What better way to start and finish the Australia Chamber Orchestra’s 40th anniversary year than with playing what is probably the most-loved, most-played, and most-recorded concertos of all time: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The Four Seasons was a runaway success when first published and performed throughout Europe.
In this concert, Tognetti explores musical connections between East and West, pairing Vivaldi’s Baroque masterpiece with original compositions by triple ARIA Award–winning Australian-Egyptian oud virtuoso, Joseph Tawadros.
“Playing an old warhorse such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is about contextualising – I feel strongly that there are direct influences that the Venetian composers had from the Middle-East: Africa through the Arabian Peninsula” said Richard Tognetti. “It’s been a dream of mine to marry the music of Egyptian classical musician Joseph Tawadros with Venetian Baroque music.”
Such is the recording world’s confidence in the ACO’s ability to re-imagine the Four Seasons, one of Europe’s most prestigious recording labels, BIS, is releasing a new recording by the ACO to coincide with this tour.
Joseph Tawadros is one of the ACO’s favourites and a long-time collaborator. Hailed by The Australian as a “musical explorer” and “major league player”, Tawadros brings with him the sounds of the near east in a selection of works from his hit album, Permission to Evaporate, as well as new works written for the ACO which explore the crossroads of oud and string orchestra.
Also on the bill are works by two other important Venetian composers, Vivaldi’s contemporary, Benedetto Marcello, and Giovanni Gabrieli.
Learn more by visiting the ACO’s website.
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