Omega Ensemble – Concertante

Chopin’s raw and reveling piano concerto.

Frédéric Chopin once wrote: ‘Sometimes I can only groan, suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano!’ A great introvert, Chopin preferred the dark and smoky salons to the grand concert halls of Paris, and would often perform his own spectacular concertos in the private apartments of friends and patrons accompanied by string ensembles. In this spirit, Chopin’s first Piano Concerto is performed in a raw and powerful arrangement for just ten musicians.

An exciting new voice, Harry Sdraulig’s name has quickly catapulted into one of the most in-demand Australian composers of his generation, with commissions from all of Australia’s leading orchestras, as well as Yo-Yo Ma, Australian String Quartet, and Australian Chamber Orchestra. Pushing the Western classical tradition into new directions, juxtaposes melodic lyricism with intricate rhythmic interplay which draws influences from classical, jazz, and popular musical styles.

A regular on Australian stages as a concert pianist, Finnish Oli Mustonen is also an accomplished and distinctive composer. Opening with piercing discords and stunted rhythms, the Nonet II moves through moments of galloping Beethovenian rhythms, tranquil ostinati, and Russian flair, before finally exploding into a heart-racing finale described by the composer as ‘instrumental ecstasy’.