Limelight

Independent, in-depth and intelligent, Limelight offers Australia's finest coverage of music, arts and culture. Inside each issue, we invite you to take a deep dive into at least four main features exploring the music, opera, theatre and dance sectors, as well as articles addressing the big issues facing the arts and entertainment industry. Additional interviews, reviews and opinion pieces are included in the Soundings and Coda sections. Plus, discover upcoming events across the country in On Stage, and schedule your at-home listening with On Air & Online, which includes ABC Classic, independent radio and online broadcast information.

Limelight

Contributors

On Stage

In the Limelight

Passing the Baton • This month, Benjamin Northey becomes the first-ever Professor of Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In an illuminating conversation with Clive Paget, he traces his career, discusses different approaches to conducting and explains what he'd like to impart to his students.

A LINE IN THE SAND? • In August, Opera Australia announced three key appointments – Music Director, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board – with a Director of Opera to follow. Peter Tregear discusses the restructure and hopes it will lead to a better future at our national opera company, following recent turmoil.

MODERN-DAY MAESTRO • Opera Australia's newly appointed Music Director, Andrea Battistoni, tells Jo Litson why he was keen to take on the role and discusses the challenges ahead.

Design for Life • Marg Horwell is increasingly in demand from international luminaries yet maintains her unassuming nature. Deborah Jones talks to the Australian set and costume designer about her career and asks some of her collaborators why she is such a formidable talent.

UNCONVENTIONALLY HIP • Next year, French choir and orchestra Pygmalion will make its Australian debut at the Adelaide Festival with a series of concerts surveying the European Baroque. Founding Director Raphaël Pichon tells Jansson J. Antmann why it is so much more than a period-instrument ensemble.

INTERVIEW Playtime • Dean Bryant chats with Jo Litson about becoming the new Artistic Director of Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre and directing Eddie Perfect's latest musical for WAAPA.

What's new on disc • This month features a major rediscovery, Simon Rattle's take on a concert staple, a probing Well-Tempered Clavier and, remarkably for the first time, the complete My Fair Lady.

Farinelli Remixed • Shamistha de Soysa discovers how trans performance artist Kit Spencer is lending a modern-day voice to the castrati of old.

Tosca – Royal Ballet and Opera • Regardless of your stance on Anna Netrebko, Oliver Mears’ wartime staging is a winner.

I Knew a Man Who Knew Brahms by Nancy Shear • ½ Shear's life with Stokowski and Rostropovich makes a fascinating memoir and much, much more.

Dead of Winter • ½ It may not reshape the action-thriller tropes, but it's smartly shot and gives Emma Thompson a role to relish.

On Air & Online

ABC Classic concert program - November 2025

Independent radio & streaming – November 2025

GUY NOBLE'S SOAPBOX Time to Rise • Conducting a combined schools orchestra and choir, Guy Noble can't help but admire those patiently raising the next generation of musicians.

WORLD PREMIERE Forever Ours • Ella Macens explains how her new work for the Australian Haydn Ensemble shines a light on one of classical music's most enduring romantic mysteries.

PLAYING UP The Flute • Ana de la Vega tells us how she went from competitive showjumping to being an Amazon No. 1 best-selling flautist, with one foot in Europe and one at home as the inaugural Artistic Director of Canberra's world-class Snow...