Review: National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Leeds Town Hall, Sunday, August 8, 2021
TEAM GB makes a pit-stop at Leeds Town Hall! I refer to the gold standard young musicians selected every year since 1948 to form the glorious National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
The NYOGB under a succession of internationally renowned conductors has been a regular fixture in the Leeds Town Hall Orchestral Season since the 1970’s. I still recall the thrill of an incandescent performance of Richard Strauss’s monumental Alpine Symphony played by 164 amazing youngsters on the breezy Easter Tuesday of 1986.
This year, Covid forced a rethink that has yielded an abundance of good things. The huge orchestra has been split into three sections of equal strength and with varying programmes. Each one an embodiment of the power of music to bring hope for a better future. A hope fervently expressed by members of the orchestra as they eloquently introduced and played short ‘creative pieces’ for their own instruments before each half of the concert. The principal oboe beautifully played Thea Musgrave’s descriptive miniature “Dawn” solo for her instrument.
This division of forces has enabled the National Youth Orchestra(s) to venture into the classical or early romantic repertoire. What a revelation to feel the interpretive energy flowing from their performance of Schumann’s journey from darkness into light, his Symphony No 4 in D minor.
Laura Jurd’s new work CHANT explores communal expressions of hope. The musicians are occasionally required to stamp their feet in unision.
Italian violinist Francesca Devo followed her bravura performance of Prokokiev’s Violin Concerto No 2 in G minor with a bravura encore: Jessie Montgomery’s Rhapsody No 2 for solo violin
Sound and Fury, Anna Clyne’s virtuosic new work for full orchestra evoked a world drained of hope but with a tantalising glimpse of an exciting new future.
New Zealand born conductor Holly Mathieson at the helm of the NYO last Sunday evening demonstrated the depth of her rapport with this brilliant young orchestra.
An uplifting and thought provoking occasion. The socially distanced audience responded throughout with incredible warmth and appreciation.
Geoffrey Mogridge
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