Dedicated to the memory of its founder, this debut album by the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra is a fitting tribute to Richard Gill, that tireless musical advocate and loveable larrikin who died of cancer, aged 76 in October 2018. Gill’s vision of an orchestra dedicated to the historically informed performance of repertory from the late-18th to early-20th centuries continues to flourish under artistic co-directors Rachael Beesley and Nicole van Bruggen, with ARCO engaged in a wide range of performances and educational initiatives. 

These live recordings span 2013 to 2020. The earliest, an account of Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No 10 in B Minor (MVW10) sees Beesley and her colleagues bringing respectful empathy to this early student work, investing the opening with requisite sobriety before an outburst of bustling rhythmic activity.

Made several months before his death, Gill’s account of Mendelssohn’s “Fingal’s Cave” Overture shows him a consummate sculptor of orchestral tone and texture, encouraging his forces to an unbridled climax, before subsiding to an elegant conclusion.

Recorded on the cusp of the COVID pandemic, Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 in A, Op. 92 is the...