The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra opened its 2020 season with a cracking performance of the Overture to Mozart’s 1786 singspiel Der Schauspieldirektor or The Impresario, for which the period instrument ensemble named its concert. Taut and energetic from the top with surging strings and polished wind lines, violinist and Co-Artistic Director (with clarinettist Nicole van Bruggen) Rachael Beesley led a foot-to-the-floor performance, spurring the musicians forward in the Overture’s minor passages.

The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’ The Impresario. Photo © Oscar Smith

The main course on the first half of the program, however, was Anton Eberl’s Opus 33 Symphony in E-Flat Major, remarkably in its Australian premiere performances – particularly noteworthy given that a year after its first performance in Vienna in 1804, this piece was programmed alongside the world premiere of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, and received a warmer reception to boot.

While Eberl feels a little flighty with his musical ideas when compared with the almost obsessive economy of his friend and rival Beethoven, there is much to enjoy in this music – particularly in the exciting performance the symphony was given here. The hymn-like introduction, punctuated by...