Duo album ‘Debussy – Ravel’ (ABC Classic) by violist Roger Benedict and pianist Simon Tedeschi earns 2023 ARIA Award nomination for ‘Best Classical Album’.
The 2023 ARIA awards take place on 15 November 2023.
“Australian artists will be celebrated across 29 categories with the winners to be crowned Wednesday, 15 November at The Hordern Pavilion on Gadigal land. The ARIA Awards will premiere live on Stan at 5pm AEDT for the first time in Australian history. The live stream will be followed by a free-to-air broadcast across the Nine Network at 7.30pm AEDT with performances and moments available on the @ARIA.official YouTube channel.”
Supported by Destination NSW.
Find the full list of nominees here.
About the album:
Following on from their highly successful disc ‘A Winter’s Tale’, viola virtuoso Roger Benedict and renowned pianist Simon Tedeschi reimagined masterpieces by Debussy and Ravel for the rich, mellow tone of the viola – the ‘melancholy dreamer’, as Berlioz described it. With its wistful sound, the viola gives a new and fresh character to these pieces, which, even now, seem radical in their conception.
The album opens with Benedict’s arrangements of four of Debussy’s evocative Préludes, and closes with the composer’s kaleidoscopic Cello Sonata. In between, we hear viola arrangements of Ravel’s lyrical Violin Sonata – a youthful work, left unpublished at his death – as well as his sensual Piece in the form of a Habanera and the soulful, melancholy Kaddisch, with the viola singing the hauntingly beautiful melodic line. The album also features Simon Tedeschi solo at the piano with Ravel’s radiant Sonatine in its original version.
Roger Benedict’s career has encompassed work as a conductor, soloist, orchestral player, chamber musician and teacher. Former Principal Viola of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, he has appeared as soloist with both of those ensembles as well as with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Canberra Symphony, New Zealand Symphony and the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan.
Pianist Simon Tedeschi has been hailed as ‘true greatness’ (Sydney Morning Herald). He tours and performs globally with leading orchestras, and is a regular classical and jazz collaborator at prestigious festivals, venues and concert series including the Abu Dhabi International Arts Festival, Shanghai Arts Festival, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle Festivals, the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Music Series, Musica Viva Australia and UKARIA Cultural Centre in Adelaide. For ABC Classics he has made acclaimed recordings of music by Gershwin, Mussorgsky, Richard Strauss, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and more.
The artwork for the album cover is by Loribelle Spirovski, a Sydney-based Archibald finalist.
Read the Media Release hereMR Benedict-Tedeschi Debussy-Ravel.