When the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra are in town, you can be guaranteed one thing...a bright, vibrant and polished performance. What the players can't be guaranteed is a decent audience and on Monday night only a quarter-full Perth Concert Hall witnessed an excellent performance from an orchestra huge in both size and ability.
There is a risk of going overboard with the EYO, and why not? They tick all the boxes when it comes to ability, technical nous and musicianship with natural youthful exuberance making a pretty potent combination. Admittedly, there were one or two inaccuracies and some precarious moments but when you consider the age of the players and the music sat in front of them, total perfection is asking a bit too much. What they delivered was a passionate, earnest and skilled performance of three classical works of which you never tire of hearing.
Much should be said of the EYO/Garry Walker combination. Conductor Walker is a former cellist with the orchestra and there is an obvious mutual admiration here, a reciprocated appreciation of the other's talents. This makes life in the concert hall much easier to contend with and, thus, much more fruitful.
Shostakovich's Festive Overture must be one of THE great concert openers, a whirlwind ten minute orchestral fiesta which has a magnificent feel-good factor. Bold and brassy it may be, but if anything reflects the composer's joie de vivre it is this brilliant work, with orchestra displaying equal amounts of spirit and vitality.
Daniel Bell's interpretation of Beethoven's Violin Concerto took a while to sink in for me, but in the end I felt it was a triumphant one. In this he concentrated on the lyrical not the heroic, something this great work lends itself to more than the bravado showpiece equivalents of Tchaikovsky and Brahms. There was no "wow" factor here, but instead a deliberate but never under-stated interpretation of the work's beautiful melodic construction, with the speed dictated by Garry Walker at the outset establishing the sort of wistful mood that emanated throughout. It wasn't all calmness personified because there are plenty moments for Bell flex his virtuosic muscles and deliver the more challenging sections with style, particularly in the first movement cadenza.
The EYO were soundly behind him, reduced by half after the Shostakovich, and after a slightly tentative start proved the epitome in orchestral backing.
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade is quite a test for any orchestra but proved the perfect vehicle for this young orchestra to display the whole spectrum of their talents. There was force...eight horns, four trumpets and five trombones made that patently obvious...but there were also beautiful moments of tranquility from the strings, and a particularly impressive contribution from an outstanding woodwind section. Dotted about the score are some extremely exposed and challenging solos from all sections of the orchestra and Walker was correct to give each individual due acknowledgment as each was performed with characteristic aplomb. One young lady who deserves a special mention is the orchestra's leader, Jessica Hall, whose interpretation and performance of the demanding part of Scheherazade herself was quite exquisite.
Behind this talented ensemble, some of whom are surely destined for an exciting future, are a group of coaches and mentors. The fact this orchestra plays to such a high standard is as much a testament to their expertise and encouragement as it is to the players' natural abilities.

Garry Fraser