The Portland Youth Philharmonic shoved winter out the door, flexing a bit of muscle with its strong performance on Saturday evening, March 13 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The orchestra tackled works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Camille Saint-Saëns, Samuel Barber, and up-and-coming composer Kenji Bunch, who is a former member of the orchestra. The ensemble’s music director, David Hattner led the young musicians, all teenagers, with remarkable élan.
The meal ticket in this concert was Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony, and the orchestra launched into it with a robust sound. In the first movement, the muffled, angry horns and demonstrative piano impressively built up tension that was wonderfully compounded by a blaring brass section before it all died away. A playful exchange between the concertmaster Natally Okhovat and principal flutist Jasmine Lee highlighted the second movement. In the third movement, the strings created a pensive atmosphere before ceding the field to the plaintive call of principal oboist Riley Crabtree and the liquid-smooth sound of principal clarinetist Justin Jeemin Kim. The orchestra concluded the piece with an affirmative, resounding forte that resonated well with the listeners, who responded with cheers and bravos.
During the first half of the program, Okhovat took center stage as soloist to play Saint-Saëns “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.” Okhovat received this opportunity because she won the orchestra’s annual concerto competition. She made the most of it, giving the Saint-Saëns’ piece a scintillating performance and igniting a blaze of applause from the audience.
The first half of the concert also featured two premieres for this orchestra. The ensemble played Bunch’s “For Our Children’s Children,” which was a sonic reflection on the legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Even though it evoked Copland, it tilted in a new direction with a tremolo from the xylophone and a lyrical theme played by principal violist Julie Asparro. The ensuing variations on the main theme gradually expanded and gained in speed until the entire ensemble got caught up in the warmth of the music and brought it home at the very end of the piece.
The concert opened with a festive performance of the “Commando March,” which Barber wrote for band and later arranged for the orchestra. The Portland Youth Philharmonic really caught the stirring spirit of this piece – with kudos to the spot-on accents from the bass drummer. Hattner’s stick work showed a lot of military precision, and the music reached out with a festive, albeit ramrod-straight, liveliness.
