The 116 players of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland – aged 21 or less – have startlingly accomplished techniques, "go-for-it" exuberance and a taste for the musically dramatic. What a shame that Leeds hardly mustered an audience for this concert.
The stay-aways not only missed a gutsy celebration of the craft of orchestral playing but also an intriguing programme of three works, each of three movements and each with an unconventional first movement. Conductor Garry Walker, a one-time member o
f the orchestra and a Leeds Conductors Competition winner, is a canny programmer and
has a canny rapport with his young players.
Britten's awkwardly-written Sinfonia da Requiem was made convincing by a theatrical approach, its Dies Irae desperate, with a hint of Arnold's Tam O'Shanter about it.
Jennifer Pike – a mature and controlled musician though still a teenager herself – revealed Bruch's First Violin Concerto for the masterwork it is, making the second movement into an eloquent plea before some spiritual high court.
Although the orchestra as a whole were a touch too dramatic for the emotional nihilism of the first movement of Shostakovich's Sixth Symphony, their principal flute certainly got the message, and her musicianship was outstanding among the clutch of remarkable soloists who worked wizardry in the final two quick movements.
Leeds Town Hall
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