Next was Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with soloist Sharon Kam, who I first saw perform this work during the Mozart 250th birthday concert in Prague in 2006. Kam, who has been playing this concerto since she was 16, clearly knows it cold, dancing about the stage while she wasn't playing. For an encore, she played Bela Kovacs' exotic Hommage à de Falla, based on Manuel de Falla's music.

Following intermission was Jonny Greenwood's Water, which the Radiohead guitarist wrote while in residence with the ACO in 2013. It began with a series of repeating figures in the strings and synthesizer before introducing the traditional Indian tanpura, providing a subtle, exotic texture. The music gradually built in intensity, eventually reaching the same fever pitch of slapping strings and ominous drones familiar to anyone who saw the 2008 film There Will Be Blood, for which Greenwood composed the score. The music ended strangely, fading away like the water of the work's title.

The concert ended with Haydn's Symphony No. 83, "The Hen." Surprisingly dark and intense at the beginning, the music eventually turned into a rollicking jig, with Tognetti dancing around the stage like some Appalachian fiddler. The message was clear: this music, whether it was written two years ago or 230 years ago, is a living, bleeding thing, especially when played with the right spirit.  

More pics on the photo page.