In this concert, the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra combined a stone-cold classic (Schubert’s Octet in F major D803) with a lesser-known work (Joseph Eybler’s String Quintet in D major). Explaining the pairing, Co-Artistic Director Nicole van Bruggen says that, “One of my favourite artistic aspirations for the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra is to present composers from the 18th and 19th centuries who have undeservedly been forgotten or neglected alongside those we know and love.”

The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra perform Eybler’s String Quintet in Brisbane, 1 June, 2022. Photo © Peter Wallis.

So, the concert began with Eybler’s String Quintet in D Major. He’s probably best known for his tangential connections to Mozart rather than for his own works (Eybler is known to have both rehearsed and conducted Così fan tutte on Mozart’s behalf, as well having received a glowing recommendation from him, among other links), and you can hear that glowing late-Classical period resonance in his writing here, amplified particularly well on the players’ gut-strung instruments.

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