Stephanie Eslake

Stephanie Eslake

Stephanie Eslake is a Tasmanian writer with degrees in both Media and Music. She has strong connections with members of her local music community. She has been published in the Mercury, TasWeekend, The Saturday Magazine, The Sunday Tasmanian, The Dwarf, Aphra Magazine and also worked as Warp Magazine’s Subeditor. founded Stephanie founded CutCommon in 2014 as Australia’s only online magazine for the young classical musician.


Articles by Stephanie Eslake

CD and Other Review

Review: Hadyn, Debussy: String Quartets (Huon Quartet)

Two minor string quartets recorded in the Ballroom of Government House, Hobart might sound underwhelming. but Virtuosi Tasmania provide a terrific match with Haydn and Debussy on their latest release. Debussy’s stunning String Quartet in G Minor is thrillingly suspenseful. The second movement throbs with metronomic pizzicato, supplying fantastic textural contrasts. The Andantino, doucement expressif is painful in its beauty: this is the sort of music string quartets were created for. The romance comes to an impossibly peaceful ending, weakened only by a shaky beginning to the final chord. A pulsing cello drives the final movement to its brilliant finish. Haydn’s String Quartet in F Minor, Op 20 No 5 sounds conservative and might have had more impact had it been placed first. This is not to suggest the two works aren’t an appropriate fit – in fact, Haydn offers an emotional respite after the intensity of the Debussy. Haydn’s reliably repetitive motives in the first movement are followed by a light Menuetto. Because of the subtlety of this quartet, the ballroom’s mildly reverberant acoustics are more apparent. The Adagio pulses like a lullaby before coming to a dreamy end, followed by the Finale: Fuga a due soggetti. These final…

March 14, 2015
CD and Other Review

Review: Hush Live In Concert

Hush Live in Concert is the 14th in a series of albums released to calm and comfort families facing stressful medical procedures. It’s a compilation of Hush Foundation recordings selected by former ABC Classic FM presenter Emma Ayres. Composer/pianist Paul Grabowsky states in the notes: “music has its roots in healing, dreaming, and story-telling”. Opening with two of his jazzy Ten Healing Songs, it becomes apparent from the outset that this is anything but the conventionally soothing Debussy for Daydreaming or Relaxation Made Easy style album. Andrea Keller’s A Castle for All is oddly uplifting as it cycles repetitively through the same series of chords. Brass, wind, and percussion instruments appear to improvise around Keller’s piano, and while it has plenty of musical tension, the overall feel is not a dark one. Tony Gould’s Gentle Conversations is as it sounds – a smattering of percussion, a gentle pulse, and a layering of instruments simulate just that. Though magnificently portrayed by the Grigoryan brothers, Songs with Strings is perhaps a touch too intense and emotionally confronting for an album attempting to reduce stress. Mark Isaacs’ romantic and visually evocative The Wind in the Willows is more fitting; one can just imagine a…

December 20, 2014
CD and Other Review

Review: Bach: St. John Passion (Academy of Ancient Music/Egarr)

Despite numerous recordings, it’s a rare treat to hear the composer’s original 1724 version of his St John Passion captured on period instruments. Richard Egarr directs some of Britain’s most stylish voices, accompanied by his own virtuosic musicians from the Academy of Ancient Music, on a journey through the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Christ. Egarr approaches the latter of Bach’s two surviving Passions with great intensity, asserting his view of the work at an unforgiving pace. Simultaneous movements of choir and musicians are mechanically concise, with individual entries uniform in expression – a consistent sound that comes across as well planned and not at all impersonal. The tenor James Gilchrist’s Evangelist is a real highlight – his earnest recitatives are sung with a near-feminine gentleness – I indulged in every word with utter delight. Matthew Rose and Ashley Riches give reliable performances as Jesus and Pilate, while Sarah Connolly’s arias are sung with seemingly as little effort as would be required for the spoken word. The program notes boast a “more muscular” version, and with instruments and voices combined it rarely disappoints. The articulation of the biblical text sometimes gets lost in the richness of the choral sound, but it’s…

April 17, 2014