The concert series of the Thurgau JOTG youth orchestra is taking place these weeks under strict Corona guidelines. How nice that the Weinfelden Catholic Church was still well attended on Saturday.
“Don’t do things by halves, go big.” This slightly ironic background sentence has often been the leitmotif for the youth orchestra’s choice of program in recent years. Big works, very big, highly romantic in nature. Conductor Gabriel Estarellas Pascual always had to employ a lot of musicians. Can they do small too? They can. Although small does not mean insignificant. Schubert’s overture in Italian style in C major, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor and Ludwig van Beethoven’s first symphony in C major require differentiation in the sound – then the big arc emerges.
The stringency with which the high strings tackled Schubert’s sporty piece was admirable. Anyone who has ever played the violin knows how important breathing is on this instrument. And how technically challenging a work like this can be. Schubert took inspiration from overture pope Rossini. Lots and lots of fast notes and then the brilliant stretta at the end. There’s really something going on in the violins.
LINK: THURGAUKULTUR