Reviews

Some of the best anti-war stories are those with the horrors just out of sight but foreshadowing what is to come. That’s the strength of The Sound of Music, written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, based on Maria von Trapp’s memoir of her family’s pre-war escape from their beloved Austria to Switzerland to escape the Nazis. The story lures you in with the singing children, spirited Maria and enigmatic Captain Von Trapp, and then the clouds of war loom.

Concert-goers were treated last night to a unique blend of musical styles with Baroque composer Vivaldi's classic example of one of the earliest forms of 'program' music (music designed to evoke an image) being coupled with a selection of Argentinian composer Piazzolla's avant garde tangos, arranged for solo violin and string orchestra by Ukranian-born Leonid Desyatnikov.

The story of Mother Courage captures an incredibly bleak vision of humanity when operating purely on survival instinct. This production captures all the intricacies of the different ways that individuals must navigate the realities of the Thirty Year War and somehow keep their dignity intact, as well as eek out what ultimately turns out to be a miserable existence.

Presented by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia, Iolanthe is, as G&S Society President Kevin Langoulant describes it, deliciously fanciful Victorian nonsense. Well-presented and beautifully sung, this Victorian comedic operetta remains a lovely distraction, 140 years after its first performance.