The connotation of something described as Bohemian is the unusual, with an alternative take on the norm. This perfectly describes the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, which has returned to tour Queensland with Bohemian Dreams – beginning with this concert at Plant Empire, a plant- and art-filled warehouse in the industrial area of Tennyson in Brisbane.

The orchestra’s historically informed performances (HIP) present music, often by popular late 18th- and 19th-century composers who were the fashionable titans of their time but are now seldom played. Co-Artistic Director, co-founder and clarinettist Nicole van Bruggen described how the Bohemian Dreams concert has been simmering since the 1990s, when she questioned why some of the most in-vogue composers of the time, such as Giovanni Punto and Franz Krommer, are unknown, whereas contemporaries Mozart and Schubert are revered.

Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra: Bohemian Dreams at Plant Empire Brisbane. Photo © Glenn Hunt

ARCO’s HIP concerts reflect a more genuine experience, with Emma Gregan playing an 18th-century valveless natural horn replica by Paxman, which frankly looked like it had been recovered from a Vinnies store!

It was fascinating when Gregan explained how the crook, the curled...