CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEW: City Of Sheffield Youth Orchestra Summer Concert - The Stoller Hall, Manchester

 


Dressed smartly in DJs and evening gowns, the City Of Sheffield Youth Orchestra certainly looked the part this evening as they paraded onto the stage at Manchester's Stoller Hall. However, they seemed to forget to tune-up before the conductor came on, and as a consequence this evening's opening piece of music, Tchaikovsky's concert overture, 'Romeo And Juliet' was a little out of tune! They remembered for the second half though, and this made the world of difference to the overall soundscape.

Whilst politically at least, Russia is not our favourite country in the world, their classical music is still alive and well, thriving in the hands of the CSYO.

The concert was in two halves. Before the interval as already mentioned was 'Romeo And Juliet' (Tchaikovsky),and under Christopher Gayford's precise and dominant conducting the piece highlighted every new theme and transition with precision. They had obviously done much background and rehearsal in order to get the orchestra to this standard. After a slightly shaky start, the music opened up into a majestic and lyrical Shakespearean musical storyboard. For their young ages (13 - 21), their understanding of these two pieces, and the musical story / journey that these pieces take us on, was quite remarkable. 

Tchaikovsky was never one to stifle his emotions, and he wore his musical heart ell and truly on his sleeve - you simply cannot play his music without being swept away in his emotional responses of the passion of the moment. (Balakirev notwithstanding!)

In the second half, there was absolutely no let up of power and prowess. Rachmaninov's mighty second symphony is a behemoth of a piece, with a running time of nearly one hour! However, this did not deter either orchestra or conductor. Gayford's conducting was still commanding and demanding the very best from every instrumentalist, of every section, and of the cumulative whole.  This epic piece requires a deeper insight and understanding of both its structure and themes than the Tchaikovsky - well, we all know the plot of Romeo And Juliet don't we, and the overture follows the play's main themes and storyline. Rachmaninov however is not so obviously programmatic.

Composed in 1907, this piece is certainly Early 20th Century in classification, however parts harp back to earlier musical eras, whilst it looks ever pushing both the music and his compositional talent, as well as the audience's aural pleasure. In this regard, each member of the orchestra really had their work cut out, but, with the help of the conductor, they proved beyond doubt that Sheffield really does have (musical) talent. This was a concert from which they have all gained invaluable experience and one of which they should be immensely proud. 

Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 31.7.25

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