Young musicians from all over Australia gathered recently in Brisbane for the Young Mannheim Symphonists 2023 National Academy. Cobargo’s Nyah Cockle was among those empowered by the experience.
Bega District News, 11 May 2023
Seventeen-year-old India Culey, currently studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, hails from Wilberforce, but her musical skill and passion have already started taking her places.
She recently joined 42 other young Australians from across the country to attend the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s residential music camp as part of its popular Young Mannheim Symphonists youth orchestra program.
The six-day live-in music fest, held at St Peters Lutheran College, Indooroopilly in Brisbane, culminated in a splendid celebratory concert.
The Hawkesbury Phoenix, 5 May 2023
She was just 7 years old when she begin playing the viola, and India Culey’s love of music has only grown in the last decade.
Miss Culey is currently studying Musical Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium.
“I actually wanted to study Historical Performance, but I was told I needed to work on my technique,” Miss Culey said.
The young violist recently attended the Young Mannheim Symphonists 2023 National Academy.
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“It was different to all the other camps I had been to.
“You go to these camps and you play music, but the Young Mannheim Symphonists had a real focus on education.
Hawkesbury Phoenix, 1 May 2023
It’s a musical battle of the sexes – Ludwig van Beethoven and Louise Ferrenc will share the program when The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra goes on tour at the end of May.
Taking in Sydney, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle and Melbourne, the New Perspectives tour will include a mix of outstanding local musicians and international guest artists.
The fully global ensemble features three visiting overseas artists: London-based hornist, Anneke Scott; German oboist Tatjana Zimre; and American violinist Jenna Sherry.
Rita Bratovich, City Hub, 26 April 2023
The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra returns to the concert stage from 31 May with a national tour - taking in Sydney, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle and Melbourne.
And - as always - the ensemble features a mix of outstanding locally-based and returning Australian internationals plus the cream of overseas musicians - all of them specialists in historically informed performance.
Stephi Wild, Broadway World, 21 April 2023
“Rapturous applause for Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra”
“…There was again this special rapport between the players, which felt like a conversation. In the opening the strings’ melodies descended, while the clarinet soared in response. Mozart swapped motives between the instruments, making them all equal partners in conversation. The second movement was particularly serene when Nicole used the lower notes of her basset clarinet. Throughout this Quintet she played expressively with expertise, like the virtuoso (Anton Stadler) it was written for. The music became increasingly cheerful towards the end. This innovative work was like an old friend to me, but this time the friend was historically informed.”
Heidi Hereth, classikON (March 22 2023)
Image: Teniola Komolafe
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“Violinist Peter Clark wears his delight in the music on his sleeve, swooning over phrases, ending others with extravagant flourishes, frequently smiling encouragement and approval to his colleagues, who, relaxed and confident in their playing, were happy to respond.”
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“…This set the tone for the evening because apart from the stunning musicianship on display this work turned into a delightful musical conversation between the four instrumentalists.”
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“…These provided van Bruggen with the opportunity to display her brilliant technique and mastery of her instrument, as well as provide an exciting conclusion to a superb concert.”
Australian Arts Review, 21 March 2023
Image: Hikari Photography
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5 stars
This concert showcased the unique opportunities the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra offers to Australian audiences in respect of historically informed performance.
The title ‘Viennese Vogue’ is apt to draw attention to the vagaries of Viennese musical taste in the Classical and Romantic eras, wavering as it did from one style to another in the space of a few years. But, in particular, this concert was an exploration, if not a veritable tour de force, of the versatility of the clarinet, which was then in its infancy as an instrument finding its place among the expanding forces of European chamber music…
State of the Art, March 20, 2023
Image: Teniola Komolafe
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“The fine ensemble blend and communication between ensemble members in this opening work and the works to follow was a pleasing feature of this concert.”
“…I was particulary touched anew by the expressive, reverent treatment of the variations in the final movement. There was plenty of space in the delivery. Simon Oswell’s viola line in the minore variation was particulary plaintive and rang out above the musical fabric. There was efficient and exciting interplay or conversation between Peter Clark and Julia Russoniello’s violin lines in this and all movements.”
“…Peter Clark’s delivery of the melody above the solid viola and cello sound here soared in clear, even voice. There were HIP portamento effects included and a good forward momentum to the phrasing, which made us wish this was not an unfinished chamber work.”
Sydney Arts Guide, 19 March 2023
Image: Teniola Komolafe
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“Nicole van Bruggen owns one of the rarest and most historically significant instruments in Australia, partly invented by Mozart. Yet her basset clarinet is just 20 years old.”
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“It’s a copy of the exact basset clarinet built by Theodore Lotz in Vienna and played by Anton Stadler, Mozart’s favourite clarinet player,” Sydney-born van Bruggen explains.
Only two pieces were composed specifically for the basset clarinet, both by Mozart: his Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet in A major.
Van Bruggen, who is performing a program with the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra that includes the clarinet quintet, likes to quote an 18th-century music critic seeing the basset clarinet for the first time.
“The critic said it has a bulbous section which sticks out sideways, and could be used for a smoking pipe.”…
Sydney Morning Herald, 13 March 2023
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“At this point the audience realised they were about the hear something very special. We were not disappointed!”
Enticingly entitled Viennese Vogue, this program of chamber music for strings and clarinet featured the music of three Viennese composers of the late 18th and early 19th century.
Classic Melbourne, 10 March 2023
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This year, the Orchestra celebrates its 10th anniversary exploring historically informed performance through memorable concerts and enriching education programs – with a series of concerts that journey from the luxury of Vienna to the rugged landscapes of Scotland, from the close intimacy of chamber music to the grandeur of the full orchestra. In honour of Richard Gill AO, Founding Artistic Director, the orchestra continues his extraordinary legacy every day.
Hills to Hawkesbury, 15 February 2023
In 2023, the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra celebrates its 10th anniversary - 10 years of exploring historically informed performance through memorable concerts and enriching education programs - with a series of concerts that journey from the luxury of Vienna to the rugged landscapes of Scotland, from the close intimacy of chamber music to the grandeur of the full orchestra.
Stephi Wild, Broadway World, 24 January 2023
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Celebrating its 10th year, the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra has announced its 2023 season.
The Orchestra brings three mainstage touring concerts to Queensland, Melbourne, New South Wales and Canberra, as well as a three-pronged Voyage of Musical Discovery program pairing Romantic and Classical music with contemporary Australian composition in a pledge to music education.
Maddy Briggs, Limelight, 24 January 2023
Witness a musical revolution performed on historical instruments by some of Australia’s finest international artists when the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra tours Australian towns including Caloundra.
Noosa Today, 11 January 2023
In the late 1700s, Vienna was seized by enthusiasm for the clarinet. Mozart fell in love with the sound of this fashionable new instrument, considering it the closest to the human voice, especially in the hands of the brilliant virtuoso Anton Stadler. He was moved by Stadler and clarinet builder Theodor Lotz’ latest invention, the basset clarinet, to compose his Clarinet Quintet in A major. With its perfect proportions and melodic invention, this exquisite work is one of Mozart’s best-loved pieces to this day.
Rebecca Varidel, Sydney Scoop 6 January 2023
…Gill’s account of Mendelssohn’s “Fingal’s Cave” Overture shows him a consummate sculptor of orchestral tone and texture, encouraging his forces to an unbridled climax, before subsiding to an elegant conclusion.
…Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 in A, Op. 92 is the undoubted highlight of this program. Crackling with dramatic energy throughout, Beesley imbues the music both with a strong sense of architecture, as well a joyful realisation of the work’s all-important rhythmic impetus, resulting in an exciting, adrenalin-charged race to the finish.
At a time when Australia is not lacking for chamber orchestras, nor for those aware of historical principles, ARCO still claims a special place in a busy, dynamic field. These ebullient performances constitute a worthy tribute to and continuation of Gill’s ardent musical trailblazing. “
Limelight 19 November 2022
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‘Historically informed performance is a musical language which takes years of experience to become fluent. There is much more to it than just picking up a period instrument or popping gut strings on your violin and working out how to play it technically, in time, and in tune,’ says Nicole van Bruggen, the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s co-Artistic Director and principal clarinet.
‘I like to use the analogy of learning a language – it is one thing to have high school French, but quite another to speak it like a native,’ she adds.
Perhaps counter-intuitively, van Bruggen says historically informed performance actually allows the players some individual musical expression, even though it is based on extensive research and scholarship.
‘Specialising in historic performance allows for an artistic freedom coupled with an academic foundation which is often not afforded in modern instrument ensembles and orchestras which are bound by late 20th-century modes of learning and performance,’ she says.
ArtsHub, 22 November 2022
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The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra's popular Young Mannheim Symphonists program has been brought to a triumphant conclusion for 2022, where 31 young musicians gathered for a week of intensive music-making in Melbourne. A celebratory final concert showcased the skills of these aspiring young artists who interpreted orchestral works by Mozart, Beethoven and Emilie Mayer. Applications for the 2023 instalment of this important national music education program are now open…
Broadway World, 16 October 2022
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Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra – Sweet, rich, mellow, like Viennese chocolate
“Neal Peres Da Costa played this new fortepiano lovingly and sensitively, complementing the orchestra’s rich, mellow sound like Viennese chocolate. The second movement was particularly sweet.
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The rich, mellow sound of this historically informed orchestra continued with Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C major, K.551, aptly nicknamed the Jupiter. With plenty of tempestuous gusto coming from the stage, they clearly enjoyed the lively pace of this masterful symphony. The special rapport between players was evident and would be a prerequisite for performing without a separate conductor.
The tempestuous applause at the end was a sign of the audience’s keen appreciation. “
Heidi Hereth, classikON (31 August 2022)
Image: Robert Catto
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