The Australian Chamber Orchestra will embark on an exhilarating adventure through the Seasons as two of Australia’s most dynamic musicians, ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti and Egyptian-born oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros join forces in a coming together of two musical worlds to perform the most popular piece of music ever written, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
With an epic 13 ARIA Award wins between them, Richard and Joseph are two of Australia’s most successful artists, each receiving plaudits across the globe for their high-octane virtuosity and distinctive versatility. The pair share a similar ethos when it comes to music making, refusing to be constrained by genre or convention.
Joseph plays a mind-blowing 53 instruments, from the oud, commonly referred to as “the king of all instruments” by Arabic composers, to Portuguese guitar, electric bass and accordion. Richard performs across period, modern and electronic violins, regularly collaborating with filmmakers, artists and musicians to create unique, hybrid productions for which the ACO has become renowned under his leadership.
“I’m really looking forward to reuniting with my ACO family after the years that have been,” said Joseph. “I’ve been performing with Richard and the ACO for over 20 years and it’s always fun, exciting and new. The audience feed off this on-stage energy and that’s why each performance is unique and full of passion.”
The 18th-century Venice in which Vivaldi wrote The Four Seasons was one of the great cosmopolitan and entrepreneurial centres of its time. Boundaries were porous and exotic goods, knowledge and culture from the Middle East, North Africa and beyond flowed unstoppably into the city, propelled by the vast reach of the Ottoman Empire. The ACO will celebrate this intertwining of worlds as performances of Vivaldi’s Baroque masterpiece, featuring Richard as soloist, are enhanced and interspersed with Joseph’s original compositions for oud, riq, percussion and strings.
The concert will take place at Sydney’s City Recital Hall on Tuesday 14th March at 8pm, Wednesday 15th March at 7pm and Sunday 25th March at 7pm.