national youth orchestra and vasily petrenko at the proms
Did anyone else catch the storming performance of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at the Proms last night?
The stage was groaning under the weight of 160 obscenely talented teenage musicians with Liverpool's Vasily Petrenko keeping them all in check from the podium at the front.
The concert at the Royal Albert Hall also featured Wirral-born pianist Stephen Hough who powered through Tchaikovsky's piano concerto no 1 in fine style, with good support from the youth orchestra.
Then the youngsters were let loose on Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra and finished with a fine performance of Respighi's Roman Festivals.
Impressive stuff.
I alternated between the general concert coverage being beamed live on BBC2 and the "maestro cam" on red button which gave an orchestra-eye view of Petrenko and some interesting commentary on his conducting.
He certainly seemed to have won over the Proms commentators who were effusive in their praise, and there was a lovely picture painted by the youth orchestra press officer of Petrenko - in "little shorts and Liverpool strip" playing football with the youngsters earlier in the week!
For anyone who did see the orchestra, and was impressed, or for anyone who missed them and wished they hadn't, the NYO will be appearing in Liverpool - under Petrenko's baton - on January 7 next year.
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Catherine Jones is the Liverpool Echo Arts Editor, and she'll bring you the news, reviews, recommendations and gossip from one of the most vibrant arts and culture scenes in the UK
It was as impressive as you say, Catherine, and I recorded both versions (with/without maestrocam) so I could watch again at my leisure. Several previews unusually favoured BBC2 against radio3 because of Petrenko's "style" which is so worth watching. There is a miserable 3* review in one of the Sundays today, hope further reviews are more complimentary. It will be fun seeing them at Phil Hall, presumably they will have to overflow into the choir seats!
I suspect you're right Jill - I've never tried sitting in the choir seats myself, but one of the reasons I like to review from a box near the stage is that while some may feel I'm not getting the balanced sound I would from the centre of the grand circle for example (and I do make allowances for that) I DO get to see a lot more of Vasily's conducting technique and how the orchestra responds to him.