[title]
Lockdown can be a pretty unsettling time, with low-key stress thrumming along in the background constantly. But you can totally soothe your blues away with the aid of the sweet strings of the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO).
They were absolute heroes when they launched their digital platform ACO StudioCasts in response to last year’s shutdowns, delivering slickly cinematic concert films to up your chill factor on demand, and they’re at it again. The current drama might have sunk their national tour of River, but they aren’t crying over it. Instead they’ve launched a new season of eight immersive movies that show off exactly what they can do. The latest drop, Tabula Rasa, was directed by Matisse Ruby and filmed at the Hordern Pavilion. It features ACO artistic director Richard Tognetti leading the ACO through performances of Arvo Pärt’s work of the same name and Shostakovich’s ‘Chamber Symphony’, integrated with imagery and video projections by renowned cinematographer Jon Frank and Beizj Studio.
“After a decade of filmmaking, a season of concert films was a natural evolution for the ACO,” Tognetti says. “These aren’t simply static recreations of a concert hall experience, but bespoke films that provide a new perspective on how we appreciate and understand music.”
While an annual subscription to ACO StudioCasts will usually set you back $229, or $35 per film, you can grab access to the lot for $30 for 30 days until the end of August. So get in quick, flick on a mellifluous movie and feel your cares melt away, and you can check out Tabula Rasa here.