Violinist Guy Braunstein and cellist Zvi Plesser performed Brahms’ Double Concerto with Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Friday night at Symphony Hall. Photo: Paul Mardy
Continuing their tradition of showcasing world-class soloists alongside talented young symphonic musicians, the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra treated their audience to a program of roiling and dramatic works Friday night at Symphony Hall.
The works of Bernstein, Brahms and Prokofiev made up an ambitious program, which might be presented by major professional orchestras. The young musicians proved largely up to the task, excelling especially among the most animated portions of this demanding program.
Bernstein’s stalwart crowd-pleaser, the Overture to Candide opened the concert with a veritable bang. The delightful clamor of the overture lent itself well to the BPYO musicians, who treated it with real mirthful vigor. A lack of dynamic contrast however, and some ambiguous articulation, led to a feeling of being more rushed than precise, which may be due to the sheer size of the BPYO ensemble, which filled the large Symphony Hall stage.
As half of The Huberman Quartet, violinist Guy Braunstein, and cellist Zvi Plesser confidently leveraged their decades’ worth of experience into a masterfully coordinated performance of Brahms’ Double Concerto, which was the evening’s centerpiece.
The interplay of Braunstein and Plesser was marvelous to behold. Like waves at sea, seamlessly joining and separating in a mesmerizing dance, the soloists demonstrated an assuredness and maturity befitting Brahms’ final work for orchestra. And under Benjamin Zander’s practiced baton, whose conducting style may be described as focused and minimalist , the interaction between soloists and ensemble proceeded with a notable grace and fluidity.
Through the course of the second movement and finale, the soloists maintained their air of confidence, meshing fluently with the youthful ensemble. Especially in the latter movement, the energy between the soloists seemed to flit effortlessly with just the smallest of glances necessary.
The orchestral playing was not on the same level. There was an excessive brightness in the strings in the first movement at times, and flaws in intonation became evident in the slow movement. Thankfully, the more boisterous mood of the third movement resuscitated the dialogue of duo and ensemble, but it was never able to recapture the degree of coordination which opened the work.
Preceding the final piece of the evening, Zander spoke passionately about Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, and even had two musicians play the first theme to illustrate his descriptions. Zander’s passion for Prokofiev’s work clearly extended to the young musicians of the BPYO—as from its enigmatic opening to its tumultuous close, provided the concert’s most compelling performance.
Themes passing sinuously around the orchestra; brass, percussion, and piano were utilized to full effect; and Prokofiev’s signature sweet-sour dissonance, all served as a perfect platform for the strengths of the BPYO. The brass became playful, even devilish, in the second movement, leading effectively into the sudden close which ushered in the tragic expanse of the third movement.
With an undercurrent of turbulence giving way here and there to explosive drama, only to be swept again beneath the tides, the third movement developed into excellent passages of mood and atmosphere across the orchestra.
As if anchored by this point, the BPYO launched headlong into the mysterious opening of the fourth movement (featuring a brief remembrance of the first movement’s first theme) and into the bright, nearly manic daylight of a new and nervous day. The flurry of activity which led to the final climax of Prokofiev’s work perfectly encapsulated the highlights of the evening—brash, youthful, and joyous.
The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra performs beat of Takemitsu, Debussy, and Mahler February 27. bostonphil.org
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