Australian Youth Orchestra shows plenty of heart with uplifting performance

Australian Youth Orchestra | Mood: Mahler and Wagner

July 14, 2024, Melbourne, VIC

If you’ve been to an Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) concert previously, you’ll know what a joyous experience it is to be a part of. There is a shared enthusiasm and generosity of spirit that radiates between the performers and audience. Add to this a program of heart-swelling and uplifting works and it’s a sure feel-good evening. 

Hamer Hall on Sunday night hosted the second of a two-performance run of Mood: Mahler and Wagner, conducted by Nicholas Carter. The hall was filled with familiar faces, a miscellany of alumni, mentors, industry professionals, young fans, and proud parents. 

The AYO is well-recognised for its glittering record within the Australian arts landscape of germinating careers at their infancy. Alumni of the orchestra predominate professional ensembles and it is commonly refrained amongst these musicians that it was the AYO that started them on their path. 

Such was the case for the evening’s commissioned composer, Iain Grandage, who describes one such moment in his early development as ‘the first moment (he) spied orchestral virtuosity.’ Overt, a play on the idea of an overture, is an extolling celebration of the joys of orchestral music-making, with all the zeal that comes with discovering it as a young musician. 

From the opening cascade of notes across the high winds and strings, we are gripped by a rollicking moto perpetuo which bubbles away, threatening to erupt. A true orchestral feature, Overt spotlights each section of the orchestra fittingly, with virtuosic flourishes in the strings, plaintive wind melodies, soaring brass chorales and adroitly executed percussion effects. Paying tribute to former AYO CEO (and former violist) Colin Cornish, the work particularly features the violas, who carried their soloistic moments with assuredness and bravura. Theonie Wang demonstrated here her confident leadership as concertmaster, consistent throughout the program.

Switching gears, the orchestra turned next to the heart-wrenching Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s tragic Gesamtkunstwerk Tristan and Isolde. Following a recomposing pause by Carter, the opening bars were a true highlight, as from silence the cellos intoned a beautifully blended melody, answered by a dark, syrupy reply in the winds. As an ensemble oft-noted for its unbridled energy, it was impressive to see such a show of restraint across the Liebestod; the pacing of the scene-long crescendo towards the impassioned climax was wonderfully effective. 

Mahler’s epically proportioned Symphony No.5 headlined the program. The sense of scale was upheld well by a stately first movement, with a poised performance of the sentinel trumpet calls. The capricious energy of the second movement engendered exactly the feeling of chaos required, with courageous playing across the orchestra. Characterful woodwind playing breathed life into the lilting third movement, gracefully shaped by Carter and suffused with folkish charm. The percussion here contributed a wonderfully festive feeling. The Adagietto was exquisite, leaving a pin-drop silent audience following its last ring. A lithe harp accompaniment was balanced beautifully against desolately whispered string lines, performed with great subtlety.

The final movement represented a coming together befitting for the occasion. Rallied by stirring horn calls, the contrapuntal writing pulls each section into the action in turn, rendering the impression of each young musician declaiming, ‘look! Here’s what I can do’. Buoyed by the rousing low brass, these lines coalesced into a culminating finish which brought the audience to their feet in rapturous appreciation. 

It was especially touching to see the musicians laughing and embracing as they stood from their seats, a palpably euphoric sense of release after what I’m sure was an intense week of personal and collective development. 

The AYO disbands and re-forms each year, and so it is poignant to reflect that this group of musicians will only ever meet once in this permutation, which makes these transient musical moments all the more special and important to cherish as the young performers spread their wings in future endeavours.

Guest Reviewer: Alex Allan

Photo credit: Mark Gambino