When Richard Tognetti first took over as leader and artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra nearly 35 years ago he was bursting with ideas on how to shake up the staid world of chamber music. But the first order of business for the 24-year-old virtuoso was to remove most of the players’ chairs. “At the very first concert, I said, ‘Get up.
’ There were some people who couldn’t, and there were some who didn’t want to and said, ‘Oh, I can’t play.’” Richard Tognetti in the ACO’s Walsh Bay headquarters with his $10 million 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin. Credit: James Brickwood But despite those objections, standing to play has been an ACO trademark ever since.
“It gives breathing, freedom and energy,” says Tognetti. “Now a lot of orchestras around the world are standing.” As Tognetti prepares for his 35th anniversary at the helm of the ACO next year, the 17-piece ensemble will also mark its 50th birthday.
In those 35 years, the ACO has established a reputation for risk-taking and boundary pushing that are a far cry from the program of Haydn and Bach they first presented in November 1975. “It started off playing mainstream repertoire and was very much part of the European/British musical establishment,” says Tognetti. “It wasn’t driven by working out what the state of play was in the world’s musics.
That changed in 1990 because I was very interested in what was happening over the other side of the fence.” Peering over the mus.