ON TOUR: LONDON REVIEW 2

The Times, 24/04/08:

Geoff Brown

Listening to the Australian Chamber Orchestra is like taking a swig of a vitamin drink. Suddenly: pow! The music certainly feels stronger, muscled, hot from the gym. Handel’s rippling biceps were amazing in the tenth of his Op 6 concerti grossi, this motley concert’s opening shot. Gone were the springing mannerisms of period instrument groups. This was a different sound entirely: robust, contemporary, skipping rhythms, adrenalin rushing along with the notes. And players enough to tumble off the stage.

But were Richard Tognetti’s superb musicians administering an overdose? It felt a little that way during Bach’s A minor Violin Concerto, BWV 1041. Tognetti’s lead violin surged ever onwards, as bright and winding as the Yellow Brick Road. Yet I missed individual inflections. Bach doesn’t need only forward drive; he needs delicacy too. This was Bach speeding on the super highway, gorgeous scenery passing by in a blur.

The ACO’s revenge was one of Bach’s more lingering sacred cantatas, Ich habe genug. No speeding possible here. No falling asleep either, with the tenor Mark Padmore feelingly micro-managing each syllable, and Katy Bircher’s limpid solo flute. Yet fidgets were possible during the circling repeats of the central aria Schlummert ein: perhaps the price paid for those first testosterone fireworks. I felt fired up, but with nowhere to go, except the foyer.

And then Roger Smalley – once a key player in British new music, who dropped off our radar in the 1970s after emigrating to Australia. Strung Out, for 13 solo strings, found the ACO alternately contemplating and jiggling material not of enormous interest.

Haydn brought back the glow. With his quirks and verve he’s the perfect classical composer for these players, and they gave the oddities of Symphony No 64 a lithe beauty and a dry wit well worth Papa’s approval.

But what would be the response of the fastidious Ravel to his String Quartet finale, souped up for massed strings? No matter. We loved it: this was the perfect encore for a wayward concert from a group that seems forever vital and young. If that’s what Australia does for you, I’m also emigrating.

ON TOUR: FIVE-STAR LONDON REVIEW

The Guardian, 23/04/08:

"A visit from the Australian Chamber Orchestra always raises questions. Does violinist Richard Tognetti, its leader for 19 years, have a slowly mouldering portrait in the attic? Can ugly players even audition? More pertinently, let's ask about what we settle for from music-making in the UK - why do so few of our ensembles present their music with this kind of ear-grabbing vigour? The ACO's formula is not unique, and Pekka Kuusisto achieves something similar with the London Chamber Orchestra or Britten Sinfonia; but still, that is an exception. For the ACO, it is the rule."

Read the full review

ON TOUR: VIENNA TO LONDON

21 April: Last night the orchestra performed in the Musikverein in Vienna. This was the first time the orchestra had performed at this venue for quite a few years because our last couple of concerts in Vienna in 2006 and 2003 were at the Konzerthaus.

It was terrific to see such a young audience at the concert which was impart due to the presenter, Jeunesse, who focus a lot of their marketing attention towards younger generations, but also because the Viennese and of course people from other European cities have such a strong affinity towards classical music and its history. Sport is still important here but it does not dominate the social landscape or the psyche of its people like it seems to in other countries.

Today the orchestra travelled from Vienna to London to perform at the comparatively small but incredibly prestigious venue of Wigmore Hall. Although the Wigmore is known more as a recital venue for singers, pianists and chamber music ensembles, the orchestra still managed to fit on the stage (only just though) to perform to a capacity audience of appreciative listeners.

After the performance Barry Humphries kindly hosted a function in the Bechstein Room before the orchestra moved on to a nearby restaurant called Sofra where they enjoyed a few more celebratory drinks.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager