On the advertisement for the premiere of Beethoven’s Op. 20 Septet in E Flat Major in 1800 (the same concert featured Beethoven’s First Symphony), the composer listed each of the performers, knowing audiences would be keen to hear the seven virtuosos playing together. It’s an apt choice, therefore, to showcase the talents of the Australian World Orchestra’s Chamber 8, a crack squad of musicians hand-picked from the larger ensemble for this tour – musicians whose day jobs include positions in orchestras like the Gewandhaus, the Berlin Philharmonic and the LA Philharmonic.

Emerging from the ensemble’s expository chords, it was the mellow sound of Daniel Dodds’ violin that caught the ear in the Adagio introduction, his smoothness of tone soon echoed by that of clarinettist Paul Dean, sitting across the ensemble, his feet lifting off the stage as the ensemble surged forward into the Allegro con brio.

The seven parts are obligatto – even the double bass (Matthew McDonald) gets its share of the spotlight – but the first movement particularly is divided into brightly sparring winds versus strings, with McDonald caught up in the middle. These allegiances are rather fluid, however, Beethoven toying with a number of different combinations throughout the work.

The...