Kate Rockstrom
Kate Rockstrom regularly reviews classical music for Readings. She also performs as a flautist, as well as writing about music and books.
Review — 26 Sep 2023
A Viennese Bouquet: Music for flute and piano – Melissa Farrow & Erin Helyard
Vienna was beset with war at the beginning of the 19th century, when it was taken by the French twice during the Napoleonic Wars. By 1814, the Congress of Vienna…
Review — 1 Sep 2023
For Clara: Works by Schumann & Brahms by Hélène Grimaud & Konstantin Krimmel
Classical music lovers all over the world know when you say the name ‘Clara’, you mean one person. Someone who challenged the status quo, brought Brahms into the spotlight, and…
Review — 31 Jul 2023
Music for a New Century by New Century Chamber Orchestra & Daniel Hope
I love an album where you hear the weight of the past 400 years of music in each work. This album has everything you’d expect from modern music: neoclassicism, minimalism…
Review — 25 May 2023
Shadow Dances: British Works for Flute by Adam Walker & Huw Watkins
Adam Walker, previously principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra and now professor at both the Royal College of Music in London and at the Bern Academy of the Arts…
Review — 25 May 2023
Mozart: Requiem by La Cappela Nacional de Catalunya, Le Concert Des Nations & Jordi Savall
It’s 1955 and a 14-year-old creeps into a church in Igualada, Spain, where a rehearsal is being conducted by the local director of the conservatoire. Spellbound, the boy sits listening…
Review — 24 Apr 2023
The American Project: Abrams & Tilson Thomas by Yuja Wang, Louisville Orchestra & Teddy Abrams
Yuja Wang is a well-known name for any classical music enthusiast. A child prodigy, she started her studies at Beijing’s Conservatory of Music at the ripe old age of seven…
Review — 24 Apr 2023
Australian Horn Trios by Quercus Trio
As in many art forms, things can fall through the cracks of popularity in classical music. When this happens we can miss out on something interesting and different but entirely…
Review — 28 Mar 2023
Women of Note: Celebrating Australian Composers, Volume 5
For the past 12 months, I have been chewing on ABC Classic’s Volume 4 in their Women of Note series. This year, Volume 5 has been released with five emerging…
Review — 27 Mar 2023
Breathing Space by Genevieve Lacey
At the centre of the National Museum of Australia is a ‘Garden of Australian Dreams’, a symbolic landscape exploring ideas of place and country. An outdoor courtyard, it features water…
Review — 3 Mar 2023
Steve Reich: The String Quartets by Mivos Quartet
Steve Reich’s string quartet WTC 9/11 affects you in a strange way. A blend of contemporary voices with two prerecorded string quartets and one live quartet, it’s modern music at…