Yariv Aloni

MUSIC DIRECTOR

2010-2011

Celebrating 25 Years   1986-2011

Dedicated to the memory of János Sándor
in gratitude for 15 years of musical mentorship

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"Brahms," wrote Sir Neville. Cardus, "is the composer for the middle-aged." While Cardus adduces much cogent argument to support his thesis and, while having reached my own middle years I can both understand and empathize with him, it cannot be gainsaid that on Saturday night Yariv Aloni and his youthful players triumphantly demonstrated that Brahms can also be, par excellence, the composer for the young.

I have remarked upon the paradox before, but it seems that each new incarnation of the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra is finer than its predecessor. The current orchestra is laying at a level that most other youth orchestras, I suspect, can only dream of: For long stretches of the music it was entirely possible to forget that one was not listening to professionals.

The opening of the symphony was illustrative of this point, with the pounding timpani and churning lower strings providing a superb foundation, the whole ensemble being in almost perfect balance. The brass's moment in the sun was in the finale: the wonderful solemnity of their chorale-like theme in the pregnant introduction and the almost overwhelming richness and fullness of the sound when it climactically reappeared supported by the full orchestra.

When the musicians are playing this well, the critic can pay attention to the interpretation and here Aloni pierced unerringly to the heart of the music. From one standpoint Brahms First is all about tempos and, more importantly, tempo relationships. Aloni's were all right on the mark and he joins the select and elite group who by refusing to take unmarked and egotistical liberties with the tempos, especially in the finale, enable the music's cumulative power to be felt to its fullest extent.

I can think of no higher praise of the performance than to observe that it took my mind off the tooth that I had managed to break during the interval.

Marc Lavry's Emek was chosen by Leonard Bernstein for the Israel Philharmonic's first world tour in 1960. One can readily see why: the music is determinedly melodic, rhythmically energetic, attractively scored and quite the orchestral showpiece. Perhaps it brought certain Hollywood film scores to mind ? but as they were film scores composed a decade or two later, we should be careful about any rush to judgment. Although the music tends to the episodic (as much program music tends to) Aloni and his musicians still held the attention throughout by dint of their excellent playing and enthusiasm. Dynamics and tempos were exemplary and the rowdy, syncopated passages most exciting.

The overture to Verdi's Nabucco opened the evening in style, from the noble solemnity of the trombones at the opening to the finely controlled sub-Rossinian coda.