Adelaide Youth Orchestra. Elder Hall. 30 Mar 2014
In the space of a week Adelaide audiences have been treated to performances of two of Dvořák’s greatest symphonic works – Symphony in G (No. 8) last week by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and now the better known Symphony in E minor (No. 9) performed by the Adelaide Youth Orchestra (AdYO).
AdYO concerts are vital affairs. The venues are packed with devoted fans and supporters, and there is a palpable air of expectation and excitement. At the final beat of the conductor’s baton it is guaranteed that the audience will erupt into heartfelt and appreciative applause with whoops of ‘Bravo!’. This concert was no exception.
Popularly known as “From the New World”, Dvořák’s ninth Symphony was composed while he resided and worked in the USA (‘the new world’) in the early 1890s. The work is often thought to be influenced by the musical traditions of native North Americans and traditional African-American spirituals, but any influence stops short of direct quotations. However, if the composition’s nickname had never been coined it is likely that no such connection would ever have been popularised. But, Dvořák is reported to have quipped that he would not have composed the way he did while in America, if he had not in fact seen America. He is also reported to have been inspired by the wide-open spaces, and the ninth symphony is indeed expansive, particularly the beautiful and languid melody (“Goin’ Home”) in the second movement. Conductor Keith Crellin coaxed a big sound from AdYO – it filled the Elder Hall – and the trombones, trumpets and wood-wind were particularly fine. The flutes introduced thematic material with clarity, and the cor anglais was almost sublime with “Goin’ Home”. Crellin exerted skilful control to ensure that abrupt changes in time signatures were mostly well handled and the piece didn’t run away with the youthful enthusiasm of the orchestra!
Saint-Saens wrote his third and last violin concerto for the Spanish composer and virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. It is perhaps not as technically difficult as the first two (and neither is it easy by any stretch!) but its melodic inventiveness, pan-European diversity of musical influences, and occasional foray into what can almost be described as impressionism, place considerable interpretative demands on the soloist. If these demands are not successfully negotiated then the entire piece runs the risk of become overly emotional and melodramatic. But young violinist Tianyou Ma took it all in his stride and played with the skill and acuity of someone much older than his tender fourteen years. It is no wonder that the eminent Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK wants to take him on as a student later this year. Who knows where his talent will take him – the world of the professional soloist is a cut-throat one – but Tianyou Ma deserves to have a long, auspicious and conspicuous career. I would have liked him to have attacked the dramatic moments of the first and third movements more than he did in order to create expectant tension (just as the great Jacqueline du Pre did at the cello entry in the first movement of Dvořák’s great cello concerto). That aside, Tianyou Ma’s lyricism in the second movement andantino was simply beautiful.
The concert began with an emphatic and well-articulated performance of Aaron Copeland’s iconic “Fanfare for the Common Man” performed by an ensemble selected from AdYO’s brass and percussion. It was the perfect curtain raiser to a very satisfying concert!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Elder Hall
Bookings: Closed
