Review by James Munro
Noordhollands Youth Orchestra
Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 2 August 2009
Noordhollands Youth Orchestra
IT IS A bit unusual for a classical orchestra to arouse such strong passions in a reviewer, and I was in two minds whether to write my comments while the sap was still risen or wait until morning when things might be calmer. A message on my callminder, and the subsequent chat with a friend who has done much more than his fair share to bring top quality entertainment to the area, has persuaded me to go for it.
Inverness has been my home for nearly thirty years and I have watched it evolve and grow into a city in which I took pride. I can think of nowhere else where I would want to put down roots. But tonight, Inverness, you made me feel ashamed and embarrassed.
As my friend so perceptively put it, “Where’s their mentality? They’ll turn out in droves to see some hormone distorted characters waggling their willies! But ask them to come to an orchestra of young musicians from Holland? You’ve got to be joking!!”
Please, will somebody tell me why there were ten empty seats for every occupied one in the Empire Theatre at Eden Court for this excellent performance by the Noordhollands Youth Orchestra, the Dutch equivalent of the Highland Region Youth Orchestra, appearing in Inverness for the first time as an outreach event of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
But enough of the disgraceful lack of respect shown by the citizens of the Highland Capital to the one hundred and two young musicians who had travelled all this way to perform in Inverness. What about the music that was enjoyed by the seventy or so people who could be bothered to turn out and support them?
Debussy always produces a load of atmosphere in whatever he composes, and this was certainly true of his Marche Ecossaise sur un theme populaire. This was a perfect choice to open the programme by a youth orchestra, as it allowed every section to have their say. The strings were controlled and accomplished under the baton of the conductor, Bas Pollard, but the real performance was by the wind and brass sections which added so much to the music.
It is probably many years since the last performance in Inverness of a work by Granville Bantock. Sibelius held him in high regard, and he was popular in the first half of the 20th century, especially for choral works, and was knighted in 1930. His Overture to a Greek Tragedy was a somewhat thematic work with copious amounts of atmosphere from all sections. One could almost imagine it being used as the music for a horror film.
The first half ended with a piece that had been composed especially for this tour by the Noordhollands Youth Orchestra, by one of the members of the string section, Bram Kortekaas, called Symphonic Masks.
It was a composition in three connected parts that showed considerable maturity and understanding of orchestration. Unlike many contemporary pieces it did not rely on musical effects, but rather turned round distinctive melodies, which were emphasised by clever use of effect. One could almost detect an influence of Gustav Holst, especially towards the finale as an array of ethereal sounds developed into a magnificent crescendo.
In the second half there was but one work, the three Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninov. As Bas Pollard explained in one of his fluent, but lengthy, speeches, the members of the orchestra had chosen to play this far-from-easy work as they were inspired by its themes. And who was he to deny them?
The first dance, marked non allegro, is pure Rachmaninov, with its familiar melody and full lush tones. The second, andante con moto, was rounder and more gentle but the orchestra had it in full command. The third and last dance was more complicated as it jumped between lento and allegro vivace.
This was music to test the mettle of the orchestra, indeed to test any orchestra. There were moments when it almost seemed that things had gone astray, but perhaps that was the nature of the music rather than its playing as all in all it received a proficient and enthusiastic performance that was much appreciated by the audience.
At these sorts of events, an encore is expected, but in this case it was unusual in that it was an unaccompanied choral encore by the members of the orchestra of a traditional Dutch song to say thank you to Sheena, the lady from the Aberdeen International Youth Festival who had organised the trip.
In the Noordhollands Jeugd Orkest, the area of the Netherlands north of Amsterdam have an asset to nurture and develop with pride. It was a pity that there were no members of the Highland Region Youth Orchestra in the audience to experience the levels to which they should aspire.
