One the most vivid concert experiences I’ve had in recent times was with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Tawadros brothers, Joseph and James. Their Four Seasons program, woven from the European and Byzantine traditions, not just recontextualised Vivaldi’s music, it zapped it into new life.

That project, which originated in 2015 and which was reprised in 2023, has now been expertly translated into a screen experience centred on live studio-based captures of the ACO, interspersed with background chats with Richard Tognetti.

Joseph Tawadros & the Australian Chamber Orchestra – The Four Seasons: A Music Film

Director Matisse Ruby, who helmed seven 50-minute films for the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Studiocast Season in 2021, is familiar with the ACO’s musical dynamics and personalities. Ruby knows precisely where to point the camera and (with editor Phoenix Chisholm) exactly when to cut between shots. Each of Vivaldi’s movements is each given a different lighting treatment – a simple but very effective mood-enhancing strategy.

The film captures the energy of the ensemble perfectly, the bouncing, energised feel of players who have permission to put their bodies into the music. Ruby makes a point of catching the...