"The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra pairs the String Quintet in D Major, Op. 25, of Eybler (date unknown) with Schubert’s Octet in F Major, D803 (1824), in a look at the golden era of 18th-century Viennese chamber music. The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra draws its expert performers from around the world, playing period instruments dating from Simon Oswell’s 1740 Gaspare Lorenzini Italian viola to Anneke Scott’s 2012 horn based on a late 18th/early 19th-century original from Austria. Sound and style are how the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra achieves its tremendously polished defining edge. The tones of the gut strings are distinctive, vagaries of tuning and all. The music is played with due respect to the aesthetics of the era, notably the use of portamento and ornamentation. We know this from the erudite program notes by Neal Peres Da Costa outlining the research methodology and the traditions which have been passed down from the violinists of the time, some of whom lived into the recording era and were able to make rudimentary recordings, which have endured to this day.”
[…]
"Schubert’s writing never lags and the performance is engaging, the quintet of strings embellished with the brassy thrill of the horn, the exuberance of the bassoon and Nicole van Bruggen’s sleek clarinet lines, especially evident in the second movement Adagiowhen clarinet and violin engage in an elegant dialogue. "
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"The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra delivers the Sounds of Vienna with splendid playing, a unique sound and winning repertoire. Pass the Sachertorte please!"
Shamistha de Soysa, Limelight, 16 June 2022