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Schubert’s Fantasy & Octet

  • Classical Music
  • Australian Chamber Orchestra
  • Concert Hall
  • Run time: 120 minutes, including interval Subject to change
  • Seating map

Richard Tognetti leads an Australian Chamber Orchestra octet to celebrate the greatest of musical poets

Schubert composed like an oil painter, drawing from a rich palette of melodic and harmonic colours. With a divine lyricism at its heart, his music is imbued with an intimacy and intensity that taps into the full range of human emotion. 

Richard Tognetti’s affinity for Schubert is evident in every note he plays. Here, he directs an ACO ensemble featuring a handpicked selection of Australia’s top wind players in two exquisite works that showcase Schubert as a master of chamber music. 

Schubert wrote his Octet to emulate his hero Beethoven’s groundbreaking septet – adding an extra violin and revelling in the textural possibilities of the winds and strings together. 

The result offers the drama of a big orchestra with the agility of a small ensemble. The Octet is six movements of unbridled joy, studded with moments of darkness and poignancy that make its resolution even more satisfying. 

Schubert’s beloved Fantasy in C major for violin and piano was inspired by Paganini’s brilliance and is arranged by Tognetti for the magic of the ACO octet. It is a shimmering and compelling counterpart that completes this heart-warming, life-affirming concert experience.

Presented by the Australian Chamber Orchestra

Event details

Program

Franz Schubert 
(arr. Tognetti) Fantasy in C major, D.934 

Franz Schubert 
Octet in F major, D.803

Artists

Richard Tognetti 
Director & Violin 

Helena Rathbone 
Violin 

Stefanie Farrands 
Viola 

Johannes Rostamo 
Cello

Maxime Bibeau 
Double Bass

David Griffiths 
Clarinet

Todd Gibson-Cornish 
Bassoon

Carla Blackwood 
Horn

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Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Concert Hall

The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. 

All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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