#aco underground

Watch ACO Underground, the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s electro-acoustic spin off band, play Movement Two from Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.8.

ACO Underground - Da Pacem Domine By Arvo Pärt (Live in Sydney).

wednesday

RADIOHEAD'S Jonny Greenwood performing Steve Reich in Sydney

Radiohead fans in Sydney who went to see electro-acoustic outfit Australian Chamber Orchestra Underground at The Standard last night were treated to an intimate solo performance by none other than Jonny Greenwood!

Read more:http://moshc.am/TABeV5

on sunday evening, the standard played host to a very different gig indeed. the venue was filled with music by the likes of vivaldi, sibelius and paganini, and, for the very first time, held a harpsichord on its stage. but at this special gig, those classical pieces were performed alongside that of radiohead and nick drake, forming a striking and innovative combination of live music that somehow just worked.

it was aco underground.

presented by fbi radio, this new project was the australian chamber orchestra's first attempt at what will hopefully be many, many events of this nature.

with an ambition to reach new audiences, aco underground has both challanged the way we view classical music and the way in which it can be presented.

and it was to be a very different gig for the aco musicians themselves. as some of australia's greatest classical players, they are more accustomed to performing acoustically in concert halls. aco underground was a whole new and exciting game. they were each mic'd up, dressed in mufti attire and stood upon a small stage at a venue with an open bar. got to love these evolving times.

lead by assistant leader satu vanska, the event featured other members of the aco along with a guest appearance from the brilliant jim moginie of midnight oil. what a combo.

the crowd was remarkably punctual (as word must have got out that there were limited seats) and upon entry we were greeted with sounds from fbi resident dj, jack shit. the audience was not entirely what i was expecting, but it had completely sold out - a great feat for their first show.

we grabbed a drink and waited in anticipation for the audio-visual installation by jon frank to begin.

i had thought the work was to be played in the background, but instead, the lights were dimmed, and the mood was set for us to view the work in its entirety. jon's images were projected onto two white painted squares on opposite walls of the venue, so all could see.

jon frank is an australian surf cinematographer and artist who has been working closely with the aco on up coming project the reef, and has recently collaborated with aco artistic director, richard tognetti on their innovative concert works the glide, the crowd and nothing. the half-hour work shown to us was an enticing mash-up of all of these works, including contrasting images of waves, animals and nature scenes in time-lapses, and also an edit from patrick trefz film's thread of artist jim denevan creating large scale works of momentary art in the sand. incredible. and they were all accompanied by very fitting recorded audio. check out some more of his excerpts here.

overall, it was a very intriguing piece of work. they managed to be not only emotive and beautiful, but thought provoking. jon frank had a way of subtly questioning many of the world's habits. and as different as each clip was, they managed to work together as a great introduction to what the live music was to be about.

what a way to start the night.

soon after, the aco performers took to the stage, and with a lively movement from vivaldi's violin concerto in a minor, rv358, they were off. this piece featured satu vanska on violin - and what an outstanding musician she is - and also included the gorgeous plucking sounds of the harpsichord and an electric double bass.

satu introduced each of the musical sets throughout the show, giving the audience a sense of what was to come. this communication created even more of an intimacy, that which you don't often get at your usual classical gig.

the next set of pieces were gorgeous. beginning with the very atmospheric tognetti work, underwater from the glide, and featuring richard tognetti himself on violin and jim moginie on his guitar, the piece effortlessly melted into the music of sibelius. it was scene vi from his work composed for the arvid jarnefelt play, kuolema. the section then ended with another tognetti work, way to dream. what a sensitive yet complex composer. and this song had vocals. they were performed in finnish by the remarkable satu, who took so comfortably to the vocal mic. she sang with a deep, sultry tone:

"we alone have endless time and tomorrow I surrender myself to another wave..."

the next set was another eclectic combination. it started with the third and fourth movements from russian composer alfred schnittke's string quartet no. 2. from there, the musicians were lead straight into radiohead's how to disappear completely. with more enchanting vocals by satu, we were all completely taken away in a sea of emotive musical atmosphere. she explained to us that thom yorke is a classically trained musician himself, and was apparently inspired by messian when writing this particular song. pretty fascinating...and what an appropriate choice for the show.

george crumb's sarabanda de la muerte oscura from black angels followed, and suddenly the mood altered. the violin part was to represent the voice of the devil, and the cello, the voice of god. great interaction. the piece was originally written in 1970 for electric strings (which was quite radical for its time), it so was also a very apt for the program.

fit in between this movement and another from black angels was the gorgeous, track, way to blue, by english folk-singer nick drake. i'm still amazed at how seamlessly these pieces worked alongside each other. but they did. satu once again treated us with her smooth voice as drake's haunting song lingered throughout the venue.

"tell me all that you may know. show me what you have to show. tell us all today, if you know the way to blue?"

we were then returned to george crumb for his god music movement. and then, i was completley amazed. at the back of the stage, a series of wine glasses were set up and tuned with various levels of water. as timo-veikko valve performed the alluring cello solo, the remaining violin quartet members took their bows to the glasses. the sound was so effective, and to witness its production was utterly entertaining.

again, our mood was changed as satu picked up her violin once more and astounded us with the fiery and passionate la campanella by paganini. although he was said to have had a pact with the devil, paganini's work has been performed for so many over the centuries. and now, has even been played at the standard.

to finish the show in a very rounded way, we were re-visited by vivaldi with his la folia trio sonata in d minor, and that lovely harpsichord and the great jim moginie. a perfect classical ending to an innovative, intimate concert with an obviously well thought out program.

satu had farewelled us all graciously and said that she hoped it wouldn't be their last underground concert where audiences can watch, listen and stand and have a drink. but we were then given a very fun encore, just to top things off. a traditional finnish song entiltled antin mikko. full of folk tunes and cheer. what fun.

so i truly hope this won't be the last of aco underground either.

i don't think i have enjoyed a classical music performance as much as i did this event for quite some time. the rules of the concert hall were here stripped away. the crowd clapped when they wanted, coins dropping and the occasional crash from a drink being spilt was not a worry. it seemed to uncannily fit the venue. it was casual, diverse and captivating all at once.