By Nancy Plum

In a return visit to Richardson Auditorium last Thursday night, the Australian Chamber Orchestra presented a program of polished Viennese music, as well as a contemporary work composed specifically for the organization. Led by Artistic Director and violinist Richard Tognetti, the Chamber Orchestra came to Princeton with seventeen string players and a program including music of Franz Schubert, Ralph Vaughan Williams and the American composer John Luther Adams. The music of Adams is rooted in his environmental activism and affinity for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska; he recently moved to Australia, and his one-movement Horizon reflected the landscape of his new homeland. Initially premiered by the Chamber Orchestra, Horizon is receiving its U.S. premiere on the ensemble’s current tour.

Horizon began traditionally, connected to the Schubert pieces which followed in its melodic flow and solo lines travelling across the stage among instrumentalists. However, things soon changed as the stage grew dark, with light focused on specific players conveying extended minimalistic shimmering effects. Playing at different tempi, the Chamber Orchestra musicians seemed to depict viewing the horizon from different angles at different times of day.

Violinist Tognetti had a chance to display very lyrical solo playing in an arrangement for chamber orchestra of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. Adam Johnson’s setting effectively captured the landscape of the English countryside as Tognetti brought out the flowing lilt of the music. Graceful solo duets among principal players contrasted with full orchestral sound, and one had to listen carefully for the final note as the lark flew away.

The two Schubert works performed well illustrated the composer’s melodic gifts. The 1820 Quartettsatz in C Minor was originally intended as the first movement to a string quartet. One of several unfinished pieces from the last decade of Schubert’s life, Quartettsatz stopped part way through a slow movement, and what was completed showed Schubert’s intricate yet elegant musical style. With a supple overall sound, the Chamber Orchestra players brought out dramatic passages, with melodies sweetly played by the first violins.

The closing four-movement Schubert quartet arranged by Chamber Orchestra director Tognetti was the most substantial composition of the evening. Composed only three years before the composer’s death, String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor (“Death and the Maiden”) was based on a song Schubert had composed earlier, and Tognetti’s arrangement set Schubert’s music alternately for solo string quartet and full orchestra. The Chamber Orchestra opened Schubert’s Quartet emphasizing rolling lines resembling a piano accompaniment to a Schubert song. Playing from a standing position enabled the musicians to lean into the sound and create uniform dramatic effects. Solo quartet and ensemble found effective contrasts in the second movement “Andante,” in which Schubert’s original song is presented and then subjected to variations. Tognetti played an especially graceful line in the first variation, with a trio of cellos later creating a well-unified yet rich sectional sound.

The players took little time between movements, energetically launching the galloping rhythms of the closing “Presto”— a raging tarantella increasing in speed and intensity. In Schubert’s time, the tarantella was thought to be a dance to ward off madness and death, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra effectively brought the concert to a swirling and majestic finish while demonstrating the range of colors capable from a chamber ensemble.

Princeton University Concerts will present its next events on Wednesday, April 29 and Thursday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium. Featured in these performances will be violinist Lisa Batiashvili and pianist Giorgi Gigashvili. Wednesday night’s program, part of the University Concerts Music & Healing series, will include a live performance and conversation concerning cultural resilience in Georgia and Ukraine. Thursday night’s concert will include music of Beethoven, Prokofiev, Bardanashvili and Franck. Ticket information and a schedule for the University Concerts 2026-27 season, can be obtained by visiting https://concerts.princeton.edu.