I posted last week about my meeting with PYP Maestro, David Hattner. Our meeting left me excited that I would be attending the opening concert of their season on Saturday evening (the first concert of the PYP I have ever attended) but really nothing prepared me for the experience I actually had. I am not going to try to write a reasoned review of the concert but I would like to share with you some of my thoughts about what I saw and heard.

Discipline!
This is something Maestro Hattner and I did not discuss but which was much in evidence at the performance. It's difficult to put a finger on anything in particular but it was easy to see that this is a group of musicians among whom laziness, inattention or just plain nonchalance is simply not tolerated. One can tell this because it is reflected in the playing and in the orchestra's attention to their conductor. The result is playing which is crisp, intonation which is generally very good and false starts which are non-existent.

The Programme
Anyone who went expecting the usual Overture/Concerto/Symphony progression was in for a big surprise. The evening opened with the ballet music (Ballàbili) from Verdi's opera Otello. This work is in seven sections, and if the first ten seconds of the opening Introduction didn't have you sitting bolt upright in your seat, I would suggest you check your meds and start taking something a little less soporific. I sat there in total delight saying to myself "Now that's how you kick off a season of orchestral music!"
Next up was Kai Talim, winner of the 2009-2010 Piano Concerto Competition, who played Beethoven's Piano Concerto Number 4. This may be my favourite piece of classical music by any composer, and I know every note of it. As Mr Talim sat ready to play my attitude was akin to that of a fretting mother who is thinking "Please just don't hurt my baby!" With the opening bars I was concerned that he was taking the piece a little slowly. My fear was that at the tempo chosen it would be very difficult for him to maintain the tension throughout the movement. I need not have worried. His chosen speed allowed us to enjoy the crystal-clear runs and displays of technical brilliance the work affords. For me, the acid test as to whether a performance of the concerto is satisfying me emotionally is the moment when the first movement cadenza ends and the piano is joined again by the orchestra. This is one of the most sublime moments in all of music. Kai Talim nailed it and the hairs came up on my arms. At the end of the first movement the audience applauded. And rightly so. The second movement, all subtlety and poise was no less successful. The final rondo was executed with the brilliance and finesse which we had now come to expect of this young master and led to a standing ovation. I have often been heard to say that standing o's are way too plentiful in Portland. On Saturday night, I was one of the first on his feet.
A delightful young woman named Fredericka was sitting next to me. She is a school chum of Kai Talim and when his performance was over she looked at me and said "He's not like that when he's in the back of the math class!" I replied: "Really?" What I was thinking was: "No s**t!"
After the intermission we were treated to Debussy's Fanfare from Le Roi Lear. I suspect the entire brass section has been waking in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, after nightmares in which every note is a clam. As it turned out they need not have worried. Brilliant! Then two interludes from Ernst Bloch's opera Macbeth. It seems to me that Bloch's music is becoming increasingly popular - and it is easy to see why when one is treated to performances such as this.
To end the concert the PYP played music from Suites 1,2 and 3 of Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. Before the playing started, Maestro Hattner explained to us that never before, in the history of this orchestra, which was founded in 1924, has the Youth Orchestra played these pieces in concert. Umm, Maestro, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but there is a reason for this. It's really, really, really hard to play! Apparently you didn't mention this to your orchestra who, as far as I could see, treated it like any other piece - with confidence and not a jot of fear. And the result was spectacular.

You think I exaggerate?
If you feel that I have been guilty of somewhat over-egging the pudding, you weren't at this concert. This orchestra is comprised of a collection of musicians who are talented and committed to their work. They are led by a conductor who, I suspect, rules them with a rod of iron but the orchestra clearly just loves to play for him and they give him of their very best.

So, what's next?
The Portland Youth Philharmonic will be playing at the Schnitz again on December 26th in a concert that will include one of my favourite singers, Richard Zeller. Wild horses couldn't keep me away.

Go here for information and tickets.