Austrialian composer John Antill’s Outback Overture and fascinating ballet Corroboree (incorporating his studies of Aboriginal music) are well performed by James Judd and the New Zealand Orchestra (8.570241). Fine sound.

This is the first digital recording of an Australian classic. John Antill’s popular ballet is based on his memories of a corroboree he witnessed in 1913 and on material gathered during research on Australian indigenous music. The music still sounds as vibrant and colourful as ever, especially with such a committed performance as this by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Included as an attractive filler is Antill’s Outback Overture. At Naxos’ bargain price, you can’t go wrong.

It’s all great fun, a touch outrageous, even cartoonish (Antill has a certain overfondness for the ratchet), and it’s dazzlingly performed here by James Judd and the New Zealand Symphony.

The music is undeniably colorful and kinetic, and interested buyers should note that earlier recordings of this work…The score’s strongest point is the orchestration, which includes such innovations as a bull-roarer in the wild and a quite absorbing climactic dance of the “Procession of the Totems and Closing Ceremony,” track 8. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under James Judd responds well to this aspect of the music, with broad, transparent performances that don’t falter in the smaller details. Recommended…

The 1973 recording of this landmark work with the Sydney Symphony has rightly been regarded for years as a real audiophile demonstration disc. It was also, until now, the only recording, so this is a significant release. Indispensable.

Australian composer John Antill is best remembered for his exuberant, outstandingly successful and ever-popular ballet Corroboree. Drawing on material Antill notated in 1913 at a corroboree in Botany Bay and on his subsequent research on Aboriginal music, Corroboree is a landmark in Australian music history.

Australian composer, singer, musician and broadcaster John Antill’s ballet Corroboree was inspired by a corroboree he saw in 1913. Featuring indigenous melodies, rhythm sticks and didgeridoo impersonations, it’s accepted as being the first ‘western’ composition to use indigenous Australian elements. It sounds at times like Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring or even Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain. An Outback Overture is an inoffensive pastiche of folk melodies and dance rhythms reminiscent of Percy Grainger. James Judd and NZSO are strong advocates for these works.

Australian composer John Antill is best remembered for his exuberant, outstandingly successful and ever-popular ballet Corroboree. Drawing on material Antill notated in 1913 at a corroboree in Botany Bay and on his subsequent research on Aboriginal music, Corroboree is a landmark in Australian music history.