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 — 30 May 2022
Ennio Morricone: Cinema Suites for Violin and Orchestra
Sometimes when you listen to an album you get the feeling the musicians are trying to tell you something. Using the emotional pulls of music, without words to help, musicians…
Review — 30 May 2022
Mendelssohn: The String Quintets by Dorix String Quartet & Timothy Ridout
I started listening to this album while I was doing some housework. As I listened, I found myself admiring the musicianship, gracious melodies and an overall greater depth of sound…
Review — 2 May 2022
Metamorphosen: Works by R. Strauss, Korngold & Schreker
When you think of Richard Strauss you think of lush Romantic works, big orchestral moments and dramatic opera. While his work, Metamorphosen, uses all those skills, it is something…
Review — 2 May 2022
Mozart & Birchall: Clarinet Concertos
It is an interesting concept writing a new, contemporary work for an old instrument. One such instrument – an instrument that has fallen out of favour and indeed could be…
Review — 5 Apr 2022
Ross Edwards: Frog and Star Cycle & Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
Ross Edwards holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Australian classical music lovers. For myself, I relish any opportunity to play his music, and listening to this…
Review — 5 Apr 2022
Women of Note: Celebrating Australian Composers, Volume 4
I have had men in my life comment, ‘surely everything’s equal now’, but when a new release album has a world-premiere recording of an important 1956 piece by a prominent…
Review — 5 Apr 2022
Matthew Locke: The Flat Consort
Children love writing their names on things, and eight-year-old budding classical composers are no exception. Mathew Lock was training as a chorister, composer and musical theorist at Exeter Cathedral and…
Review — 8 Mar 2022
Pyrotechnia: Fire and Fury from 18th-Century Italy by Bojan Čičić & The Illyria Consort
Vivaldi’s music has been played around the world for hundreds of years, and yet still I am astounded with the beauty and technical proficiency required by musicians to truly make…
Review — 8 Mar 2022
Brahms: Viola Sonatas and Sonatensatz & Schumann: Adagio and Allegro by Philip Dukes & Peter Donohoe
While the violin has frequently hogged the spotlight, I have always had a soft spot for the viola: the resonant tone, singing melodic lines and technical prowess that is particularly…
Review — 8 Mar 2022
Underwater by Ludovico Einaudi
Ludovico Einaudi is one of the most streamed classical artists worldwide, and I will admit to considerably adding to those numbers. When I’m not sure what to listen to, when…