ACO HomeCasts Are Back!

The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s popular ACO HomeCasts are back, bringing brilliant performances to the intimacy of your home.

Ilya Isakovich presents Borodin’s achingly beautiful Nocturno with his ACO colleagues and friends – Nikki Divall, Melissa Barnard and Maja Savnik.

Says Ilya, ‘Borodin’s Nocturno from the second string quartet is a piece that holds a special place in my heart as well as in the repertoire of many ensembles. It is an incredibly beautiful love song that Borodin dedicated to his wife Catherina who was a piano player. Borodin was an extraordinary composer especially considering writing music was his hobby rather then a full time job. His main profession was chemistry in which he achieved considerable success and recognition. There is even a famous quote by Mendeleev who was the inventor of the Periodic Table of Elements, who said that Borodin could have become the most successful chemist if he hadn’t wasted his spare time writing music! How lucky are we that the composer wasn’t listening to his chemist colleague! This recording is even more special as it features our beloved Nikki Divall on viola who after many years in the orchestra decided to continue her life in the USA. This is her last chamber music performance as a member of the ACO.’