Australian Chamber Orchestra: Kreutzer Sonata

Beethoven meets a violinist from another world and rips the classical sonata wide open in the Kreutzer Sonata, an iconic piece that’s so much bigger than any one violinist and pianist. Then, inspired by Tolstoy’s novella of obsessive passion and deadly jealousy (inspired by Beethoven), Janáček pushes the string quartet to its limits and beyond in his own fraught Kreutzer. 

The ACO and their maverick music director Richard Tognetti take both masterpieces to another level, expanding them for full orchestra before hurling them under the microscope, pulsing and quivering with raw emotional power. And composers and orchestra alike meet a kindred spirit in the form of Thomas Adès – another composer who knows how to make every note speak – whose brand-new work provides a contemporary contrast while embracing the same revolutionary spirit.