Don Bartley
Don Bartley's mastering shapes the sound of Tall Poppies discs. Live recital tapes, Australian chamber premieres, Westlake scores and Haydn on fortepiano reach the ear with clarity, warmth and unfussy presence.
His credit runs through decades of the catalogue, from digital remasters of fragile concert tapes to first releases of Australian chamber and orchestral scores. On Bruce Cale's orchestral works, drawn from the composer's own copies of ABC sessions years apart, the craft shows in how evenly the three recordings sit together. Whether the source is a 1970s London recital, a Nickson Room session in Brisbane, Studio 301 or a fortepiano in Canberra, the result is natural, detailed sound that keeps the music companionable and clear.
Credits
Joseph Haydn: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4
Tall Poppies and fortepianist Geoffrey Lancaster continue their survey of Joseph Haydn’s complete keyboard sonatas. He gave the full cycle of 52 sonatas in concert in Melbourne, Perth and Canberra for the 2009 bicentenary, and records them on period instruments from Australian collections.
Joseph Haydn: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 3
Tall Poppies and fortepianist Geoffrey Lancaster continue their survey of Joseph Haydn’s complete keyboard sonatas on period instruments.
Joseph Haydn: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2
2009 marked the bicentenary of Joseph Haydn’s death. To commemorate the anniversary, Tall Poppies and fortepianist Geoffrey Lancaster began recording Haydn’s complete keyboard sonatas on period instruments.
The Metallic Violins
This CD is crammed with world premiere performances and scintillating playing. These two violinists inspired wonderful new works by Australian composers, yielding the first recording of Australian music for two violins, from Hindson’s raunchy title piece to Finsterer’s dreamy Spherica I.
Peter Sculthorpe: The String Quartets, Vol. 3
Tall Poppies presents this third volume of Peter Sculthorpe’s string quartets as a tribute on the occasion of his 80th birthday in April 2009.
Bolmimerie: SHE
SHE is the only harp septet in the world, and this is its first recording.
Bright Vessel
Tall Poppies is proud to release Bright Vessel, an important collection of Australian works for solo oboe and oboe d’amore, gathered and performed by Stephen Robinson.
Joseph Haydn: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1
In the bicentenary year of Joseph Haydn’s death, Tall Poppies and Geoffrey Lancaster begin a complete survey of the keyboard sonatas, opening with three middle-period works on fortepiano.
Coil: Australian Music for Solo Percussion
Claire Edwardes had already marked the Australian contemporary music scene after the ABC Young Performer of the Year award in 1999 and the Freedman Fellowship in 2005. Back from European study and performance, she was active in new-music ensembles and building a solo career.
Bruce Cale: Orchestral Works
Tall Poppies is delighted to present Australian orchestral works that might well have slipped from view forever but for the archives of their composer, Bruce Cale.
Mirrors of Fire
Every now and then a CD comes along that makes you glad to be alive: the music is so infectious and the performances brilliant. This is one such disc, featuring Timothy Kain, Australia’s virtuoso guitarist.
Bach: Clavierübung III, Schübler Chorales & Canonic Variations
In this special Bach anniversary year, Tall Poppies presents the first of two offerings of his work. Clavierübung III is regarded by many as the pinnacle of Bach's work for organ.
Peter Sculthorpe: Music for Cello
The cello has been a major expressive tool for Sculthorpe throughout his career. Parting was conceived in 1947 and waited forty-eight years to appear in this form. The 1959 Sonata lay dormant after its premiere; its material later became the Sonata for Viola and Percussion.
Virtuoso Transcriptions
These ‘one take’ studio recordings were made for ABC broadcast about a decade before release. That they stand as a finished album is a tribute to David Stanhope’s prodigious musicianship and technique.
The Edge
This music was written for an IMAX film about the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. The film concerns itself with the environment, the ancient Aboriginal presence and the recently discovered prehistoric Wollemi Pines.
Onomatopoeia
Long-awaited performances of Nigel Westlake’s most acclaimed chamber works, with outstanding Australian players. One of Tall Poppies’ most successful releases.
Points of Departure
Perihelion, the Brisbane chamber group of clarinet, viola, piano and cello, built its repertoire largely through commissions. This disc gathers some of the ensemble’s most successful new Australian works.
Mastering Engineer
Rita Hunter in Concert
Rita Hunter is one of the great unsung heroines among sopranos. This live London concert from the 1970s catches her at her best in a programme of variety and passion.