Imagine you are walking along an overgrown path … What do you see?

Leoš Janáček used the image of an overgrown path to frame the 15 vignettes he included in his suite for solo piano, On an Overgrown Path.

The MCO’s Artistic Director Sophie Rowell uses the image of an overgrown path to connect five musical works illuminated by the spoken word, with actor Helen Morse reading the poetry associated with the program’s oldest and newest works: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (1725) and British composer Libby Croad’s Portraits (2022).

Melbourne Chamber Orchestra: Overgrown Paths. Photo © Catherine Turner

The program opens with Hugo Wolf’s effervescent Italian Serenade, and this performance, with ultra-delicate phrasing and meticulous attention to the music’s ebb and flow, showcases the MCO’s musicality and finesse.

The five miniatures from Janáček’s Overgrown Path paint some of the composer’s cherished memories – including children at play and a screeching barn owl – using a well-crafted arrangement for string orchestra by the Slovak violinist Daniel Rumler. The MCO gives a well-balanced performance of these colourful but complex vignettes, a highlight being the energy with which the ensemble maintains the music’s pulse.

The final work before interval depicts a markedly different physical and emotional world. Croad’s Portraits is based on five pandemic-era poems – Landscape, Heartache, Hope, Mind and Resilience – by the English violinist Eleanor Percy. The MCO presents the first four movements with Morse reading the relevant poem prior to each Portrait being played.

The Portraits evoke the deserted urban landscape rendered pristine through disuse (Landscape); the grief and many types of loss experienced during the pandemic (Heartache); and the constant battle between hope (Hope) and anxiety (Mind) as the virus rages.

Croad’s music matched the poems’ emotional arc; a calm, warm opening gives way to a sombre chorale that becomes increasingly intense. If the music were heard in isolation, the fifth movement, Resilience, might not be missed, but it feels odd for the final poem to end with the virus still raging.

Percy’s well-chosen words provide a clear verbal path into the music, undoubtedly adding depth to the music. And to have Helen Morse recite the poems so clearly, calmly and feelingly takes the music and the performance to another level.

Melbourne Chamber Orchestra: Overgrown Paths. Photo © Catherine Turner

Morse, Rowell and the MCO return to the stage after interval to perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – the centrepiece and arguably the highlight of the concert. In this performance, Morse recites the four poems, which ensures the audience listens purposefully, and makes the music seem more vivid and immediate.

Rowell’s performance of the virtuous solo part is exhilarating, while the MCO brings out Vivaldi’s colourful musical effects with great flair and attention to detail, its ensemble playing impeccable.

Rowell, Morse and the MCO receive a long and well-deserved standing ovation.

For more information on the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra in 2026, visit mco.org.au