Musicians and composers who constantly challenge and transform themselves by journeying down new musical pathways are to be wholeheartedly admired. The process must be both exhilarating and scary but the results are often extraordinary. How else would some of the greatest music, such as Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain or David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, ever have been written or performed?

Joe Chindamo is on a similar voyage of discovery. It began on the album Reimaginings with leading Australian violinist Zoe Black, a dynamic collaboration which continues on Dido’s Lament. Already having an impressive reputation locally and internationally as a jazz pianist and composer, Chindamo is pushing musical boundaries, leading him to delve deeper into the possibilities of classical music.

This is no more evident than on Dido’s Lament. Chindamo and Black perform a wonderfully diverse program from Purcell to Puccini. Each piece, except Prokofiev’s ‘Five Melodies Op.35’ and Chindamo’s own ‘Spiegelhaus’, has been by reworked by Chindamo to great effect while still maintaining its very classical essence. Included are the title track and ‘Nessun Dorma’, two well-worn classics which have been given new life. They represent this exciting and extremely talented duo’s passionate and fresh vision of classical music for novice and regular listeners alike.

Judi Mitchell