Composing a reply to Beethoven's melancholy letter

At its final subscription series concerts for 2009, which concentrated on two Beethoven works bearing the number four - the B flat Symphony and G Major Piano Concerto - the Australian Chamber Orchestra under artistic director Richard Tognetti also gave an airing to the revised orchestral version of Brett Dean's Beethoven-inspired Testament.

The juxtaposition produced results, mainly because the Australian composer's construct maintains interest through its intellectual elasticity.

Taking its starting point from Beethoven's sad Heiligenstadt letter, Dean's composition opens with a whispering effect, the violas and eventually all the strings using unrosined bows to generate half-audible sounds to mirror Beethoven's encroaching deafness.

The work is chameleonic in that the events during its length are in a state of flux, even the quote from Beethoven's first Rasumovsky quartet played not quite en clair but leading to an affirmative climax.

After this contemporary response to the composer's disaster-transcending genius, the concerto interpretation with soloist Dejan Lazic proved puzzling. He established his individuality from the opening bars, enunciated with remarkable care, the expanded ACO responding with a persuasive sympathy that was maintained throughout a performance that held revelatory insights as well as irritations, such as large-scale shifts in tempo.

Lazic interrupted the calm tenor of the concerto's progress with two sensational cadenzas, but the final impact was of brilliant patches, the work's torso stretched into unexpected, not-quite-comfortable positions, although the central Andante was a model of control and clear-cut delicacy.

As expected, the players made dynamic inroads into the optimistic symphony with plenty of punch in an opening movement notable for emphatic, full-bodied chords cut short rather than blared into meaninglessness. Tognetti kept the Adagio on the move, establishing a steady progress through the bustling scherzo to a bravura finale. In effect, this was a fine achievement, technically brilliant; all that you missed was a consistent communication of the work's good humour.

Clive O'Connell | The Age | 18 Nov 2009

Blog review of Golden Flute

The two greatest inhibiting factors a cultural critic has to deal with are expectation and exaltation. The first only brings an easy review to fruition when it is failed, and the second is difficult to write without seeming unnecessarily extravagant with language. The truth is, I have a certain bias towards the Australian Chamber Orchestra, but it is not what you think. I don’t have any real personal connection to its members, nor to its repertoire. I am not a long lost cousin of Richard Tognetti and his limbic elasticity. In its entirety, my bias has been conceived by a personal reputation they have built with me by simply being stunning to watch and listen to. But there we find the problem. Expectation and Exaltation, in equal doses, waiting in the wings as it were. Common sense says to avoid both, but the nature of quality performance wills me to include them and so I must.

As I entered the Sydney Opera House, I had a thought which often struck me in the historical venue. It is hard not to expect something majestic in such a large, inviting space. Honestly, I have seen some average performances in the space, and some marvellous ones, but this history seems to elude me as I take in the space. Yes, something majestic must occur. But this again, is expectation. The reality of the situation causes me to believe that the Chamber Orchestra is better served by the Angel Place Recital Hall (where all Sydney dates, bar this one, were performed.) The Opera House, being as well known as it is, draws an ambling crowd who appear to cough, converse and drop heavy objects throughout concerts. In such a large space, with minimal application, a Chamber Orchestra would naturally find it hard to compete (without of course sacrificing the dynamic delight they have become so familiar with expressing.) Fortunately, Tognetti (a man far beyond ‘leader’ - his achilles outstretched like the beginnings of flight) has the capacity to draw focus, flaunting great musical prowess with his ensemble; the Australian Chamber Orchestra performs like a slowly swelling wave, swaying wistfully as if connected by an invisible line, leaving pretension behind for pure performance... Read more.

Marwood Reviews

"First Class" Manly Daily

"guest director and violinist Anthony Marwood plays with refined and unexaggerated musicianship" Sydney Morning Herald

"...slashingly exciting, Marwood leading with infectious enthusiasm" The Age

"Brisk speeds, incisive attack and crisp articulation still invigorated the music but sinuous phrasing and lightness of touch brought warmth and affection" The Australian

Check out these reviews and more aco.com.au/marwood-reviews

Resonance review from a blog

This was again a very expertly selected program and rewarding to hear. Life is well spent with Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Read full review.

SMH Review of Resonance

Nostalgic trip back to postwar Europe

TWO octogenarians, two scars from World War II, and two nostalgic glances at the past interlocked in this program of 20th-century masterpieces and a 21st-century piece. Read full review.

Tognetti's band can do no wrong

Review from Central Sydney of Resonance

The Australian Chamber Orchestra elicits such fulsome praise from so many quarters that it’s difficult for this reviewer to find a weakness - there simply doesn’t seem to be one.

They seem capable of playing anything superbly. Take their latest tour, under the brand of Resonance, which features “five masterpieces for string orchestra”.

Swollen almost to symphony orchestra size by combining the main ensemble with the up-and-comers from ACO2, they also redefined the “chamber” element of their title to include a large and varied array of instruments for Bartok’s Music for strings, percussion and celesta.

I have heard this work performed several times over the years. None of them has been finer than this reading under artistic director Richard Tognetti. This complex and marvellous work unfolded beautifully from its quietly insistent fugal opening to the febrile cross-rhythms of Balkan and Hungarian folk tunes which punctuate the tumultuous finale.

Tognetti’s triumphal passage through his 20th season as leader continues with Australia’s best composers paying tributes to him - in this case Peter Sculthorpe with a specially-commissioned Chaconne, a gentle and melodious nod to both Sculthorpe’s and Tognetti’s favourite composer, J.S.Bach.

This simple work, exploiting with long singing lines the glorious tone of Tognetti’s $10 million fiddle, laid the groundwork for the next piece, Vaughan Williams’ glorious and lush Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis.

Its first performance was given in the vast, resonant spaces of Gloucester cathedral. This was hard to recreate on the small Angel Place stage, but by the judicious placement of a mini-orchestra at the back, Tognetti and his band managed well.

The second half of the program opened with a change of mood and pace with a harrowing work, Shaar, by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis, a resistance fighter against the Nazis and then the British who lost half of his face in a skirmish with an English tank.

Painting a nightmarish picture with the use of stabbing bowing, strong dissonant chords and sliding glissando passages, this performance was notable not only for the power of the playing but Tognetti’s meticulous direction, mouthing the beats in the bar amid a seeming maelstrom of colliding tempi and harmonies.

Richard Strauss’s tragic and beautiful memorial to his beloved Munich and the shattered treasures of Germany and Austria, Metamorphosen, closed the evening on a sombre but ultimately peaceful note.

US Review, Santa Barbara Independent

Australian Chamber Orchestra with Andreas Scholl, Countertenor
Outstanding Countertenor Impresses Lobero Audience on Wednesday Night
By Charles Donelan
Thursday, April 30, 2009

The 18th century took music to its outer limits. Any doubts on that score were settled early in this, the final concert of the season in CAMA’s Masterseries at the Lobero. Richard Tognetti led his breathtaking ensemble on a wild ride through the entire development of music during this long century of discovery, all the way from the exuberant Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 11 of Antonio Vivaldi (1711) to the Symphony No. 44 in E Minor of Joseph Haydn (1771). The Australian Chamber Orchestra, in a gesture toward earlier performance tradition, plays with only the cellists seated, and the rest of the ensemble standing and free to move within the framework of a rough semi-circle. Those who heard the sensational Sejong ensemble with Gil Shaham just a few weeks ago would have recognized this tactic, but perhaps not the added crunch and splash of energy continuously cascading off the ACO. The Vivaldi was plangent and beautiful, easing the audience by degrees toward the electrifying operatic excerpts from George Frideric Handel that were to come. Read more

New York Times Review

New York Times Music Review | Australian Chamber Orchestra

A Group That Doesn’t Sit, Adding Bounce to Haydn

By STEVE SMITH
May 4, 2009

The Australian Chamber Orchestra is not the only ensemble whose members perform standing up, but it is one of the few for which the posture seems to make a difference. Hearing the group perform on Sunday night at Zankel Hall, you could easily believe that its kinetic, precise and engaging playing was simply too exuberant to be bottled up by sitting down. Read more

Carnegie Hall Review

Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, N.Y.; May 3, 2009

The Australian Chamber Orchestra's concert this evening at Carnegie Hall's Zankel auditorium took place simultaneously with an appearance by Bernard Haitink and the Chicago Symphony in the big hall. While the latter will probably get most of the post-concert press, I somehow suspect the more satisfying musical experience took place in the small hall, literally "down under" the larger one. This is a superb ensemble by any standard, and the program was excellently chosen: Haydn's Symphony No. 44 "Mourning," Roger Smalley's "Footwork," six Handel arias, and music director Richard Tognetti's own transcription for string orchestra of Czech composer Pavel Haas' magnificent Second String Quartet "From the Monkey Mountains." Read more.

David Hurwitz
Classics Today

Down Under Delight Meets Uplifting Voice

Review
Down Under delight meets uplifting voice
By Kyle MacMillan
Denver Post Fine Arts Critic
5 May 2009

While Australia is not exactly the first country that comes to mind in terms of classical music, the Australian Chamber Orchestra has distinguished itself internationally for much of its 34-year history.

During a visit Thursday evening to Gates Concert Hall as part of the Newman Center Presents series, the ensemble impressed again with its technical brilliance, laser focus and all-out intensity.

Indeed, its performance ranks among the most memorable of the season. Read more.

Aussie violinist surfs through music and life

Aussie violinist surfs through music and life
by Bradley Bambarger/The Star-Ledger
Thursday April 30, 2009, 2:44 PM

It isn't your usual classical violinist who is also a surfer. Or who teaches Russell Crowe how to fiddle for a film. Or who gushes about the hard-rock charms of AC/DC. But Richard Tognetti is from Down Under, and the 43-year-old likes to do things differently.

Tognetti has led the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the past 20 years, not only enlivening the limited repertoire for a small orchestra but helping to expand it. The group performs Baroque music with the zest of a period-minded ensemble, but balances contemporary pieces right alongside. Balance is part of music's connection to surfing, which Tognetti explored in the prize-winning film "Musica Surfica," out now on DVD.

"Of all the sports, surfing has the strongest connection to music -- the balance, the rhythm, basically the dance," Tognetti says. "Anyway, you couldn't make a film about music in golf, could you? I suppose you could make a documentary about English football songs, but would you want to keep hearing them long enough to do it?"

Tognetti and the ACO have shown their taste and teamwork with a series of vibrant recordings over the years. They have made multiple discs of Bach, from the violin concertos with Tognetti soloing (on his invaluable 17th-century Guarneri) to the keyboard concertos accompanying pianist Angela Hewitt. Their discography also highlighted by the works of signature Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, as well as custom transcriptions of pieces by the likes of Janacek and Szymanowski.

Tognetti and company have celebrated their connection with a 20th anniversary U.S. tour, which culminates this week. Of his ensemble, he says, "They have this incredibly open-minded spirit. I do like to explore things, and they have always gone down the path with me."

The Australians' program Sunday at Carnegie's Zankel Hall features a nod to this year's big anniversaries of Haydn and Handel. Star German counter-tenor Andreas Scholl will join the group for a selection of arias by Handel. Tognetti, directing from the violin as was often the case in Hadyn's day, will lead the orchestra in the composer's Symphony No. 44 in E minor "Mourning."

"Haydn's my favorite composer for small orchestra -- there is so much imagination, surprise and joy in his music," Tognetti says. "This symphony has the nickname 'Mourning' not because it's that melancholy, but because he was so in love with the slow movement that he said that he would like to have it played at his funeral."

The tour finishes Monday at Princeton's McCarter Theatre, with a different top soloist on the bill -- English pianist Paul Lewis. The protege of Alfred Brendel has made his name with stylish takes on the Viennese classics, and Tognetti says to "listen for his voicing of chords in Mozart's Piano Concerto K. 414 -- you can hear all the music in them in a way few pianists manage."

Both programs include a piece by Czech composer Pavel Haas, a student of Janacek who died in Auschwitz. Tognetti arranged his "From the Monkey Mountains" string quartet, "an astonishing piece," he says. "Haas wrote it in 1925, and you can hear the influence of jazz rhythms. It's what I call Expressionist Impressionism -- it can be violent, but also evocative and beautiful. You can get lost in this music, and that's always the ideal, whether a player or a listener."

A great review in the San Francisco Chronicle

Music review: Australian Chamber Orchestra
Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

For vitality, elegance, playfulness and technical prowess - all the qualities you want in a chamber ensemble, really - it would be hard to top the Australian Chamber Orchestra, which made one of its rare but indispensable visits to the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon.
Under Richard Tognetti, the group's artistic director and concertmaster, this crackerjack ensemble plays with the sort of fleet rhythmic control and tonal purity that most chamber groups can only envy. And Sunday's concert, presented by Cal Performances in Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, was a first-rate showcase for all those qualities.
For some listeners, Sunday's headliner was countertenor Andreas Scholl, who joined the orchestra for six Handel arias (divided, after a little last-minute program shuffling, onto either side of the intermission). But from where I sat, the afternoon's chief marvel was the orchestra itself.
The group plays standing up - a seemingly small touch that nonetheless pays off in alertness and buoyancy - and Tognetti leads the proceedings with whatever combination of bow arm, elbow, shoulders or chin he has available at any given moment. The core string sonorities are rich but sinewy, and the handful of wind and brass players filling out the lineup for this tour were a welcome addition.
The afternoon's lofty level was set right out of the gate, with a brisk and beautifully balanced account of Haydn's Symphony No. 44. This is one of the composer's rare minor-key symphonies - its mood divided between intense, shadowy Sturm und Drang and a lighter, more carefree touch - and the orchestra captured both veins superbly.
Scholl's contributions were more of a mixed bag. His vocal tone is vividly bright, his diction impeccable and his command of Baroque style utterly fluent. But except in his upper range, his sound is so underpowered that there is a sense of effort throughout.
That was especially notable in the more dramatic selections, particularly the recitatives to selections from "Rodelinda" and "Giulio Cesare" (some of which were barely audible) and the exclamatory aria "Vivi tiranno!," also from "Rodelinda."
Still, the lyrical phrases of Handel's more intimate writing registered beautifully, and in "Va tacito e nascosto" from "Giulio Cesare," ably partnered by hornist Robert Johnson, Scholl created a strong dramatic scene without worrying too much about vocal weight.
The rest of the orchestral program was splendidly played - particularly "From the Monkey Mountains Suite," arranged by Tognetti from the vividly folkloric String Quartet No. 2 by the Czech-Jewish composer Pavel Haas (one of the group of composers interned by the Nazis at the Terezín concentration camp).
Australian composer Roger Smalley contributed "Footwork," an edgy, discordant tango that sounds like the music Bernard Herrmann must have written for the deleted scene in "Psycho" where Norman Bates takes Marion Crane dancing. As an encore, there was a delightfully rambunctious account of "The Noise of War" by Rameau.
E-mail Joshua Kosman at jkosman@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/28/DDAU179OUS.DTL
This article appeared on page E - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Reviews from the US tour

Chamber Music Today
Listen to that, will you?” the person next to me could not help but say to me during the intermission. “Have you ever heard an ensemble so in-tune? or so ‘tight’, rhythmically? Each section is playing like they were one person!” Read more.

Kansascity.com
Sometimes less is more. By its very definition, the Australian Chamber Orchestra fits the mold with fewer players than a symphony orchestra. Read more.

Fire&Air
The first impression the orchestra made on me when they came out was that with only a few exceptions, they were all awfully fair. I suppose that makes sense for Australians, but if they are typical of their countrymen, they must use a lot of sunscreen Down Under. Read more.

LA Times Review - ACO Triumph at Walt Disney Concert Hall

LA TIMES REVIEW by Mark Sved


The Australian Chamber Orchestra brought suitable trappings for its appearance in the Baroque Variations series at Walt Disney Concert Hall Tuesday night. The ornate harpsichord looked antique and worn. The ensemble decided to forgo the hall’s Scandinavian-modern music stands and use it own, old-fashioned folding models.
Like players of yore, most performed standing up. The repertory included proper Baroque works by Vivaldi and Rameau, as well as some middle-period Haydn and Mozart, which was close enough for jazz.
Actually, the evening was, in spirit, surprisingly close to jazz. These Aussies are no period-instrument junkies, no all-but-bewigged scholar/performer period-practice zealots. They dress in sophisticated modish black. Some of the guys sport nifty spiked hair styles (the women, curiously, dress more conservatively). Everyone plays everything with raw, high-spirited, rhythmically propulsive energy.
The ACO has just made a surf film, "Musica Surfica," which looks pretty great from the YouTube trailer. In it, surfers seem to be eloquent dancers on waves of purple haze accompanied by a Baroque soundtrack with the drive and din of Jimi Hendrix. Early music doesn’t get much hipper than this.
You might also say that early music doesn’t get much more authentic than this, either, if true period practice is less about history and more about making ancient music sound as though it were written yesterday.
The ACO was founded 20 years ago by violinist Richard Tognetti, who leads it from his fiddle. It has an international reputation and attracts top soloists. In the past, it has brought with it soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianists Piotr Anderszewski and Angela Hewitt to UCLA and the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Paul Lewis, the young British pianist whose recent fastidious recordings of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas has won raves, was on hand Tuesday as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12, K.414.
But the ensemble’s profile is still Down Under. Its recordings on the ABC Classics label -- which include old and new music and some smart crossover -- are hard-to-find expensive Australian imports in the States. And the ensemble didn't do itself any favors by collaborating on the widely promoted but trivial “Classical Destinations” television series. PBS would do far better to pick up “Musica Surfica.”
Or maybe it should just broadcast a terrific concert like Tuesday’s in Disney. The evening began with the 11th of Vivaldi’s 12 concertos from the “L’Estro Armonico” series, with Tognetti as startling soloist and conductor of a small contingent of strings. His approach to Vivaldi was one of extreme articulation. Strings were sharply attacked with bows. The ensemble virtuosity was breathtaking. Drama took center stage, and yet through it all Tognetti maintained an engaging singing line.
Mozart’s Concerto was, in contrast, exceptional for its melting eloquence. Lewis is a wonderfully fluid player, and I began to have visions of surfers here, as he seemed to glide over ravishing strings with sure, delicate grace. Heavenly melodies were shaped for maximum pleasure and exchanged between piano and strings like kisses and caresses. Maybe this is the place to praise the three violas. Never buried, they felt somehow to be Mozart’s mellow soul. The pairs of horns and oboes stood in the back adding a sonic glow. In the ACO, winds and brass are second fiddle.
Haydn’s Symphony No. 44 was played after intermission. It is known as the “Mourning” Symphony because Haydn may or may not have asked for its slow movement to be used at his funeral. The movement, here, was given an extraordinarily delicate treatment, Tognetti and his colleagues producing the finest slender thread of exquisite string tone, the sound of the soul leaving corporeal flesh. But the rest of the raucous symphony was pure red meat.
The suite to Rameau’s “Dardanus,” closed the program with grand flourishes. Lacking recorders and flutes, only part of this color-saturated French Baroque score could be presented. Two horns stood apart on risers. The oboes were embedded with the violas, and the lone bassoon shared space with the cellos and bass. Once more, it wasn’t their show now when the strings rocked and rolled in six short, irresistible movements.
The last was war music and a rollicking riot. If there were still mainstream surf hits, I’d bet that with a bit of electronic voodoo and a backbeat this could be turned into one. After 20 years, this red hot band is long overdue for a major record contract and star treatment. And next time the Australians come to town, bring the kids.

ACO's imminent debut at LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall

Richard Tognetti outside Walt Disney Concert Hall

No strangers to playing in architectural marvels in just 4 hours the Australian Chamber Orchestra and soloist Paul Lewis will make their respective debuts at the magnificent Disney Concert Hall as guests of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Check back for all the details after the concert.

ACO plays to packed house in La Jolla, San Diego

L to R Brielle Clapson, Melissa Barnard & Neal Peres Da Costa



Rehearsal at St James by-the-Sea Church

The ACO’s tour of the United States has officially started and while it might not be possible for everyone back home to travel with us, we hope that over the coming week this blog will give you an insight into the adventures, joys and tribulations of this exciting adventure.

The tour kicked off with a memorably ride on the new Airbus A380, a first for the orchestra and after 14 hours in the air we found ourselves in sunny La Jolla, just outside San Diego.

After a day of rest to get adjusted to the times zones it was straight into our first concert with Paul Lewis at the St-James Church by the Sea. As the name suggests, this church is only steps from the ocean and at this time of year, dolphins and seals flock to the coast line making it an idyllic setting for a Sunday afternoon concert.

The concert itself has set the benchmark high for the rest of the tour as the ACO played to a packed house and to great applause (an encore wasn’t an option, if we didn’t play one they wouldn’t have let us out of the church). Paul Lewis played beautifully and admitted after the concert that this was the first time that he had played a concerto without a conductor and that it was also the concert debut of this particular Mozart Concerto.

Today we head back up to Los Angeles to rehearse with Andreas Scholl at Disney Hall before our concert there tomorrow night.

Richard Tognetti on the April 2009 ACO US Tour

West Australian Review

With his bow dipped in the stuff of high inspiration, Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto, a diminutive figure with a colossal talent, took the Australian Chamber Orchestra to impressive heights in a re-working for string orchestra of his famed compatriot Sibelius' String Quartet in D minor.

Here was an opportunity to savour the excellence of the ACO's playing. With admirable, uniform tonal sheen and, at climaxes, gloriously rich, organ-like sonorities, the players responded to the score as if drawing on a shared reservoir of musical inspiration.

In Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, the first movement frequently sounded earthbound and bass heavy with an at-times overly grainy corporate tone. The finale, though, was pleasingly buoyant and fluent. Here, we also heard the faintly wheezing tone of the harmonium played throughout the evening with unassuming artistry by Milla Viljamaa.

Kuusisto was soloist in Bach's Violin Concerto in E in which much of the opening allegro was informed by an agreeably joyous quality. The finale was no less appealing. But in the extended
adagio which, movie fans may recall, was used to profoundly moving effect in Pasolini's The Gospel according to St Matthew, the playing lacked that element of poignancy which lies at the heart of the music.

As curtain-raiser, we heard Andrew Ford's Bright Shiners which is being premiered across the country on the ACO's current tour. With its imaginative writing Bright Shiners might well have a future in the repertoire of string orchestras. It initially has an eerie, faint and fragile quality with, later, charming suggestions of twittering birdsong in response to what sounded like the mournful cry of some disconsolate fowl. Also new to Perth audiences was Finnish composer Timo Alakotila's Sketches from Folkscenes, completed earlier this year and written in the tradition of Finnish folk fiddling. But despite the energy with which it was dispatched, its intriguing, syncopated rhythms and pleasing use of pizzicato sounded overlong for its material. Kuusisto played on a fine Guadagnini violin dating from 1752.

Neville Cohn | West Australian

Herald Sun Review

ACO leader Richard Tognetti is off duty for the orchestra's current tour and the guest leader is young Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto. Finnish music has a special place in this strings-only program: besides Kuusisto, the orchestra has two permanent members and a visiting harmonium player from Finland. Kuusisto's fine arrangement of the String Quartet in D minor by Sibelius brought a new richness to the work.

Also from Finland was Sketches from Folkscenes (world premiere) by Timo Alakotila. It weaves folk music and original material together and uses the harmonium, a key instrument in Finnish fiddle bands whose timbre enhances the open sound of folk string playing. The chunky, pop and jazz-influenced second movement looked a pleasure to play.

In the Bach E major Violin Concerto, Kuusisto took a free, joyous approach to the first movement. A few improvised details in the third added a spontaneous feel.

Bright Shiners by Andrew Ford, a new commission, was an enjoyable piece with vivid textures and effective, flattering string writing. Its duration suited its musical concept perfectly.

Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.3 took a fresh, modern approach with a lively bowing style, choppy but never rough. There was an exciting primal energy to the final movement. Rather than the more usual harpsichord continuo, ACO again used the harmonium - a logistical choice perhaps, but it worked. Kuusisto's playing explores many musical styles and his artistic imagination seems boundless. Best of all, hi inspiration spread to the other players and audience alike.

It says excellent things about Tognetti and his intentions for the orchestra that he engages guest leaders of Kuusisto's calibre in his absence.
Anna McAlister, Herald Sun

Folk trips of Finnish brilliance

There is a paradox at the heart of this Australian Chamber Orchestra program, a joyous celebration of the growing musical ties between Australia and Finland. The ACO already has two Finns and here they are joined by two guests, harmonium player Milla Viljamaa and guest leader Pekka Kuusisto. Part cherub, part elf, Kuusisto is relatively well known here from previous tours and as the wintry soloist in the recent film 4, of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Clearly the ACO adores him; audiences, too. Radiating joy and cheer, he plays with the improvisatory abandon of a folk fiddler.

Read the full article in The Australian.