Dua Lipa designs a fan’s next tattoo at Melbourne concert

MUSIC
Dua Lipa | Radical Optimism Tour ★★★★
Rod Laver Arena, March 19

Dua Lipa makes music for dance floors. And as the crowd streams into Rod Laver Arena, it looks like a party’s about to start. The dress code is clear: pink and silver, with sequins, glitter and anything that sparkles like a disco ball.

Dua Lipa performs at Rod Laver Arena on March 19.Credit: Richard Clifford

But when the chorus of Training Season begins, after Lipa belts out a slower rendition of its first verse, she sets the tone: this isn’t simply a dance party for a packed arena – we’re in for a show.

The English-Albanian singer’s showmanship shines from the very start – welcoming the crowd with innovative, theatrical dance numbers in End Of An Era and Whatcha Doing (with an edge of burlesque), and carrying on to a band performance of These Walls. Staying seated feels so, so wrong, so it’s a relief to see the entire arena on their feet by One Kiss. You know we’re in Lipa’s world when even her dancers can make the crowd clap when she’s off stage.

Then, the surprise we were all waiting for. “We’re going back to the ’90s,” she says of her promise to cover a local song at every show. Tonight’s offering is Torn, first released in Danish in 1993, and most famously covered by Natalie Imbruglia in 1997. It hits all the right notes of pop nostalgia.

A gear shift comes in the form of a workout: back-up dancers in leotards and Lipa’s voiceover acting as a fitness instructor of sorts. The crowd bent, went round and round, and made it shake – the perfect warm-up before Physical, Electricity, Hallucinate and Illusion.

Dua Lipa’s showmanship shines from the very start.Credit: Richard Clifford

One thing I’ve learnt about Lipa tonight, though, is that she knows her fans. After the first set, she gets up close and personal with the barricade crowd. She takes videos and photos with fans and compliments a couple wearing matching shark hats (a homage to Radical Optimism’s album cover). After reading a fan’s sign asking her to “draw my next tattoo”, the singer sketches out several different love hearts.

That expertise also extends to the night’s rendition of her hits: she knows when we want a dance break to rave about, or an extra chorus to really mess up our vocal cords.

When you’re a pop star with so many hits, it’s tricky to make your B-sides land well but Lipa makes it look easy.

Is it in the lights from the crowd’s phones at Anything For Love? The striking emotion in Lipa’s voice in Falling Forever? Or her natural chemistry with her band in Maria? These set-list underdogs make it clear that the songs between the hits are not an intermission or a time for us to get lost in our phones.

For a show that could easily have been just a dance party, Lipa flexes a smartly-paced set, and not even a missed line at the beginning of Illusion disrupts the good time.

From all the songs that really touch me, it’s the one that ends the show – Be The One – that has the biggest impact. In a full-circle moment, the crowd still sings along 10 years (and many, many hits) into Lipa’s career. Of the song that started it all, she says: “I’ve been singing this since the very beginning and I’ll be singing this for the rest of my life.”
Reviewed by Gabriela Sumampow

MUSIC
Matthias Goerne sings Winterreise with Daniil Trifonov ★★★★★
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Recital Centre, April 1

Arguably Schubert’s greatest achievement, Winter Journey is a cycle of 24 songs that maps both a physical and psychological odyssey. Schubert’s genius lies in evoking many ordinary things (howling winds, barking dogs, a spinning weathervane, a rustling linden tree, a sinister crow) and aligning them with the heartbreaking disintegration of a once-happy lover who trudges towards icy oblivion.

Daniil Trifonov and Matthias Goerne perform in Sydney.Credit: Craig Abercrombie

Such a potent musical realisation of interior and exterior moods requires two supremely gifted artists, and baritone Matthias Goerne together with pianist Daniil Trifonov proved more than equal to the task, creating a mesmerising partnership.

Goerne presented as a deeply introspective protagonist, totally absorbed in his own grief. Never looking directly at the audience, his burnished, flexible instrument told of the best of times and the worst of times with unflinching candour. Moving almost constantly from right to left and often singing to Trifonov, his stage gestures became distracting, but the musical narrative remained utterly compelling.

Both Goerne and Trifonov were unafraid to use a wide range of dynamics, colour and pacing in telling this tragedy. Springtime Dream offered deeply etched contrasts, while some of the early songs exploited a deliberate vocal rawness to reflect the singer’s agony.

Trifonov proved a sensitive partner for one better known as a soloist. There was exquisitely quiet playing in Will-o’-the-wisp, precise dramatic interjections in Loneliness and a vehement end to The Inn.

Together, singer and pianist created moments of captivating beauty (The Linden Tree, Last Hope) before moving to the devastating last two songs (The False Suns and The Organ Grinder), where the traveller confronts and accepts an existence devoid of hope.

As expected, Goerne’s interpretation has deepened and intensified since his 2011 performance of Winterreise in Melbourne, and the bonus of Trifonov’s artistry made this immersion in human sorrow truly a night to remember.
Reviewed by Tony Way

MUSIC
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra ★★★★★
Melbourne Recital Centre, March 25 and 26

So much has changed since the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (FBO) last visited Melbourne. COVID confinements almost immediately followed its splendid Beethoven piano concerto series in March 2020. The good news, five years on, is that the FBO remains a genuinely enthusiastic and effective ambassador for historically informed performance.

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra performs at Melbourne Recital Centre.Credit: Laura Manariti 

Offering two generous programs focused on Mozart, the orchestra was joined by soloists with Australian connections: the South African-born, Australian-raised fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, and the Mildura-born, Berlin-based soprano Siobhan Stagg.

Bezuidenhout, whose Beethoven performances so captivated Melbourne audiences on the previous FBO tour, brought abundant ardour and grace to two Mozart concertos over successive evenings: No. 9 in E-flat major, then No. 23 in A. Supported by the wonderfully burnished timbre of the orchestra, the slow movements were standouts, the driving intensity of the minor mode in No. 9 as memorable as the exquisitely blended rhapsodic and elegiac elements of No. 23. By contrast, outer movements fizzed with an elegant effervescence.

Clearly enjoying being back on home ground, Stagg impressed in the second program with a brace of concert arias delivered with assured, vivid characterisation. Chi sa, chi sa, qual sia and Vado, ma dove? alerted listeners to the development of a darker, richer tone in the lower and middle registers of her instrument, while Ch’io mi scordi di te?, with fortepiano obbligato, celebrated a glittering partnership. Stagg saved the best till last, closing the concert with a blistering account of Bella mia fiamma, addio, in which the glorious silvery top of her voice was used to brilliant effect.

Other delights included a symphony each night. The appealing, mellow winds lent additional charm to a suave reading of Symphony No. 40 in G minor, while Symphony No. 29 in A major found the players in ebullient form as they brought joyful rhythmic incisiveness to this inventive score.

Siobhan Stagg impressed in the second program with a brace of concert arias delivered with assured, vivid characterisation.Credit: Laura Manariti 

FBO music director and leader Gottfried von der Goltz also gave a thoughtful account of Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, even while battling bravely with a loose string. Relishing the “Turkish” episode in the finale, the orchestra honed its wonderfully cohesive tone to evoke the dramatic, exotic mood.

Powerfully enforced throughout these two outstanding appearances, the FBO’s eagerness to share generously and joyfully its love of music makes this ensemble such a visual and aural pleasure. A further thrill is to witness the flowering of Stagg’s talent, destined to make her another of Australia’s great sopranos.
Reviewed by Tony Way

THEATRE
Slay ★★★
Theatre Works Explosives Factory, until March 29

Horror is flavour of the month on Melbourne’s queer theatre scene. Last week it was the body horror and dystopian noir of Eva Rees’ trans thriller Djuna. This week it’s Slay, which has a group of young lesbians taking on the slasher genre.

Slay wields the blade of satire with a maniacal edge.Credit: Isabella Zettl

Borrowing unabashedly from the campiest, most self-referential stabfest in cinema – the Scream franchise – this piece of devised theatre wields the blade of satire with a maniacal edge.

If gender politics – and indeed all politics – have become something of a knife fight nowadays, Slay enters the fray well armed. It’s intent on scything down reactionary forces, from retrograde views in the manosphere to TERF-y tendencies among some radical feminists, skewering its targets with wild abandon … and a satisfying quantity of onstage gore.

Four young queer women are implicated in the disappearance of another. The victim is known to Cora (Anita Mei La Terra), Ziggy (Raven Rogers-Wright), Jessica (Jackie van Lierop) and Valentina (Louisa Cusumano) – all friends who don’t get to enjoy being young and idle for long. Someone in a glittery ghost mask and flowing black robes is hunting them down one by one.

There are romantic complications – teen movie tropes abound – and political ones.

Slay is funny, subversive comedy horror.Credit: Isabella Zettl

The vanished woman was a member of SLAM (the Society for Lesbians Against Men), a new movement which repudiates patriarchy, asserts the inherent superiority of lesbians and their right to wield power, and calls for cis men to be reduced to 10 per cent of the population.

Their platform resembles SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas, the radical feminist playwright who shot Andy Warhol in 1968, and the play has fun portraying – with a portentous, liturgical, almost cult-like quality – the dark pillars of their ideology from within, before unpicking their beliefs (and the misogyny they’re reacting to) in freewheeling lampoons of online forums and performative YouTube panels.

SLAM is also discussed, more sanely, by the quartet of young friends, though sanity is a difficult thing to cling to when you’re being targeted by a deranged spree killer.

Director Steph Lee was also behind a recent revival of Declan Greene’s Home Economics. Slay reminded me, in fact, of early Sisters Grimm, the queer indie company Greene founded with Ash Flanders a generation ago.

It has the same kind of outré flamboyance – one murder scene occurs on a Dance Dance Revolution machine, the victim and the perp busting moves to Nelly Furtado’s Maneater – and a similar sense of working through influences to explore novel possibilities and to develop an original style.

Slay doesn’t always slay, but it’s funny, subversive comedy horror – a Sapphic slasher that should amuse fans of the Scream movies and anyone disillusioned by the extremities of living in a hyper-polarised, terminally online world.
Reviewed by Cameron Wooodhead

MUSIC
The Heart of the Violin: James Ehnes ★★★★★
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Recital Centre, March 22

Possessed of an appealing and persuasive musical personality, Canadian violinist James Ehnes brought more than a touch of class to this chamber-style concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. As the MSO’s 2025 artist in residence, Ehnes both directed the orchestra and appeared as soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.4 in D major (K. 218).

Violinist James Ehnes was compelling from the first note.Credit: File photo by Benjamin Ealovega

Each half of this concert opened with a work by American composer Jessie Montgomery. Strum, as the title suggests, featured pizzicato effects effectively woven together with bowed material to create ear-catching textures infused with harmonies reminiscent of Britten and Copland. Delivered with razor-sharp precision, it served as an impressive curtain raiser.

Propelled by motoric rhythms, Starburst, a brief explosion of musical energy, confirmed that Montgomery’s mastery of her craft makes her a composer to watch.

Compelling from the very first note, Ehnes’ account of the Mozart was a superb demonstration of the violinist’s art, where technique was always at the service of the music. The quasi-martial gestures of the opening came with both strength and lyricism. Slight issues of co-ordination were inconsequential in the face of the orchestra’s dedicated and stylish accompaniment.

Tender beauty was the key element in the second movement; Ehnes’ beguiling cantabile still audible as he pared elements of the cadenza down to an absolute whisper. Relishing its rustic elements, soloist and orchestra brought the concerto to an ebullient conclusion.

Resuming his place in the leader’s chair, Ehnes led a headily romantic performance of Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings, Op. 22. As with the Mozart, elegantly tapered phrases and clearly etched rhythms advanced the musical narrative of this deservedly popular work. As usual, the acoustics of Elisabeth Murdoch Hall allowed the fine detail of inner parts to emerge.

On the strength of this wonderfully satisfying experience, Ehnes’ forthcoming MSO appearances will be eagerly anticipated.
Reviewed by Tony Way

MUSIC
Kehlani | Crash World Tour ★★★
John Cain Arena, March 18

The drums pound as the electric guitar soars. Kehlani starts to sing the opening bars to Next 2 U. As the stage lights flicker frenetically, the sheer curtain drops to reveal the 29-year-old American singer-songwriter as the crowd erupts into cheers.

Kehlani performs at John Cain Arena on March 18.Credit: Richard Clifford

The performer is touring their fourth studio album Crash across Australia and New Zealand. The album earned three Grammy nominations at this year’s awards, including Best Progressive R&B Album and Best R&B Song for After Hours.

Kehlani delivers a sexy R&B/soul set, with the electric guitar bringing a rock concert vivacity to the overall show. They sing about love and lust, playing off the charged energy of the guitarist and dancers.

The hip-hop choreography moves between sultry and dynamic, matching the energy of the track. Kehlani joins seamlessly into the routine throughout the show. A wind machine blows through Kehlani’s hair sporadically, making the production feel like a live music video.

Kehlani gives the performance everything.Credit: Richard Clifford

Like many international acts, Kehlani attempts to imitate the Australian accent – and does a pretty good job. Prompted by a fan’s sign featuring an invitation to go surfing together, they respond “y’all got sharks in the water”, in the local elocution.

The transitions between R&B, soul and rock work well, dialling up and winding down the intensity to create variation in the mood. In Gangsta, a track off the Suicide Squad soundtrack, the electric guitar amplifies as Kehlani writhes on the floor in front of the lead guitarist. They then transition to the Afrobeats and amapiano-infused track Tears from latest album Crash, a collaborative song with Nigerian singer-songwriter Omah Lay.

“Do you mind if I bring the energy down?” Kehlani asks, before launching into mellow track everything, off their third studio album Blue Water Road, and the single Honey.

“Y’all have one job, and it’s just to have f---ing fun,” Kehlani says early on.

The performer gives everything they have to their onstage performance – but this spirit isn’t matched by the crowd. Kehlani does their best to bring the fire and sensuality of a club to the show, but fans in general admission remain quite stilted, preferring to capture footage on their phones.

When Kehlani performs After Hours, the final song of the show, the crowd finally gets into the groove. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late.

The show ends abruptly with no encore. Earlier in the set, the singer promises to make a club appearance after the gig at Ms Collins (ironic, given they perform their single Hate the Club as part of the show). An anticlimactic end to the evening.
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

MUSIC
Yamen Saadi with Simon Tedeschi ★★★★
Melbourne Recital Centre, March 18

Yamen Saadi is a polished exponent of the Viennese style.

Fritz Kreisler was one of the 20th century’s great violin virtuosos and ensured his legacy would extend beyond his recordings by composing a host of popular miniatures that continue to round off many a violin recital.

Imagine the delight of Kreisler lovers when a program mostly devoted to his music is performed on one of the Stradivari violins he used to play – and the performer is none other than the young concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic, representing Kreisler’s birthplace.

Still in his 20s, Yamen Saadi is a polished exponent of the Viennese style and played the 1734 “Lord Amherst of Hackney” Stradivarius previously in Kreisler’s possession. Opening with the master’s signature work, the Prelude and Allegro, Saadi clearly delineated Kreisler’s quasi-baroque lines with brilliant technique and soaring tone.

Sensitively partnered with distinguished Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi, Saadi then presented Grieg’s Violin Sonata No.3 in C minor, a work often performed by Kreisler. Eliciting delicate colouring from the second movement and rhythmic energy from the finale, the duo brought a fair degree of dramatic interest to this youthful work.

It was really in the remaining part of the program, given over to Kreisler’s miniatures, that a true sense of Saadi’s artistic flair was revealed. Kreisler’s arrangements of Brahms, de Falla and Albeniz were each given their own unique sensibility, flavoured by the multi-hued, sweet singing tone of the Strad.

Kreisler’s own La Gitana (with its Arabian influences referencing Saadi’s heritage), the Viennese March with its pianistic music box effects, the bittersweet Liebesleid and the lyrical Schön Rosmarin were all part of a polished Viennese charm offensive. As deftly characterised as all these were, it was only in the program’s encore that Saadi finally let loose a passionate torrent of expression for which the enthusiastic audience had been waiting.
Reviewed by Tony Way

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