, the creative team issued
another statement taking issue with changes
made without their permission, particularly to
the final scene when Don José kills Carmen,
saying: "This production is certainly not ‘asPhoto © Prudence Upton true to [the] original format as possible.'"
Andeka Gorrotxategi and Josè Maria Lo Monaco