There was a most celebratory and busy atmosphere at Hamer Hall for the very special national Australian Youth Orchestra that had brought a huge orchestral program to Costa Hall, Geelong, and then to a second enthusiastic and youthful audience at Arts Centre Melbourne. In the foyers, it was quite a party atmosphere, with many friends, music teachers, administrators, composers and relatives of these 90 highly accomplished young musicians committed to supporting and promoting young Australian talent. Great joy from music making and bonding through initiatives such as National Music Camp and national and international tours was evident from the lively aura on and off stage.
Having played cello with the AYO between 1988-1992, vivacious festival director, and composer Iain Grandage enjoyed a superstar’s welcome and appreciation for his pre-concert talk, then extra special applause as his specially commissioned work, Overt, was being given its premier performance in AYO’s program.
Lights dimmed and Deborah Cheetham’s gracious and respectful Acknowledgement of Country was performed by string quartet and spoken word, before we welcomed Conductor Nicholas Carter to the podium with most appreciative and excited applause. In every aspect his was a passionate, sensitive and artistically detailed leadership throughout the night, a perfect match for this ebullient young orchestra.
Iain Grandage’s Overt was a most colourful and “extra-overt” stimulating concert opener. A most fiery descending flourish from strings opened the piece, leading to brilliant brass and percussion interjections, with the orchestra producing very gorgeous and well-controlled fading softnesses as a scenic warm pastoral section developed. A central viola theme with distant tubular bells and airy bridging passages was most calming, timbres carefully well-blended given the full size of all orchestral sections. Inventive five-time rhythms built a spirit of buoyancy and fullness of dynamics in many youthful, energetic crescendos, and always the imaginative hues and coloured blocks in Grandage’s orchestral vocabulary were just grand and invigorating. I could have wished for more – but Wagner and Mahler were still to come.
With no spare room on the Hamer Hall stage for any more instruments, the only problem for audience members was to have a clear vision of every performer, especially the 13 woodwind players whose work would be overshadowed at times by the magnificently powerful and forthright section of 15 brass players and Olympic standard bass drumming.
Richard Wagner’s beautiful and emotive Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde opened with a majestic and finely intonated brass fanfare with celebratory percussion, soon saddened by the tragic and profound expression of romantic themes on a splendid army of AYO strings led by mature and confident leadership from Concertmaster Theonie Wang. Outstanding young conductor Nicholas Carter gave great prominence to silences and space, communicating a most sensitive and meaningful poignancy to the sorrowful emotional depth of the work. Again, well-controlled crescendos and prominently projected funereal rhythmic motives on brass and bass drum made our emotions rise. We could not have asked for more gentle surges in orchestral colour, as tides of dynamic colour rose and fell, evoking much beauty and feeling from this very well-disciplined team.
Following Interval, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 gave us huge enjoyment and respect for the achievement of AYO musicians, who delivered a grand performance of this colossal emotional journey from darkness to light in a dramatic and intense work lasting well over an hour. Strong brass solos and unified strident strings always impressed us most, particularly in the big orchestral sound achieved at the end of the Scherzo. Carter exacted most thoughtful and sad shaping of minor key melodies in the opening section, Trauermarsch, with slow marching rhythmic themes suggesting funereal hymn-like spiritualty, and slow rising motives bringing a national anthem grandeur to stir our hearts. How well controlled and uniformly felt were the dynamics of the beautiful Adagietto, which began with a blend of sweetness and grandeur from 1st violins, harp and low strings. The final fading diminuendo was a smooth, sensitive and significant vanishing act. A final Allegro giacoso showed the AYO to be a mature and robust orchestra, with new timbres evolving to match the jollity of new themes and orchestral interplay; again, the spotlight was highlighting forthright brass instruments. The Finale brought celebratory cheers and applause, with many people staying in the auditorium for photos and celebration with friends.
Many congratulations go to this fine Australian project and the national music, education and government organisations for continuing to “nurture excellence and creativity across the country” with AYO.
Photo credit: Mark Gambino
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Julie McErlain reviewed “Mood: Mahler and Wagner”, performed by Australian Youth Orchestra at Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall on July 14, 2024.
