‘Celebrating 40 Years’- Australian Chamber Orchestra’s New Album Out Today

The Australian Chamber Orchestra today releases a new album Celebrating 40 Years, on ABC Classics, (ABC 481 4571). The double CD which is also available digitally, marks four decades of excellence in music-making, combined with the ACO’s hallmark spirit of innovation and the thrill of musical adventure.

The album opens with Irkana IV by Peter Sculthorpe, recorded in 1996 and drawn from one of the most highly awarded recordings in Australian classical history. Two other Australian composers with whom the ACO has a close history – Elena Kats-Chernin and Joseph Tawadros – are also represented, along with pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, conductor Roland Peelman, accordionist James Crabb and violinist Helena Rathbone,

The album showcases the breadth of the ensemble’s repertoire going back to the Baroque (Bach’s double violin concerto), the Classical (Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’ symphony), and into the Romantic era (Brahms, Wagner and Tchaikovsky). The music tracks are supported by an introduction in the booklet by the ACO’s Artistic Director Richard Tognetti.

Celebrating 40 Years is a companion to ACO40: The Fortieth Year, a large-format prestige book that beautifully captures the ACO in pictures and words, on stage, in rehearsal, and in their private lives. With text by Margaret Throsby and photography by Anthony Browell, ACO40 is a sumptuous souvenir of this national Australian orchestra’s 40th Anniversary year together, offering insights into the busy lives and music-making of Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

CD1

PETER SCULTHORPE (1929–2014)
1. Irkanda IV
Richard Tognetti solo violin
Recorded 1996

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872–1958)
2. The Lark Ascending
Richard Tognetti violin, Roland Peelman conductor
Recorded 2002

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA (1921–1992)
3. Aconcagua: I. Allegro
James Crabb classical accordion, Tamara-Anna Cislowska piano
Recorded 2002

ELENA KATS-CHERNIN (b. 1957)
4. Torque
James Crabb classical accordion, Tamara-Anna Cislowska piano
Recorded 2002

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750)
5–7. Concerto in D minor for two violins, BWV1043 (complete)
Richard Tognetti and Helena Rathbone violins
Recorded 2005

PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
8. String Sextet in D minor, Op. 70 ‘Souvenir de Florence’: IV Allegro con brio e vivace
Recorded 2005

CD2

JOSEPH TAWADROS (b. 1983) orch. Joseph Tawadros and Richard Tognetti
1. Rose
Joseph Tawadros oud, James Tawadros req, Richard Tognetti violin
Recorded 2006

RICHARD WAGNER (1813–1883)
2. Siegfried Idyll
Recorded 2006

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)
3. Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio
Recorded 2010

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
5–7. Symphony No. 41 in C major, KV551 ‘Jupiter’ (Complete)
Recorded 2015