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Classique News (France) - Interview with Guillaume Tourniaire (4 August 2008) "I spend hours every week reading scores I often didn’t know existed. Thanks to Maria Vandamme, other sleeping beauties will open their eyes again and find their way once more into the concert hall..." Melba Foundation Raheen Event - Interview with Lisa Gasteen (24 July 2008) "I actually stopped singing German repertoire for about eight years because when people heard me sing German they only ever wanted me to be doing Brünnhilde... I didn’t want to be used by a hungry industry. And I wanted to have the fun of doing Desdemona or Amelia in A Masked Ball or have a bit of fun." Das Opernglas - The Australian Ring (June 2008) "Melba has recorded the complete Adelaide Ring Cycle for the first time with SACD sound. Its superb state-of-the-art super audio surround permits us to hear every detail of the score, giving the instruments an outstanding sense of transparency and wonderful quality of timbre." The Australian Financial Review Magazine - What the maestro found (March 2008) "[Richard Bonynge's] latest recording project [is] a selection of unknown English and Italian arias from the 18th century, performed by soprano Deborah Riedel. Unearthing ‘new olds’ has been a hobby for decades since he discovered a huge amount of unknown repertoire, even original manuscripts by famous composers such as Handel, gathering dust in bookshops and libraries." Gramophone (UK) - A Ride Around the Rings (November 2007) "Sensationally recorded... the best-sounding Cycle on the market to date, bar none" The Age - Rediscovered Opera Scores a High Note (16 October 2007) "To hear a masterpiece for the first time is a most wonderful gift and everyone was buzzing because we are the first people to hear this for 100 years." Diapason (France) - Melba, the Label - Interview with Richard Bonynge (March 2007) "My next Melba Recordings project will be devoted to 18th Century Italian and English repertoires: Handel, Johann Christian Bach, Paisiello, Generali, Wallace … I want this programme to be pleasing, but also to constitute a real document. I enjoy recording music you never hear, as long as it is good." Herald Sun - Melba Toasts Key Ring (17 January 2007) "The name Melba will live again in opera circles with a glittering launch party at Jeanne Pratt's New York apartment ..." The Age - Like Dame Nellie, the Melba label is soaring, with new projects in the pipeline (November 2006) "I want to record the beacons in music, whether that's the Ring or Simone Young... and support them in the catalogue with younger musicians... New recordings are not necessarily needed in the market but they leave a great legacy for our performers ..." Gig Magazine (UK) - Interview with Maria Vandamme (August 2006) "We're doing what no-one else has done in Australia before... there's been an urgent need for a company to champion Australian music and musicians internationally." Bloomberg (USA) - Interview with Maria Vandamme (25 July 2006) "So many people aren't aware of our great Australian orchestras and musicians. Our image abroad is of a barbecue-having, beach-loving, football-mad nation, and it's such an unbalanced view. We really have to promote our great cultural life too. What better way than with a Rolls-Royce international recording label?" Classical Music (UK) - Ring in the round (22 July 2006) "The most significant record to come out of Australia... the most sophisticated recording of the most demanding opera cycle... an international record company that just happens to be based in Australia." The Age A2 - Laud of the Rings (15 July 2006) "A great advance for Australian Wagnerites: Melba Recordings' excellent Die Walküre... no small achievement... new and exciting things to compare and contrast." ClassicalSource (UK) - It's got to be perfection (12 July 2006) "[Melba] had great pride in the maturity of Australia’s culture. Melba Recordings shares her belief in Australian musicians. In a new century they – we – need a platform that will raise the profile of Australia and its artists abroad as never before.” Opera~Opera - Ring Project Under Way (July 2006) "It’s a challenging time for anyone to make records. When there isn’t a huge market you have to focus on why you’re doing it. It always comes down to two reasons. We must give our artists the finest possible representation internationally and we must document the careers of our wonderful Australian musicians for future generations." The Age - Around the World on a Ring Cycle - Interview with Lisa Gasteen (19 June 2006) "It's a life full of highs and lows anyway because of the music, and because of what we do, it's very emotional. But in other ways it's not dissimilar to other walks of life in that it isn't an honest competition. You are always working against things over which you have no control." The Australian - Wagner's Sound and Fury, but no images (26 May 2006) "Put the new Australian recording of Wagner's Die Walküre in the CD player and febrile strings bristle with Sturm und Drang. For those who were in Adelaide in November 2004, for the first all-Australian Ring cycle - Walküre is the second part - the opening bars of music will instantly bring to mind the stage action: the menacing searchlights in a storm, and a fugitive, Siegmund, desperately seeking shelter." The Australian Financial Review - Classical Coup: When Only the Best Will Do (25 May 2006) "To sell internationally, a recording from Australia had to have an edge... The world doesn't need another record... the only reason to make another record is to make it so that it stands the test of time." The Sunday Age 'Sunday Life' - Secrets of Success (22 May 2005) "There are five requirements for leadership: vision, knowledge, courage, urgency and judgement." Melbourne Weekly Bayside - Movers and Shakers (1-7 September 2004) "People make a city. They bring it to life, create its identity and determine its future; some more than most. These power brokers make a difference, get things done and shape events with a combination of influence, expertise, vision and effort. They’re heavily involved in professional and community activities and backed by strong networks." The Australian Financial Review Magazine - The Power Issue (August 2004) "Maria Vandamme, who pulled off the arts coup of the year, single-handedly securing a grant of $5 million... for the Melba Foundation." Weekend Australian Financial Review - Cheryl Barker Interview (12 December 2003) "One critic described [Cheryl] Barker as 'one of the most exciting interpreters... beautiful, vivacious, sexy...'" Channel 9 'Sunday' - Arts Feature Story (22 June 2003) "It was during her forays overseas that [Maria Vandamme] came to the conclusion that there was little international recognition of Australian musicians and singers. As a result, she dreamed of recording Australian performers for the world... [Richard Bonynge] says, 'I like working with [Melba Recordings] because Maria Vandamme has the most fantastic set of ears. I mean she's a great musician and she wants quality, quality, quality and I think she's delivering that.'... 'I think it's absolutely fantastic what Maria's doing,' says Cheryl Barker, 'she's trying to promote Australian talent under the best possible circumstances... she should have the support of the whole country.' 774 ABC Local Radio - Richard Bonynge Interview (1 August 2002) "I come to Melbourne because of Melba Recordings and Maria Vandamme's extraordinary ability to produce excellence every time. Because they are interested in recording with real, real quality. I've worked a great deal over the past forty-something years with recording companies in Europe and Melba Recordings is doing something quite wonderful here." The Australian Financial Review Magazine - Brave Little Voice (2 January 2001) "In less than a year, Melba has carved itself a niche... [Vandamme] says, 'The reason for our success is that each recording is special, and there is a feeling in the marketplace that everything we do is of interest." 'Figaro', Opera Australia - An Exciting New Classical CD Label (1 June 2000) "[Melba is] an exciting new Australian classical CD label... founded and directed by Maria Vandamme... Her extensive experience as a CD producer and international broadcaster have given her important contacts with the world's leading artists, administrators and recording companies... Melba Recordings carries the name of the great Australian diva, Dame Nellie Melba, who is synonymous with Australia, music and international recognition at the highest level." Opera~Opera - Melba Reborn (31 March 2000) "Few classical recording producers are known by name, with the possible exception of John Culshaw, who produced the epic Solti Ring for Decca. Yet in the musical world, Vandamme, who counts both Culshaw and the late conductor George Tintner among her mentors, has forged an international reputation for the quality and integrity of her work... [Vandamme] tells me of her passion for Massenet, a passion she shares with Richard Bonynge... Amoureuse bears the prefix: 'The Richard Bonynge Edition'. It is Vandamme's tribute to the conductor in his 70th energetic year. She uses terms like 'privilege' to describe their working relationship."
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