ACO: Chopin & Medelssohn's Octet at City Hall

Russian pianist Polina Leschenko stars alongside Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra in sparkling concertos by Chopin and Górecki. The ACO play the much-loved Mendelssohn Octet and demonstrate their legendary Stradivarius, Guarneri and Guadagnini violins.

PAGANINI (arr. Tognetti) Caprice on Caprices
MORRICONE Exercises I: Adagio
CHOPIN (arr. Tognetti) Piano Concerto No.1
GÓRECKI Piano Concerto
MENDELSSOHN Octet

Richard Tognetti Artistic Director and Lead Violin
Polina Leschenko Piano

Combining sparkling virtuosity with tender lyricism, Chopin's First Piano Concerto is an ideal vehicle for the unique talents of Polina Leschenko. Although Górecki is best known for his haunting and heartfelt Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, his Piano Concerto bristles with driving rhythms and energy.

Mendelssohn's Octet is a staple of the ACO's repertoire, its carefree exuberance belying its fiendish technical intricacies.

The ACO's three legendary violins – Stradivari, Guarneri and Guadagnini – are revealed in Richard Tognetti's specially created arrangement of Paganini's dazzling Caprices.

"[Polina Leschenko] Some of the most devastatingly beautiful piano playing I have heard… what a night" - The Herald

"The enthusiasm and tightness of the ACO was nowhere better shown than in the Mendelssohn with its joyful, sweeping opening movement, quicksilver scherzo and romping closing figure." - Cumberland Newspapers

"Eight players from the orchestra revelled in the musical high jinks of Mendelssohn's Octet." - Adelaide Advertiser