City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney
February 10, 2015

OK – I’ll admit it – I groaned. “Please, not the Four Seasons!” And I was wrong – very, very wrong. For in Richard Tognetti’s smart reimagining of the Red Priest’s greatest hit, we get something rare, rich and just a little bit strange.

The first plus, and one which you’ll find in any ACO concert but it’s still worth saying, is the perfect intonation as evidenced by the opener – a sonata by Giovanni Gabrieli for three violins. With cello and theorbo continuo, this was elegance and good taste personified.

Egyptian-born, Australian oud meister Joseph Tawadros’s bluesy Kindred Spirits followed setting the evening’s distinctive ‘other’ tone. With his equally dexterous brother James on riq (a small percussion instrument resembling a miniature tambourine, yet deceptively sophisticated in its range of timbres), and the full ACO strings providing a riotous accompaniment, this was the first toe-tapping treat of many. Ranging across a plethora of rhythmic time signatures, Tognetti’s brilliant arrangements of Tawadros were an absolute delight.

After all that, the subsequent lurch into Spring was as abrupt as one of Vivaldi’s summer storms. But anyone Four Seasoned-out needn’t fear. Tognetti and co. have really thought...