Australian Chamber Orchestra’s last 2024 Perth Concert Hall date with guitarist Sean Shibe in Scotland Unbound

A fond farewell and a rollicking sendoff marked Australian Chamber Orchestra’s last 2024 visit to Perth Concert Hall on Wednesday, closing off with guitarist Sean Shibe and Scotland Unbound. Shibe’s classical roots and Celtic heritage shone through a first half of gentle acoustic reflection, starting with solo phrases rolling off the fretboard for his own arrangement of A Scots Tune. ACO stood silent as a beguilingly simple 17th century work wove its charm; chiming in with smoothly sonorous accompaniment, taking the lead then following Shibe in barely-there harmonics as the ensemble flowed into James MacMillan’s From Galloway (arr. George Duthie). Rhythmic slaps on the cello fired up a folkloric violin solo from director Richard Tognetti and jaunty guitar reply for James Crabb’s arrangement of Da Trowie Burn (Friedemann Stickle), drawing all together as in a celidh and dancing gracefully to a close. Shibe withdrew and Tognetti carried the lead into James Scott Skinner’s Ossian (arr. Crabb), a solemn lament over stark chords, mellowing as they went. Multi-layered harmony lent depth to the soundscape, with hints of mournful, misty hills and glens. A lone violin harmonic drew in viola (Riitta-Liisa Ristiluoma) and cello (Timo-Veikko Valve) in meditative melancholy, answered by Tognetti in similar mesmeric style for Niel Gow’s Lament for the Death of his Second Wife (arr., Crabb); richly sustained on a cushion of strings. Florid bowing carried through to Struan Robertson’s Rant (arr. Crabb) in a vigorous attack and flurries of sound, celebrating dance with all in lock-step to the last striking cadence. Canadian Cassandra Miller’s Chanter closed out the half with an Australian premiere partly inspired by Shibe; a bass note in guitar summoning a cacophony across the ensemble as Tognetti conducted a frenzy of discords. Solo guitar, urgent and insistent, threw up fragments of melody answered in viola and cello over a bass drone to deliver on the title of the first movement, Rippling. A violin harmonic again served as a bridge to Bellow-breathing, ushering a quicksilver guitar riff to stir sympathetic echoes in strings. Shibe’s polyphonic musings held the lead, always slightly darker than the background sounds. Soft cascades wove a dreamscape for Sleep-chanting, settling on a bass pedal note under a quartet of cellos and guitar with pizzicato backing. Velvet string figures opened expectation then filled the void, fading to close. Tentative touches in guitar broached Slowing Air, a pin-drop moment reinforced by crystalline harmonics as rarefied air of remote latitudes settled on the hall. Finally, guitar returned with “bottleneck” slide effects for Honey-dreaming, echoing the looping timbre of Delta blues as strings mimicked in enervating tones and Shibe built energy with filigree fingerwork. Strings sighed briefly then Shibe resumed for an infinitesimal, bluesy cadence. After the break Shibe went electric, a raucous burst, repeated, engaging audience and ensemble in amplified sound for the Australian premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Lad (arr. Crabb). The opening stanza, Drones, again matched the label in surging, swirling melody and bottleneck chords, with bell-like notes from guitar imposing a portentous progression. Shibe stood to deliver The Slow Melody, a commanding figure confidently wielding by far the loudest instrument, then changed up to The Fast Melody, catching strings in his wake. Fuzz-wah effects spurred mimicry across the ensemble, with frenzied bowing and strumming down to a jump-cut dismount. Back to strings, still amplified, the Australian premiere of David Fennessy’s Hirta Rounds plumbed the heights and depths of a distant seascape in a ghostly cello solo (Valve). Strings clustered around the solo, with the merest hint of bass suddenly exploding in a gathering storm. Falling back to cello drone, violin harmonics channelled the raptures of the deep as ACO’s profoundly cohesive crew negotiated fickle waters with skill and aplomb, fading to a zephyr. At the last, Shibe unleashed a dance party with pop-like echo effects and a plangent bass guitar (Maxime Bibeau). The title was Bothy Culture but Mediterranean strains broke through in bouzouki (Julian Thompson) for a multicultural mix. Shibe finally voiced his Scottish brogue, counting in the band for another riotous dance measure, with rock riffs urging strings to furious bowing then syrupy chords over a long guitar fade. Shoutouts to support staff heralded the final, Aye. Hearty in voice and musical energy, it soared to harmonics and back to earth for repeated cries of “Aye” and one last whimsical “No!” ACO return to Perth at UWA’s Winthrop Hall next year, during Concert Hall renovations.