OPERA singer Greta Bradman says her goal when performing is to impart a feeling to the listener that she is singing just for them, offering her heart and soul.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A packed St Saviour’s Cathedral on Sunday felt exactly that after the Bradman’s afternoon concert, ‘My Hero.’
The adjectivies ‘delightful, brilliant and wonderful’ were used liberally following the performance by one of Australia’s rising stars.
The concert was one of the last in a 17-round tour taking in capital cities but also the regions.
Ms Bradman said it was essential the regions didn’t miss out and she chose places close to her heart. They included St Jude’s Church, Bowral, where her grandfather, legendary Australian cricketer, the late Sir Donald Bradman and his wife, sang and played instruments, and Cootamundra, where he was born.
“I adore the vastmess of this great continent and its people and I believe it’s imperative to include the rural community - the country’s lifeblood - in one’s journey as an artist,” she said.
Ms Bradman told the Post she had visited Goulburn before. A former organist at St Saviour’s Cathedral was a “fill-in” in her father’s jazz band and he had spoken very highly of him.
“But I had not seen the cathedral before,” she said.
“I was absolutely taken with it. It’s a beautiful space with such attention to detail and you can see the love and care in its design.
“For me, on the final concert leg, being here in this truly special place has been delightful.”
In a 90-minute performance, Bradman paid tribute to her musical heroes. They included Straus’s ‘My Hero’, Mozart’s ‘Der Holle Rache’, Michael William Balfe’s ‘I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls, Verdi’s Caro Nome, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Edelweiss and for a little light relief, ‘When You Wish Upon a Star, by Harline and Washington. In a comical touch appreciated by the audience, Ms Bradman concluded with ‘Cherry Ripe.’
Many of the pieces are included on her debut Decca Album, recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge in St Silas Church, London last year.
She was accompanied on Sunday by pianist Rhys Boak, who also performed several solo pieces on the St Saviour’s organ.
The pair was given a standing ovation and people lined up afterwards to meet her, to buy CDs and memorabilia and for autographs and photos.
Only afterwards did she reveal she’d been battling a touch of tonsilitis, that fortunately didn’t make it into her vocal chords.