The Australian Chamber Orchestra launches another diverse season. Simon Moore catches up with Richard Tognetti as he literally ‘comes of age’ as artistic director and lead violin of this dynamic ‘orchestra of soloists’.

‘If I were a rock musician I would be envious of our audiences,’ says Richard Tognetti.

This comment rolls off the tongue innocently but is somehow apt for the energetic and youthful bunch that makes up Australia’s only national orchestra. Heading into his twenty-first season as artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti remains engaging and enthusiastic, and speaks with passion about the orchestra as if he had only just taken on the role.

‘When people come to our concerts, they don’t expect to be entertained lightly. You can’t ask for anything more.’

I remind Richard of a conversation reported to me by visiting director Anthony Marwood, about their reticence towards the term ‘classical music’.

‘Ah yes, “music reál”,’ he says. ‘I think we’ll use that, and let André Rieu use the term “classical music”. Let the cheap crossover artists take classical music and make it light muzak. We have the biggest demographic,’ he pauses before adding cheekily, ‘outside of a Leonard Cohen concert!’

The 2010 subscription series kicks off with Mozart’s Violin Concerto no 4, K218 – a fitting start given that the orchestra is mid-way through recording the entire set.

‘We’ve completed three of them and we’ve got three to go,’ says Richard. I’m curious as to the choice of this particular repertoire for release. ‘The main thing is our relationship with BIS, the recording company – of course, if they’ve had things that have been recorded a lot, they don’t want us to redo it. We just happened to be in the fortunate position of them not really having the Mozart violin concerti.’

Richard also notes that they were pleasantly surprised to find out that BIS were not overburdened with Mozart symphonies, so there was some hope that these too might be in the pipeline. So why the fourth concerto for the opening concert next year?

‘I probably wouldn’t play the first two in a concert,’ he acknowledges. ‘It’s almost like he was sharpening his quill. If they were written by someone else, I think it’s fair to say they wouldn’t make it to a concert platform.’

‘And we’re not sure from a musicological point of view why the first two aren’t as good as the last three,’ he continues. ‘It’s almost as if he found his voice – and his operatic voice – in the third concerto. The first two are more baroque virtuoso works but without the imagination of Vivaldi – they feel a bit tepid in a way. And then you hit number three and he’s in his stride. Yes, it’s inspired by Italian opera but he’s got this beautiful Germanic structure and lyricism that only belongs to Mozart.’

In the second subscription concert, the ACO lives up to its reputation as ‘a collective of soloists’, as members of the orchestra come into their own in a series of solos, and in each case that soloist will get to have their stamp on that work.

‘I very much adhere to that,’ Richard says. ‘If someone’s gone to the trouble of learning a concerto it’s more than likely that they’re going to know it better than anyone else.’

Is that an unusual attitude for the director of an orchestra?

‘Not really,’ he says nonchalantly. ‘Ashkenazy’s career as a conductor was born out of the fact that he played the “soloist directing an orchestra”. I don’t think he went to conducting lessons and then came along as a conductor. It was born out of his musicianship as a soloist. I shouldn’t speak for him, but I remember from very early on seeing him direct from the piano, and historically that’s how it’s been. The “conductor as dictator” has really come out of the Karajan years, or Furtwängler.’

I’m interested in the concert that follows, which features several Bach vocal works with one voice per part. What inspired that choice over a choir?

‘Economics!’ comes the direct answer. ‘Not just ours, but probably from the time of Bach too! I don’t know if Bach would have wanted more, but the proportions were quite different to what we imagine. You would have quite a small group, even for those big Passions – which came as a surprise to me, reading about it recently. And they were all boys, i.e. boy sopranos, and boy basses, so the proportions were quite different.’

And he continues, quite unapologetically, ‘If you’ve got good singers, why not? That doesn’t mean you change the aesthetic and re-adapt.’

These comments lead us onto a discussion of the ACO’s style. Richard becomes quite critical of what he sees as the ill-informed comments of some critics.

‘I was recently criticised for re-arranging Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste. It’s a ludicrous position to take because they obviously don’t know the performance practices – that a lot of people placed the percussion instruments in a slightly skewed position whilst maintaining the antiphonal strings. And yet they think it’s a rearrangement! Now, playing St John Passion with more performers on stage? If you want to call it a rearrangement, it’s just semantics. I would call it being pragmatic!’

He continues, ‘Of course, in a large hall, the more people you have the better. But if you can create an appropriate sound with fewer singers, I think you’ll achieve greater clarity.’

He gives an example. ‘The fortepiano in the Sydney Opera House is verging on unacceptable because people can’t hear it. Now, some fortepianists may say that’s ridiculous, but I’m sure they’d agree with that statement if you presented a clavichord in there. So it’s horses for courses. It’s not rearranging the music. It’s being pragmatic, and at the same time trying to find an aesthetic truth that is appropriate to modern times.’

‘There’s a golden rule that you never take on a critic, but when you just keep on getting such ill-informed opinion, it’s riling. They’re not saying “I don’t like it”, they’re saying it’s wrong. They just don’t know.’

What about the arrangement of some of the chamber music that the ACO performs?

‘I don’t arrange a lot of them,’ Richard says. ‘We simply perform them with more players on stage. Some quartets I do arrange, yes. There’s quite a bit of work that’s gone into Szymanowski and Janáček, as far as the solo/tutti thing is concerned. And the Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata in the final concert next year, that’s a major arrangement taking the piano part, same with the Frank Sonata and many other things that I do. And they think that I’ve re-written it. It’s just ridiculous. We got one review saying how dare I re-compose Schubert’s Death and the Maiden when Mahler had done such a good job!’

So, I venture, it’s apparently okay for Mahler 1894 but not for Tognetti 2009?

‘Exactly! There’s absolutely no difference except we utilised more of the solo violin, and therefore the original Schubertian idea. But the main difference is that we don’t have to pay copyright for Mahler’s “non”-work. I think we need to raise the bar with music criticism in this country.’

The ACO will be performing a Brahms symphony for the first time next year. I wonder if there will be any unique challenges in realising a larger scale work?

‘No, no, no, no,’ he says quickly. ‘What is the correct size for, say, Beethoven Seven? Is it what Beethoven used the first time? What’s the correct size for Lohengrin, conducted by Liszt when Wagner was in exile in Switzerland? He had five first violins. Is that the correct size? I think it’s finding context and appropriate settings and so forth. For us, because we play with strong character in the strings, we’re perfectly well suited to a smaller sized orchestra. Again, someone inexperienced and pretentiously opinionated would criticise our size of orchestra for Beethoven symphonies, so we can similarly play Brahms symphonies like this as well. If you listen to our recording of the Mahler Adagietto [from Symphony no 5] and compare it with other orchestras, do you really find it a problem that we only have five first violins?’

I venture to him that I find the sound of the smaller orchestra more immediate, and sometimes the sound that comes from a larger orchestra more distant. He agrees with this sentiment.

‘Exactly! That’s why conductors double the winds – they realise that the balance is out. They wrote this music with one wind player to a part. One flute is not a lot louder than one violin, so when you consider that, the proportions are much better with a smaller group.’

Quite a few high profile Australians will be joining the orchestra next year, including oboist Diana Doherty, soprano Sara Macliver, and mezzo-soprano Jane Sheldon. Is there a deliberate leaning towards Australian artists? Richard denies this, saying it’s just the way it works out.

‘Some years you could criticise us for not having enough Australians, then other years say “why have you got so many?” We can do what we want! We don’t have a quota system!’

And speaking of famous Australians, I have to bring up the imminent appearance of Barry Humphries with the orchestra at the end of this year.

‘We’ll call it a collaboration,’ Richard says, with mock-caution in his voice. ‘But you don’t collaborate with Barry Humphries! We chose the music together, but then do you think we’ll be telling Barry what to do? Absolutely no way! Mr Humphries is his own man! We are merely an orchestra at his mercy!’

The 2009 concert season continues with The Girl with the Golden Flute, with flautist Sharon Bezaly (14–20 October) and Beethoven 4 with pianist Dejan Lazić (21–25 November).

SPECIAL EVENT: BARRY HUMPHRIES

Monday 14, Tuesday 15 December 8pm

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

Tickets: $35–$95

Bookings: 1800 444 444

2010 SEASON

To request a free brochure and learn more about the music and artists, visit www.aco.com.au or phone 1800 444 444