[From www.sfcv.org]

EDINBURGH - There might have been a less-than-great crop of the Gustav
Mahler Youth Orchestra since Claudio Abbado brought it into existence in
1986, but surely this year's class is the best ever, the best possible.
Impossible, even.

Having nailed "Parsifal" several times in the Festival Theatre here last
week, the young musicians regrouped tonight in Usher Hall and - unfettered
by singers and directors - they did what they do best: play demanding,
great music with utmost concentration and devotion. . . while having more
fun than their famous elders can afford to exhibit most of the time.

They did have competition, however: Edinburgh-favorite Abbado on the
podium and mysterious piano uberfrau Martha Argerich as soloist.  How
good is the Jugendorchester? So good that the audience of 2,500 - most
of whom came to see the two big stars - cheered them to the rafters,
leaving Scottish reserve well behind.  This, after a luminous, shimmering
performance of Debussy's "La Mer," a work not designed to create a riot,
more like quiet appreciation - except when played like this, in such close
ensemble, with so much heart, so RIGHT.

How good are these under-26, mostly teenage musicians? So good that they
received great acknowledgment even at a concert where Argerich played her
best.  If you heard her performance tonight, you'd never guess that the
Ravel Piano Concerto in G is a difficult work.  She tossed it off without
the slightest effort, the music cascading as a stream of pearls - and the
orchestra was right there with her, all the way, through the hush of the
Adagio, the jazzy storm of the Presto.  Abbado suddenly emerged as a
supreme Ravel specialist and that's news to me, but great news at that.

Argerich looked out from behind TheHair a great deal tonight, admiring
orchestra soloists.  Not usually given to something as common as an encore,
she did play one tonight, more for the madly applauding and stomping
orchestra, I think, than for the shouting audience, which called her back
fo ur times before she did complied.

What she played was amazing.  Was it Rachmaninov as transcribed by Chopin
or, via time travel, vice versa? She was halfway through the piece before
I realized it was - Scarlatti!  Could it be? And if so, which one.  Nobody
I asked knew, so I went to the source.  "One of the D minor sonatas," she
said, from under the hair.  "He wrote 500 of them.  I use this one for
warm-up.  I want to hear the Debussy.  Is there a seat on stage?" For
Argerich, when she plays like a goddess? Management created spaces where
none existed before.

And yet, with all this going on, the peakest of my many peak experiences
tonight came at the beginning of the concert.  It was a Bartok "Music for
Strings, Percussion and Celesta," sending shivers up the spine.  Instead of
the too-frequent "general orchestra sound" of the opening Andante, Abbado
and the "kids" produced the mysterious murmur section by section, clearly,
distinctly, and when the various strands converged into a quiet, but
enormously broad tutti, the effect was indescribable.

A minor objection to not quite idiomatic rhythms of the second movement
(there is a Hungarian syncopation and then there are others), but nothing
really mattered in the searing intensity, the laser pinpoint of the
interpretation and execution of this tough, challenging work.  Although
his excellent work was noticeable throughout, during the third movement's
solos, concertmaster Andrej Neufeld gave clear indication that he will soon
occupy that position with any "grownup" orchestra he wants.

In the whirlwind-transforming-into-storm of the fourth movement, once
again the tutti was overwhelming - not the volume, but the strength, the
breadth, the solidity of the sound was breathtaking.  The great performance
was all the more noteworthy because Abbado used the largest possible group
of players (which makes precision more difficult), including 12 double
basses (to think just today I made fun of the Russian Radio Orchestra's
nine!) and apparently every single string player available.

It might not have been the most Hungarian of Bartok performances I heard,
but it was one of the most awesome and heartwarming ones.

Some additional notes:

* If you're interested in the orchestra (and well you should be), see
http://www.gmjo.at/, but don't expect to communicate with them for a while.
The "at" domain is Austria and the current floods took out many service
providers in Central Europe, including this one, so the site is available
but e-mail doesn't work.

* In response to several questions about the Edinburgh Tattoo, see
http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/.

* And finally, if you made it all the way to the end, here's your reward.
The Jugendorchester will perform the same program Thursday at the Proms
in London, which means that wherever you are, you can listen to it live
on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/!

Janos Gereben/SF
In Merry Old, to 9/1
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