Bill Leak
Bill Leak supplied cover art and illustrations across Tall Poppies chamber, piano and song discs, from an irreverent Mozart cartoon to quieter painted sleeves that sit beside Australian and classical programmes without drowning them out.
His line is a cartoonist's: sharp, economical, ready to joke when the music invites it. On Mozart Unexpurgated the sleeve matches scatological canons and songs with open comic bite. Elsewhere the same hand steadies covers for Vine, Shostakovich, Brahms, Schubert and spoken poetry, giving the catalogue a consistent visual stamp while leaving the performances to speak.
Credits
Brahms Violin Sonatas
Tall Poppies is proud to release this fine recording by talented young Australian violinist Ben Breen, then living in New York as a musician and sommelier. Breen has a special affinity with the Brahms sonatas, and here teams with veteran American pianist Milton Kaye.
David Malouf Reads from Poems 1959–89
By the mid-1990s Malouf was among Australia's best-known writers, his poetry somewhat overshadowed by the novels. These studio readings remain intimate and inviting, the poet's own voice carrying the work.
Schubert's Unfinished
Few pianists can complete Schubert’s unfinished piano works with real authority. Ian Munro brings compositional craft to the task, and plays with precision, clarity and insight. This is the first of two discs devoted to the repertoire.
Piano Sonatas Opp. 109, 110, 111
Stephen Savage, English-born and long based in Queensland, brings a deep personal attachment to Beethoven’s final three piano sonatas. These affectionate readings have drawn considerable critical praise.
Mozartrois: The Complete Piano Trios
Recorded in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, this two-disc set is a landmark Australian account of Mozart’s piano trios, and includes the seventh and most recently identified work of the group.
Shostakovich
Two of Shostakovich's most powerful and popular chamber works, given hair-raising performances by Australia's finest chamber ensemble.
Mozart: Sonatas for Fortepiano
Three Mozart fortepiano sonatas from Geoffrey Lancaster, first-prize winner at Bruges and a forthright, well-researched voice who has long unsettled early-music orthodoxy in Australia.
Christmas under Capricorn
The Australian Youth Orchestra, conducted by Graham Abbott, plays nineteen Christmas carols arranged for orchestra by Australian composers. Two carols appear in paired settings, inviting comparison. Listenable festive music, easy to give as a gift.
Carl Vine: Chamber Music, Vol. 1
A first gathering of Carl Vine's chamber works from the 1980s. Intelligence, wit and feeling sit side by side, played by leading Australian musicians, many of them in pieces written for them.
Mozart Unexpurgated
The Song Company sings Mozart’s scatological canons and songs, with fortepianist Geoffrey Lancaster improvising the accompaniments and taking two irreverent solo turns.
Café Concertino
The Australia Ensemble, Australia's foremost chamber group and in residence at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, presents commissioned and core Australian chamber works.