Australian Chamber Orchestra: Schubert’s Trout

Chamber music has a special magic. It’s where individual brilliance and collective resolve meet and embraced. Following the astounding response to our performances of Schubert’s String Quintet, we’re now presenting his equally loved Trout Quintet.

Joining our ACO ensemble is a Finnish pianist and composer Olli Mustonen, a much-admired ACO collaborator. This program also features the first ACO performance of Olli’s own Piano Quintet, a piece that overflows with drama and passion.

Franz Schubert was just 22 and on a walking holiday in the countryside when he wrote his buoyant Trout Quintet. High spirits and an unstoppable stream of melody flow through the music, sunnily evoking a time of freedom and a place of natural beauty. Schubert’s popular song Die Forelle (The Trout) is heard in the fourth movement, but its innocence animates the whole. An unusual touch is the use of double bass, which sets the pianist free to dance brightly across the instrument’s higher registers.

Joy radiates in Schubert’s beloved masterpiece. Hold your breath, lean in, and become one with the music.