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HeyOver the past quarter century, the Australian Chamber Orchestra has become a regular visitor to Europe, establishing itself as one of the world’s most important chamber orchestras. Founded in 1975, this pairing of perhaps the greatest violin concerto in the repertoire was released on the occasion of the ACO’s 50th birthday. The soloist and conductor in both works is Richard Tognetti, who has been the orchestra’s conductor and artistic director for the past 35 years.
Both recordings are from concerts at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, the Beethoven Concerto in 2018, and the Brahms concerto last February. The close recorded sound reproduces the intensely involved approach of the ACO when heard in the flesh, with a mixture of modern playing techniques with the use of historical instruments (gut strings, period winds). For both concertos, the orchestra’s standing 20 players have been doubled with guest players from other Australian orchestras, but the suppleness and coherence of their textures are as convincing as ever.
However, Tognetti’s approach may not convince everyone. In Beethoven in particular, he favors urgency over lyricism, although this does not prevent his 27-minute account of Beethoven’s first movement from being one of the most expansive movements ever. This is partly due to the choice of cadenzas, which Tognetti describes as a “synthesis” of those composed for the concerto by Vieuxtemps (which returns the drum with which the concerto begins), Auer and Kreisler among others.
For Brahms, Tognetti incorporates elements of Busoni’s scores into what is generally considered a more familiar description of the work than Beethoven’s. It features gorgeous woodwinds woven around the solo line, while the textures always remain light and transparent. Even if these performances don’t rival the best of the countless other releases on the disc, they are utterly compelling and a wonderful memento of one of the most notable partnerships in music today.
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