Flash Flood: Australian Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican

The Australian Chamber Orchestra perform River

By Christopher Woodley, 29 October 2022

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“served with vanilla ice-cream which, even if made with Madagascan vanilla, still tastes of vanilla”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 28 October 2022

Jennifer Peedom, Film Director

Australian Chamber Orchestra

Richard Tognetti, Director, Violin

William Barton, Vocals

Willem Dafoe, Narrator

Australian Chamber Orchestra in Melbourne: Gershwin, Shostakovich

Sandra Bowdler, 10th August

Two works by Shostakovich sandwiching Rhapsody in Blue made for an exhilerating concert from the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Melbourne

****1

Bach sheds light in an impressively dark outing from the ACO

Nick Boston, 21st March

Energetic commitment from the ACO at the Barbican, with precision and edge from Alexander Melnikov and Jeroen Berwaerts in an evening of darkness and light.

****1

Mesmerising, but relentless Brahms and Beethoven from the ACO

Zoltán Szabó, 11th February

Awe-inspiring performances of much loved classics in Sydney, yet the musical eyebrows have reasons to go (and stay) up.

****1

Why isn't the music enough? “Silence and Rapture” from the ACO

Sandra Bowdler, 14th August

Iestyn Davies joins the Australian Chamber Orchestra for music by Bach and Pärt in a programme featuring distracting modern dance.

***11

Symphony or song cycle? Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in Sydney

Zoltán Szabó, 17th May

Mahler's epic five-movement symphonic song cycle is performed by a chamber ensemble with mixed results.

***11

A walk to Beethoven: Bezuidenhout and the Australian Chamber Orchestra

Zoltán Szabó, 23rd March

Kristian Bezuidenhout joins the ACO for a piecemeal programme leading to a complete performance of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.

***11

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Christopher Woodley

Christopher’s professional background is in the public sector, and includes a spell in music librarianship. A composer, he is a keen follower of contemporary music and has attended all but four editions of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, including the first concert in 1978. Other musical passions include a fascination with the “bad boys” of the New Complexity fixation, particularly the god-like Brian Ferneyhough – arguably the best thing to have come out of Coventry. When not listening to Boulez, Christopher relaxes by frequenting the fields, orchards, woodlands and pubs on the Weald of Kent, where he lives.