NZSO National Youth Orchestra: an exuberant musical showcase

Pianist Shan Liu “…a dazzling and astonishing performance.”

Photo: Supplied

When the audience burst into spontaneous applause after the first movement of Aram Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto in D flat major, it was no mistake – both composer and performers invited the ovation with an exuberant display. Pianist Shan Liu gave a dazzling performance with edge-of-the-seat intensity throughout the three-movement work, written when its Soviet Armenian composer was just 33.

The virtuosic brilliance of the concerto glitters with Armenian folkloric influences. Khachaturian, who studied at the Moscow Conservatory, wrote music that calls from the east, inspired by the ashugh tradition of singing poets.  Liu’s performance was nothing short of astonishing, particularly considering this young pianist is just 14 years old. He clearly reveled in both the work’s demands and his own facility, playing with a big extrovert sound and lovely, relaxed musicality. Fearless at speed in the asymmetrical lines of the 3rd movement, Allegro brillante, his commanding playing in solo sections belied his years. His is a name to remember.

Tianyi Lu conducted the NZSO NYO

“…exciting, intense and facilitative.”

Photo credit: Marco Borggreve

The stage for the concert was, of course, crammed with exciting young talent. Tianyi Lu, a Chinese-born New Zealand conductor based in Europe, was an inspired choice to work with the youth orchestra. Exciting, intense and facilitative on the podium, she drew a big string sound from the young musicians, achieved excellent balance of all forces and between concerto soloist and orchestra, and invited wind and brass soloists and sections to shine throughout the concert.    

The programme opened with a new work from New Zealand composer Jessie Leov. Her Speculations on a Rainbow was inspired by NZ artist Judy Millar’s The Rainbow Loop, and Leov describes her musical response as “a shifting canvas of stability and turbulence.” The subtle minimalism of the composition, which begins with shimmering ostinati from marimba and vibraphone, was skilfully managed by composer and conductor, drawing the audience into lovely textures of shifting harmonies and colours. Leov and her piece are off shortly to the Edward T.Cone Composition Institute in Princeton, New Jersey for a workshop for early-career composers.

Composer Jessie Leov was inspired by Judy Millar’s The Rainbow Loop
when she composed her new orchestral work Speculations on a Rainbow.

I am not always convinced by Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic music but, as Lu commented in her introduction, his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major is ideal for a youth orchestra, offering opportunities to “showcase everybody”. I was won over by a powerful, poignant and beautifully shaped performance. Lu and her marvellous young musicians told the work’s dark stories with skill and depth, while communicating both the pain and suffering of the symphony’s wartime context and the triumphant joy of the final Allegro giocoso.    

Conductor Tianyi Lu rehearsing with the NZSO National Youth Orchestra

“…an inspired choice”

Photo credit: Phoebe Tuxford/NZSO

Footnote: A woman on the podium, a new work by a woman composer, a shared concertmaster role and exceptional gender diversity on stage. When did you last see an orchestra with more women playing double bass or trombone than men? Yes, all of this should be irrelevant, and, musically, it was at this concert - but globally, we’re not there yet with equality of opportunities and so it was striking to see. A different future for women in classical music is perhaps not far away.  

‘Victory’ NZSO National Youth Orchestra Tianyi Lu (conductor), Shan Liu (piano)  Music by Jessie Leov, Khachaturian and Prokofiev, Wellington 5 July, 2024