Queensland Youth Symphony Concert Reviews
Passion unleashed
IN QYO concerts, it can be what is not expressed just as much as what is that gives occasions like this an exhilarating edge. The colossal sound-making potential is like a presence forever waiting for an opportunity to strike out. The anticipation that, at the first ,green light from conductor John Curro, the QYO will spring, roaring into the space like a wild, savage lion, is exciting. Curro’s management and containment of this talented massed voice and at what point he will unleash its might is a source of theatrical tension.
Last week, the widow of British composer William Walton died. Coincidentally, the first item on the program was Portsmouth Point, her husband’s youthful portrait that is stashed with nautical references. It was easy in this snazzy performance to imagine a bustling port with a newly arrived cargo ship of sailors, circling seagulls and joyful family reunions. The seafaring busyness of jagged tunes bouncing across sections with biting off-beats, the odd hornpipe jingle and jazzy off-cuts impressed. The confidently executed, but tricky stretched and shifting timeframes, were a measure of the warm synergy that exists between Curro and his vast instrumental team.
As for programming, the choice of the Lipman harp duo added interest because the harp is rarely heard in a solo guise. The accomplished Suo and Sebastien Lipman, so popular with the crowd, were involved in two performances -JS Bach’s Concerto for Two Harps and Strings and Maciej Malecki’s Concerto in an Ancient Style. Of these showpieces, the Malecki was the most coherent. The first movement of the Bach took time to gel, whereas the sparkling exchanges between harp and strings in the Malecki flowed effortlessly.
It was in Elgar’s Second Symphony in E (lat that at times the glowing orchestral sound seemed to smile with pride. Like many youth orchestras, the QYO is in its element when growing sound, playing at peak volumes and nailing tough challenges. In general, the players gave a strong account of this blockbuster but were less successful in sustaining meaning when framing the Funeral March.
Gillian Bramley-Moore, Courier Mail, 30th March 2010. QYS Concert ‘Passionate Pilgrimage’ on 27 March, QPAC Concert Hall.
Under John Curro, the Queensland Youth Orchestra has been the fertile ground from which so many of this state’s most talented musicians have grown. The QYO is one of this state’s most important cultural assets. Countless numbers of QYO alumni now perform in orchestras in Australia and throughout the world. One of the ways in which maestro Curro has helped their development has been through his choice of program - he has never shied away from the big, complex, challenging works. This was certainly the case in this concert.
The Elgar Symphony No 2 is not well known Elgar - it has been overshadowed by the more popular and, indeed, more accessible Symphony No 1. Composed in 1911, the second symphony is a work which benefits from a robust performance and this is exactly what the QYO provided. Their powerful, energetic playing held my attention from start to finish. In fact, it was the most enjoyable performance of this work I’ve heard. The opening movement was full of energy with an exciting ending played with great skill by the orchestra. The slow movement was beautifully measured - a solemn, moving, funeral march. This was followed by the lively and innovative rondo sounding very modern for the beginning of the 20th century. It was played with great commitment. The final movement brought back the motif from the first movement, the symphony ending in a peaceful mood. Such performances allow one to rediscover these major works. I’ll bring out my CD for another listen now that my enthusiasm for the work has been rekindled by this outstanding QYO performance.
The concert opened with a work by another British composer - William Walton - his Portsmouth Point. The music depicts the busy port on the coast of southern England. It’s full of energy and movement and the QYO did a great job in conveying the mood of the place and handled the meter changes and syncopated tunes very well.
The orchestra was reduced in size for the two concertos on the program with the Lipman Harp Duo. The Concertino in an Ancient Style for Two Harps by Maciej Malecki was an instantly appealing work, well written for the harps, allowing then to stand out from the orchestra. Sayo & Sebastien Lipman made this piece a joy to hear. It was composed in 1988 and shows that contemporary composers can write great tunes in works designed for sheer enjoyment.
The Lipmans also performed Bach’s Concerto for Two Harps & Strings in C minor, BWV 1060. The work follows the model of Vivaldi’s concertos which were greatly admired by Bach. The piece survived as an arrangement for two harpsichords and it sits well for the harps - indeed, the blending of the harps with the orchestra is masterful. The Lipman Harp Duo presented a fine and polished performance.
Overall, it was a great night of music.
Garry Thorpe, Radio 4MBS Classic FM, Queensland Youth Symphony concert at QPAC, 27 March 2010
…Jayson Gillham’s return to his native Queensland with the Queensland Youth Symphony (QYS) hit a resounding note of success with the audience which was enthralled from start to finish by a program which included a birthday surprise, a first for the conductor (John Curro) and Gillham’s performance of the Piano Concerto No 1 in B flat minor by Tchaikovsky. Pianist Jayson Gillham is currently based in London where he’s had several successes… The audience was in raptures after his powerful and fiery third movement which contrasted nicely with his gentle touch and sensitivity in the second - the andantino semplice.
Fern Ong, Radio 4MBS Classic FM, Queensland Youth Symphony concert at QPAC, 2 August 2009
…A youth orchestra which plays Mahler 1 is nothing new. But a youth orchestra which totally astonishes the audience with their elan and compelling and richly contrasted performance in a work such as this, is literally unheard of. There were long stretches of time during which one completely forgot that this was a youth orchestra and not one of the French or German professional orchestras performing.
Music Critic, Composer & Pianist Peter Visser on 2008 QYS international tour concert in Strasbourg, 6 July 2008.
[QYS] impressed with great precision… The major work on the program was Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. The work is difficult to play and its fame encourages comparison with other interpretations. The young Australians, however, had nothing to fear from comparisons. Their rendition was on a professional level. From the first to the last bar, the orchestra delivered a convincing, high voltage performance with beautiful solo contributions…
Music Critic Uwe Engel on 2008 QYS international tour concert in Speyer, 4 July 2008.
Conductor, John Curro, shaped an opening movement of turmoil and drama, with all sections of the QYS responding brilliantly to demands made of them … This demanding program concluded in a blaze of glory with the QYS giving its all in Respighi’s tone poem Pines of Rome, a work it loves to play and plays brilliantly… The Pines of Rome became very real and alive in Curro’s musical creation of such great spectacle. The QYS gets better and better…
Music Critic Barbara Hebden on Pines & Prokofiev, 2 June 2007.
They may be young in years but the musical maturing of the members of the Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra is quite amazing.
Music Critic Barbara Hebden after Mozart & Mahler, 31 March 2007.
The expressive magnitude of the Holst collection gave opportunity to display the blazing musical colours for which the QYS is renowned.
Music Critic Patricia Kelly on the 40th Anniversary Spectacular Concert, 23 December 2006.
Collectively, they created the largest orchestral ensemble experienced in Brisbane in recent memory and the most memorable music-making since QYO mustered a similar orchestra to celebrate John Curro’s 70th birthday in December 2002 … In more ways than one, the Queensland Youth Orchestra movement has set the bar for orchestral playing in this state.
Music Critic Vincent Plush on the 40th Anniversary Spectacular Concert, 23 December 2006.
What moves me most of all … is the incredible care that you and all of the players have taken with the music. The accuracy that you have brought to every tempo, every ensemble balance, every melodic gesture and every tone colour is uniformly excellent.
Carl Vine on the September 9 QYS performance of his Symphony No.2, 7 November 2006.
Youthful triumph - The two major Russian works performed at the Queensland Youth Symphony concert were apt choices to mark the opening of the 2005 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition honouring this Russian Piano virtuoso. QYS finished in triumph at the Great Gate of Kiev, Professor Vlassenko would have been thrilled.
The Courier Mail, 8 August 2005.
Tim Freedman of rock band The Whitlams says the Queensland Youth Orchestra is ‘the best youth orchestra in Australia’. ‘They’re brilliant and handle anything that the symphony orchestras can’ he said.
The Courier Mail, 5 September 2004.
QYS is in the top handful of youth orchestras in the world….they are world class.
Conductor Sean O’Boyle, The Courier Mail, 5 September 2004.
From the moment the Queensland Youth Symphony entered the Keilberth Hall, the public was sure to remember the event with pleasure. It was due to the impressive performance that would not easily be forgotten, both because of the beautiful repertoire and the arresting interpretation.
Under the experienced leadership of John Curro, who has directed the orchestra for the last 37 years, the talented young players inspired the audience members. The youth orchestra played these [works] professionally in so many respects: dynamic and precise, homogeneous and colourful.
For the musical performance, which could be described with complete justification as “first class”, there was even a standing ovation at the end.
Frankischer Tag, Forcheim, Germany, 8 July 2004.
Conductor John Curro set an ambitious program to open Queensland Youth Symphony’s 2004 season… Respighi has always been a strong suit for QYS and this performance of his Fountains of Rome was no exception. Powerful images drew an exciting response before the music ebbed to its pensive close.
The Courier Mail, 22 March 2004.
For the best orchestral playing in town, go hear your local youth orchestra. For consistently good playing, enthusiasm and exhilarating edge-of-the-seat music-making, these youngsters often outclass their jaded professional colleagues. This is certainly the case in Brisbane…
The Australian, 22 March 2004.
Radiating superb tonal quality, all players accentuated the jagged rhythms and the reiteration of the opening material. An electrifying performance.
The Courier Mail, 12 August 2003.
The QYO’s performance of The Firebird was dazzling. The interpretation scaled a diverse emotional range but the intensity and the momentum never wavered. Brimming with character and vitality the instrumental solos throughout the orchestra were impressive.
The Courier Mail, 9 June 2003.
John Curro’s Queensland Youth Symphony never ceases to amaze with its mature, polished playing of the big symphonic repertoire.
The Sunday Mail, 29 Dec 2002.
Close your eyes and you could be hearing some of the great orchestras of our time.
The Courier-Mail, review of QYS concert on, 24 Mar 2002.
The crowning glory of the afternoon was a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams “Job, a Masque for Dancing” by the Queensland Youth Symphony conducted by John Curro.
Hobart Mercury, 15 Dec 2001, New World Festival of Australian State Youth Orchestras.
If there is a better youth orchestra in Australia than the Queensland Youth Symphony, I would like to hear it playing Carl Vine’s Celebrare Celeberrime, Symphony No. 6 by Prokofiev, Bassoon Concerto in F major (Weber) and Respighi’s Pines of Rome. In this program for its first subscription concert for 2001, the QYS was in vigorous form under conductor John Curro’s strong exacting direction.
The Courier-Mail, review of concert on, 9 April 2001.
It is as good a youth orchestra, if not better, than I have ever played with.
Lord Yehudi Menuhin, World Expo 1988, after a performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with QYS.
If the first concert in the Masterpiece Series for 2000 was any indication, this year is shaping up to be one of the best, if not the best, for QYS.
The Courier-Mail, review of concert on 25 March 2000.
An electric performance of Prokofiev’s delightful and graphic Romeo & Juliet Suite completed an exhilarating programme.
The Courier-Mail, review of concert on 20 March 1999.
…Queensland’s musical youth did a magnificent job.
The Australian, review of concert on 28 March 1998.
QYS’ playing of Symphony No. 11 by Shostakovich was one of the best if not THE best symphonic performance in Brisbane so far this year - and it is unlikely to be topped.
The Courier-Mail, review of concert on 16 August 1997.
The decision to hold back the Queensland Youth Orchestra until all the orchestras had been heard is likely to have been taken in the expectation or knowledge that this Australian orchestra would prove to be the best of those participating in Aberdeen’s Festival. The best it most certainly is.
International Festival of Youth Orchestras, Aberdeen, Friday August 15 1980.
…the best youth orchestra in Australia and one of the leading youth orchestras in the world. This is surely the reward of the permanent conductor, John Curro, who has taken charge of the orchestra since its foundation. His achievement cannot be valued highly enough.
Hamelin, Germany, August 26 1980.