Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola & Orchestra in E flat major, K364 - SACD

“Just a few bars of the neatly sprung opening tutti of Mozart's G major violin concerto K216 are enough to confirm...the tremendous energy and sense of musical purpose that are so characteristic of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and their leader Richard Tognetti...These are modern-instrument performances of great personality and emotional generosity.” The Guardian, 18th November 2010 ****

“It’s not easy being graceful one minute, punchy the next, but the Australian Chamber Orchestra, equipped with gut strings and other period habits, manages with ease on this gripping disc. The cake’s icing is Tognetti...Phrasing and speed control are fresh and thoughtful, cadenzas weighty, textures unfailingly clear. Delightful music-making.” The Times, 27th November 2010 ****

“Tognetti is in total control both as leader and soloist in beautifully nuanced performances of the third and fifth violin concertos...Tuning to a warmer A=430 (rather than standard 440) and using gut strings, they produce a gloriously exciting, tangy edged, alert and playful sound.” The Observer, 26th December 2010

“These are bright, lively performances, on modern instruments but well aware of 18th-century style. The finales of all three works are especially successful..Tognetti and Moore are wonderfully well-matched, and when they play together in parallel their tones make a perfect blend.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011

“This is a wonderfully refreshing Mozart disc...Tognetti's phrasing is stylish, imaginative but never eccentric, and the orchestral accompaniment is played with an alertness and care over rhythms that produce results that are notably tidy as well as scrupulously shaped....Tognetti's ornamentation and embellishment feel just right too.” International Record Review, December 2010

“When Mozart presents a statement on one instrument and repeats it on the other, their phrasing is perfectly matched; similarly, when they play together, they blend effortlessly. It's like listening to chamber music.” Classic FM Magazine, April 2011 ***

“Podger makes a strong case for Haydn's concertos… the sound has a warm glow that enhances her standpoint that these works are not lightweight nonentities. Slow movements are particularly profound…” Gramophone Magazine, December 2009

“…Rachel Podger…silvery-toned, subtly nuanced 1739 Pesarinius violin and intent direction of the strings of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment find a genuine eloquence in the Adagio of the otherwise unremarkable G major Concerto. Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante is... a masterpiece unique even in his output for the almost operatic interplay between its solo violin and viola protagonists... Podger's almost 'speaking' line contrasts with the more 'masculine' tones of Pavlo Beznosiuk. Others have wrung even more pathos from the somber Andante, but this scarcely alloys the warmth and life of the reading.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2009 ****

“...the OAE accompanies with poise and discretion, allowing Podger's consummate talent to shine through.” The Observer, 29th November 2009

“Listen to the start of the great Sinfonia Concertante, here replete with an energy which doesn't preclude sensitivity of phrasing or detail of instrumental colour. …Fischer and Nikolic emerge from the opening tutti with a sense of wonder, marking this is one of Mozart's most deeply felt inspirations. ...their interplay in the Adagio is a profound delight.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 *****

“In the Sinfonia – one of Mozart’s first masterpieces, written in 1779, on the threshold of his entrance into the pantheon of genius – soloists, orchestra and conductor emphasise the majestic, symphonic dimensions of the opening movement, and they duet rapturously like operatic lovers in the sublime Andante. If you have the solo concerto discs, you won’t want to miss this” Sunday Times, November 2007