Saturday 3 October, 2026.

Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday)

The faithful gathered at the City Recital Hall for the 1st night of the ACO’s current tour, Legends & Luminaries. Finnish Guest Director, Pekka Kuusisto was fresh off the plane for this tour and he had curated the type of program we have come to expect from the ACO: some masterpieces from classical legends as well as some fresh new challenging works by, in this case, two American composers.

The concert opened with an arrangement for string orchestra of some of the hits from Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute. From the first chord we knew the orchestra was primed and ready to go with pitch perfect intonation and flawless timing. But the question in all our minds – does opera have the same emotional impact when stripped of the human voice (not to mention no winds – i.e. flute – brass or percussion)? While the overture was full of Mozart’s energy and iconic melodies, some might have been forgiven for thinking the arias lacked colour, perhaps a bit sterile. In Tamino’s aria, wie stark ist nicht dein zauberton, Principal Bass Maxime Bibeau added a touch of Mozart’s humour in his interpretation of just one line that brought a relieved chuckle from the audience. Yes there were all the famous melodies for us to hum along to (very quietly of course) but in the end it was just an intellectual exercise lacking the joyful exuberance of the Austrian composer.

The next work was by American composer Nico Muhly. Shrink: Concerto for Violin and Strings, as well as the tonight’s Mozart arrangement for strings, were commissioned in 2019 by the ACO and others. The concerto is technically challenging both for the soloist and orchestra and is divided into three contiguous movements, Ninths, Sixths and Turns. Kuusisto’s solo performance was impeccable and displayed his trademark discipline and sense of fun at the same time. These titles refer to intervals (the distance between two notes) and falsely suggest another intellectual exercise, but this music was imbued with emotional colour, texture and shape. Ninths are alway going to create suspension and the desire to resolve, but of course they never do. Sixths are closer to a major or minor chord but the tonality in this movement was constantly shifting leaving us unsettled every time we thought we were about to land on a tonic chord. Turns employed several smaller intervals and an increased tempo, creating a fitful buzzing that evoked the swarms of bogong moths (yes, after years of absence they’re back, not extinct as was thought) that have recently invaded Sydney. In fact there were a pair of said moths in the hall, one of which took flight during this movement and decided it was going to perch on a lighting truss in the ceiling – no doubt for a better view.

After the break we had the Australian premiere of Ellen Reid’s West Coast Sky Eternal. This would not be an easy piece to perform, with complex rhythms and tempi, long sections of improvisational pizzicato that morphed in and out of strict rhythm, and extended sections of extreme plucking or Snap Pizzicato, where the string slaps against the wood of the fret. Reid fortuitously followed this section with a long unison chord which no doubt allowed the string players to centre their tuning again. You could read the concentration on the musicians faces as they worked their way through the piece in its first Australian performance. Granted it was the opening night of the tour and of playing this work, but it did sound under-rehearsed. I’m sure with the calibre of these musicians it will find its own voice and mastery after a few more performances.

The Mendelssohn String Quintet No.2 that ended the concert sounded a bit tired, and uncharacteristically the loss of concentration presented in minor deviations in pitch and timing. In a way I wish I had opted for a subsequent performance as I suspect this was a rare aberration from the ACO’s usual impeccably high standard – nonetheless the aberration will no doubt be forgotten as the tour progresses.

After a well-deserved applause, Kuusisto explained to us that they hadn’t had time to prepare an encore, but proceeded to entertain us with an original solo improvisation called Blue that put us all in a good mind for the journey home – grazie mille!