The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) Romantic Symphony tour is in full swing, and yesterday afternoon we went along to the Sydney Opera House to hear the Orchestra perform three quite divergent pieces:

• The Australian premiere of “Popcorn Superhet Receiver” by Jonny Greenwood.
• “Symphony No.8, Unfinished” by Franz Schubert.
• “Symphony No.1″ by Johannes Brahms.

Seeing Jonny Greenwood’s name appearing on a classical music recital program may come as a surprise to some, but Greenwood, who plays guitar and keyboards for UK rock group Radiohead, has dabbled with a wide range of musical genres in the past, and writing classical pieces is just a part of his music composing repertoire.

Greenwood was composer-in-residence at the BBC in 2004, and his work also featured on the soundtrack of There Will be Blood, which “Popcorn Superhet Receiver” was sometimes reminiscent of.

Greenwood’s diverse musical interests, coupled with his desire to blend technology with the traditional, means his classical compositions are not going to be entirely conventional, and seeing string instruments – some hundreds of years old, worth who knows how many millions of dollars – being stretched to their limits, attests to this.

If you’ve not seen a violin played like it was a ukulele, you will if you watch a performance of “Popcorn Superhet Receiver”.

And while Greenwood’s piece was well received, it was Brahms’ “Symphony No.1” that found particular favour with yesterday’s audience, which bought many in the house to their feet at its conclusion.

The ACO delivered a sizzling rendition of the 19th century German composer’s work, and several times I found myself resisting the urge to leap up and start dancing, so invigorating it was.

My thanks to the ACO for a truly rocking afternoon of music.

In a two hour show at the Sydney Opera House yesterday afternoon, The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) performed seven pieces from their current concert series, Bach and Beyond, which not only included the the music of 18th century German composer Johann Sebastian (J.S.) Bach, but also that of four composers who were later influenced by his work.

• “Elegy” and “Polka”, by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich
• Missa Brevis in G Minor (BWV235¹), by Bach
• Summa” by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt
• “Litany” from Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg’s String Quartet No.2
• “Lobet den Herrn” (BWV230) by Bach
• “Das Meer, das so gross und weit is, da wimmelt’s ohne Zahl, grosse und kleine Tiere”, by British composer Diana Burrell
• “Wo gehest du hin?” (BWV166) by Bach

The three Bach pieces included a mass (Missa Brevis in G Minor ), a motet (Lobet den Herrn), and a cantata (Wo gehest du hin?).

Masses, motets, and cantatas are vocal compositions, which often have biblical themes, and usually performed by choirs, were voiced by four guest singers who have joined with the ACO for the Bach and Beyond tour.

• Perth based Soprano Sara Macliver
• Sydney based Mezzo Soprano Fiona Campbell
• British Tenor Andrew Staples
• British Bass-Baritone Matthew Brook

This is also the first time I’ve heard ACO artistic director Richard Tognetti speak at a performance.

He explained that the interweaving of Bach pieces with the more contemporary compositions was an attempt to create a conversation of sorts between the work of the recent composers and Bach, which was a novel approach to take.

The four vocalists, who at times sang separately, then together as a miniature choir, without the aid of microphones it should be noted, added an interesting element to the show, and is something I’ve not seen at chamber music recitals before.

I almost broke my own classical music recital etiquette rules, making it to the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s (ACO) “ACO Soloists” tour performance at Sydney Opera House yesterday afternoon, with just seconds to spare.

We must have been in Sydney’s slowest ever taxi (25 minutes from Randwick to Circular Quay on a Sunday afternoon anyone?), with the closure of the access way to the Opera House, due to a Greek Festival of Sydney event taking place directly outside, compounding matters.

All was well in the end though, and the ACO turned on another stellar show. The Soloists tour gave us an opportunity to see the Orchestra’s principal musicians variously perform unaccompanied passages from the seven pieces that were played, which included:

• Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto, featuring guest oboist Diana Doherty.
• C P E Bach’s Cello Concerto in A minor (Wq170), featuring principal cellist Timo-Veikko Valve.
• “Crime and Punishment”, featuring principal double bassist Maxime Bibeau.
• Benjamin Britten’s “Lachrymae”, featuring principal violist Christopher Moore.
• J S Bach’s Oboe and Violin Concerto (BWV1060), featuring lead violinist Helena Rathbone, and Diana Doherty on oboe.

Maxime Bibeau’s performance of “Crime and Punishment”, incidentally its world premiere – where he played the double bass more like a bass guitar at times – was especially well received.

Its Australian composer, Matthew Hindson, who also happened to be in the house, stepped up and took a bow at the conclusion of the piece.

Thanks to the ACO for another great afternoon of chamber music.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) will take part in a special performance at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, on Saturday 6 March, the Carnival of the Animals:

Crocodiles, lizards, dugongs, mosquitos, ducks, rabbits, wombats. Can you imagine what they’d sound like in music?

Richard Tognetti, lead violinist and Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) received an AO (Officer of the Order of Australia) award in this year’s Australia Day Honours list, for his services to music over the last 20 years.

Richard Tognetti has created a vibrant and ambitious ensemble that celebrates tradition and thrives on adventure. Now at the height of his powers, the violinist and avid surfer regards his Australia Day honour as not only a recognition of the ACO’s standing but its continuing influence in musical circles and cumulative cultural legacy.

Talking of the ACO, we’re looking forward to going along to one of the shows in the Tognetti’s Mozart tour in February, which also marks Tognetti’s 21st anniversary with the orchestra.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Resonance concert series which sees ACO regulars combine with the ACO2 – the orchestra’s up and coming recital musicians – is in full swing.

A few of the many ACO2 leading lights on tour include Madeleine Boud who recently performed with the ACO on its smash-hit coast-to-coast tour of the USA; Holly Piccoli who’s just won a full scholarship to attend the Yale School of Music, one of the world’s most prestigious music schools; the multi-talented Rebecca Chan who’s not only a regular performer with the MSO, but is completing her medical degree at the same time.

We’re going along at the invitation of the ACO to the Sydney Opera House performance this Sunday and – after the last show we saw – definitely looking forward to it.

Last Sunday the Australian Concert Orchestra (ACO) kindly invited me to a performances from their Great Romantics programme – which is currently touring Australia – at the Sydney Opera House.

The show featured three string sextet pieces, the world premiere of “Black is the Night”, a tribute written by composer Ian Munro to celebrate Richard Tognetti, the ACO’s artistic director, 20th anniversary with the orchestra, “Transfigured Night” by Arnold Schoenberg, and “String Sextet No.2 in G” by Johannes Brahms.

The ACO sextet was made up of six musicians, two each playing violin, viola, and cello. Having not previously seen a sextet play I was amazed by the great ranges of tones and sounds that were produced. At times it seemed as if there was a horn and percussion section also playing in accompaniment.

And if you think classical music is “old fashion”, slow, or boring, you need to see the ACO in action. According to the program for instance, “Transfigured Night” was 32 minutes in duration, yet it felt more like ten so engrossing was the performance.

While I’ve listened to a few recorded classical, or chamber music pieces in the past, this was probably only the second or third time I’ve gone along to a live recital. It was also intriguing to observe some of the conventions associated with such a performance.

For instance you need to be certain a movement has concluded before clapping. A pause, or silence, in play doesn’t necessarily indicate this. I followed the crowd in this regard, though the best cue that a piece has concluded is when the musicians completely lower their instruments.

And even after the musicians had left the stage at the end of the recital the audience continued applauding, prompting the sextet to return to the stage to take an additional two bows. An encore, I imagine, in another musical context.