It’s a rare day when an artistic director racks up three decades in the top job. Even more so, when the company they lead still has a fresh and exhilarating voice. Yet somehow that’s exactly what Richard Tognetti has achieved at the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO).
As he sees it, necessity is the mother of constant re-invention. “I mean, you really want to get on playing the same old repertoire, the same old way, with your same old attitudes, on taxpayers money? I don’t think so. It’s time to reassess, and so we’re doing that all the time.”
A beloved force in the industry who has never been shy of sharing his occasionally upstart views, the tag ‘enfant terrible’ still kinda applies. In honour of Tognetti's unruly brilliance, ACO HomeCast will host a digital series marking his 30 years.
It culminates on Sunday with the release of their live accompaniment of Jennifer Peedom’s astounding doco Mountain, never before released to the public, and marking World Music Day.
Tonight, Tognetti will entertain us with a sublime solo performance from the comfort of his own home of JS Bach’s dreamy music.
Tuesday brings a double bill. Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie brings his guitar riffs to a new recording of Togentti’s original work ‘The Other Way’ alongside Slava Grigoryan, with Satu Vänskä on vocals. And if you’ve been missing the surf in lockdown, then splash out with a stream of Musica Surfica, their musically charged, multi-sensory movie featuring the magnificent moves of surfer and inspired writer Derek Hynd.
Hump day brings a revisit of the ACO’s tour de force take on Beethoven and Bach performed lie at the Sydney Opera House in 2016, plus Tognetti performing Paganini’s ‘Caprice No. 21’. Thursday sees the release of their rendition of Szymanowski’s ‘String Quartet No.2’.
Dive on into The Reef on Friday, another project merging music, movies and the deep blue see, with a raft of collaborators. Then on Saturday Tognetti returns to one of the early highlights of his time at the ACO, revisiting Beethoven’s ‘Violin Concerto’, which the ACO performed in 1993.
Mischievous maestro Togentti’s is an enduring career worth celebrating, and what better way than jumping on into these glorious freebie hosted on their Facebook page, and you can always tip in a little here to help them weather this storm.
This article is supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.
