New York Youth Symphony opens season with thrilling stand at Carnegie Hall
The New York Youth Symphony opened its season Sunday afternoon in Carnegie Hall with the kind of performance that one is used to from professional orchestras. That means a display of talent and taste that showed off what they can do and what they’re trying to do, but can’t quite fully execute as yet. But the latter is the kind of thing that not only makes the former better but leaves the valuable impression of an ensemble extending itself to be better and more interesting and more artistic.
Under music director Andrew J. Kim, with assistant conductor Adrian Rogers leading one of the pieces, any drawbacks were ones of commission, an ensemble and conductor trying to do so much they couldn’t do it all at the same level. Part of this was the extent of the program; the “Music of the Americas” theme had five pieces, including a world premiere and two genuine compositional masterpieces, and would have been just as satisfying and successful with one less.
Nonetheless this was a fine performance that at its best produced expressive power and thrills to rival anything one has heard in concert halls this year. The NYYS showed a robustness and heft beyond the usual for youth orchestras, especially in the string section. They had good intonation and the kind of timbral width one hears from professional ensembles.
That big sound, and equally substantial energy, was both delight and drawback in Gabriela Ortiz’s Antrópolis. The delight was the excellent percussion section—with stirring playing from Julian Jimenez-Pardo in the extensive timpani solos—the crackly brass, the overall feel of Ortiz’s mambo rhythms, and the booming spirit. The drawback was the uneven balances, the woodwinds especially shoved into a corner by the strings. The mass of sound and spirit, though, had great flair.
The world premiere was A Lullaby and a Dream, by undergrad composer Liam Cummins. It’s a mini-concerto for clarinet—Bixby Kennedy was the soloist—and string orchestra. In his program note, Cummins wrote that he used an unpublished melody by his teacher, John Corigliano, but the most prominent legacies in the piece appeared to be Mahler (the Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony) and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. The former was the foundation for the lullaby, with lovely playing from the strings, the latter was the dream/nightmare, with cadenza-like flourishes for Kennedy that featured flourishes of notes and sharp, diving passages for soloist and orchestra.
This was finely written, though the two alternating moods and influences made it difficult to hear Cummins’ own voice clearly. It was also beautifully played by the orchestra and especially Kennedy, who had a full, centered, and unusually bright tone on the instrument. His sound was even in all registers, his fingering and articulation smooth as can be.
The one piece too much was perhaps Duke Ellington’s superlative Harlem. This was the version for full orchestra and jazz ensemble, and brought in the NYSS Jazz Band. The two groups never fully meshed, there was a choppy feeling inside a solid overall sweep. There were a couple sloppy transitions and a kind of ongoing argument between the two groups on how to handle Ellington’s jazz rhythms and phrasing. A welcome attempt that didn’t quite come off.
The second half was excellent in every way on a level any professional orchestra would seek. Rogers led the opener, Christopher Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body. This was a superb performance. Balances, colors, and details of sound and articulation were exquisitely defined in smooth overall flow, Rogers making an easy transition from the abstract introduction to the long, haunting string melody. The orchestra showed the high level skill of the main ensemble holding one pulse while an entire section was together with its own subtle rubato.
Barber’s Symphony No. 1 was last and best. This is one of the finest symphonies in the repertoire and it’s simply bizarre that it’s been neglected by professional groups. Fortunately, youth orchestras are picking it up.
The appeal is clear; there’s an almost concerto-for-orchestra display of sections, and an organic expression that grows with each note, all inside tremendous structural and formal control. One relished the big, rich sound of this orchestra, their verve, and the understated and deep eloquence of Christopher Meglino’s oboe solo.
Great performances have a sense of the musicians bound in with Barber’s ideas as they pass through the music, and this was a great, thrilling performance. Kim kept a brisk pace throughout, not a rush but a determined drive to the end point. This built a tremendous expressive power. The layers of the piquant theme of the Andante tranquillo made a dramatic transition to the plunging intervals and tense cross-rhythms of the Passacaglia finale. No one could play this any better.
The New York Youth Symphony plays music of Bottesini, William Grant Still, and more, in Merkin Concert Hall, 7 p.m., December 1. nyss.org
Leave a Comment
