YMCG Orchestra and Daniel Harding

Concert Review: YMCG Orchestra and Daniel Harding

Jan 30, 2024, Shenzhen Concert Hall

YMCG Orchestra - Daniel Harding - Vilde Frang - Amihai Grosz

Leung - Mozart - Dvorak

For years I heard every concert within reach of the Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO, chronicled here), as I love their enthusiasm and achievements. My penchant for youth enthusiasm perhaps started with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra recordings, of which Daniel Harding has always been a chief anchor.

This Orchestra is titled an improbable Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG; official link)! Close enough to OMG. LOL. Although said to have musicians of diverse nationalities, judging from the roster in the concert pamphlet, it's overwhelmingly Chinese, the majority from China and Hong Kong, and a few from elsewhere. Not at all as diverse as AYO. About 20% are young orchestral professionals.

Concert opened with a commissioned piece by Elliot Leung, titled Aureate Skylines 天穹之志：大湾华章. This is precisely the kind of thing I detest, to employ music to politically celebrate a project. The music was Ok, but not more than humdrum. A waste of time.

Then came the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. Beautiful tone and tight ensemble from Violinist Vilde Frang, Violist Amihai Grosz and the orchestra. Although pared down, for my taste the orchestra was still too bass heavy. The rendition was quite romantic, and the first and second movements were a bit too slow for my taste. This may be due to Harding, who is almost always just slightly on the slow side (judging from recordings). Nonetheless, quite enticing.

The Dvorak 9th was quite an Ear Opener! The orchestra played with immense power and almost perfect ensemble. Strings were great but, better than expected, the woodwinds and brass were all of a whole and very well blended, better than previous AYO iterations and SZSO. Most importantly, Harding's conducting was absolutely superb. As usual for him, fastidiously detailed and mindful of structure. One hears so much more details than usual, it's astonishing. So much fine details in the spread of the strings, much refined dynamic gradations. It was the most Wagnerian and Brucknerian rendition that I've heard, and that's the highest praise from me! In comparison, the recent HKPO Dvorak 9th, heard almost in the same seat, was even more blended but way lacking in details. This one is the best Dvorak I have ever heard.

For an encore, they played an arranged pop tune of Joeseph Koo 顾家辉，狮子山下。Nice!

Fabulous! And I look forward to hearing them next year!