REVIEW – ACO UNDERGROUND
Under the direction of internationally celebrated violinist and singer Satu Vänskä, ACO (Australian Chamber Orchestra) Underground, Australia’s “bad-ass classical band”, perform “shifting formations of strings and samples, stage looping vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars and laptops”.
This one-off performance at Oxford Arts Factory featured bass guitarist Brian Ritchie (Violent Femmes), guitarist Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), ACO Artistic Director and violinist Richard Tognetti, cellist Julian Thompson and viola player Alexandru-Mihai (Sascha) Bota.
They perform a diverse program including Spector, Nine Inch Nails, Drake, Crumb, Stravinsky and Tognetti and some pre-concert madness sets the mood: an existentialist audio-visual installation by Lost Boy followed by post-modern beat poet Marcie who is accompanied by Bota’s improvisational viola.
Death pervades the musical program as Vanska describes how the repertoire is linked by the music’s macabre themes.
The performance was extremely edgy, and limited seating certainly adds to the uneasiness. (SC)
www.aco.com.au
BY SAM CRASSWELLER
