ABC Classics celebrates the 60th birthday of pre-eminent Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin with a 10-CD boxset, bringing together iconic works with pieces recorded especially for this collection. Kats-Chernin is one of the most cosmopolitan composers working today, with a prolific catalogue of works for theatre, ballet, orchestra, chamber ensemble and piano. Her dramatically vivid, brilliantly scored and often propulsive music communicates a mixture of lightheartedness and lingering melancholy, combining strong rhythmic figures with elements of cabaret, tango, ragtime and klezmer.

This 10-CD collection celebrates more than two decades of iconic recordings, starting with Elena Kats-Chernin’s first album of the ABC Classics label, released in 1996.

Composer featured on the long-running Lloyds Bank advert, Elena Kats-Chernin has been variously described as: ‘Vibrant and seductive’ (The Guardian), ‘Magical’ (Berliner Morgenpost), ‘Kats-Chernin’s characteristic imaginative space might be likened to an old dance, heard in a surreal dream, interrupted by outbursts of outrageousness.’ (Sydney Morning Herald)

Artists

Stephanie McCallum (piano), Jane Sheldon (soprano), Ian Munro (piano), Tamara-Anna Cislowska (piano), Elena Kats-Chernin (piano), Sally Whitwell (piano), Anna McDonald (violin), Alice Evans (violin), Brett Dean (viola), Peter Morrison (cello), Claire Edwardes (marimba, percussion), Jason Noble (bass clarinet), Viney–Grinberg Piano Duo (piano duet), Justine Favell (piano), Stephen Phillips (violin), David Montgomery (percussion), Laura Chislett (flute), Thomas Jones (violin), Daniel Del Pino (piano), Louise King (cello), Anna Stoddart (flute), Janice Preece (harp), The Idea Of North (vocals), Lior (vocals), Nick Begbie (percussion), Goldner String Quartet (string quartet), Diana Doherty (oboe), Matilda Rintoul (narrator), Leila Winsbury (narrator), Alexandre Oguey (cor anglais), James Crabb (accordion), Genevieve Lacey (sopranino recorder, descant recorder, tenor recorder, bass recorder), Flinders Quartet (string quartet), Donna Coleman (piano), Marshall McGuire (harp), Kees Boersma (double bass), Timothy Dunin (double bass), Alex Henery (double bass), Max McBride (double bass), Kirsty McCahon (double bass), Matthew McDonald (double bass), Robert Nairn (double bass), Caro Vigilante (double bass), Frank Celata (clarinet), Christina Leonard (saxophone), Catherine Hewgill (cello), Dale Barltrop (violin), Julian Smiles (cello), Mark Robinson (percussion), Rachael Beesley (violin), Lisa Stewart (violin), Nicole Forsyth (viola), Daniel Yeadon (cello), Lorelei Dowling (bassoon), Amelia Farrugia (soprano), Guy Noble (narrator), Chloe Lankshear (soprano), Adele Kozak (soprano), AJ America (mezzo-soprano), Elias Wilson (tenor), Patrick Baker (baritone), Samuel Merrick (bass (vocal)), Sydney Alpha Ensemble, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Gondwana Voices, The Birralee Blokes, carisma, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Brandenburg Choir, Australian World Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ironwood, Luminescence Chamber Choir, David Stanhope, Ola Rudner, Benjamin Northey, Lyn Williams, Paul Holley, Richard Tognetti, Paul Dyer, Alexander Briger, Bram Tovey