Youth Orchestra plays with passion

[DesDownunder]

I admit to my musical taste being dramatic, operatic, symphonic romantic music.

It isn't that I don't like rock, or more modern music even though I do think some of the modern sounds lack a coherency of beauty, or even the power to seduce with a melody. Melody...what's that?

Anyway, to get closer to the point, I also find many of the new recordings of great works from the past, seemed to have been anaesthetised, sterilised and even castrated in the attempt to render them less confronting for polite audiences. Of course, there have always been those who don't want the cannons in the 1812 overture, but even more than that, modern conductors often appear to be apologetic for the sheer romanticism in many of the works they record. So homogeneous is the sound that emanates from some modern recordings, that I am drawn to the conclusion that the audio has been digitised to death by bored technicians who just don't get it. The musicians themselves seem to perform mechanically with less enthusiasm than one would like.

It's up to the conductors to demand better from their orchestras and that the technical resources be applied by technicians who are also artists.

Now, I couldn't rant like that if I hadn't found something that displays the sheer beauty of which I write.

I recently came across a young conductor from Venezuela, by the name of Manual López Gómez.

LA Phil have a page for him here.

The following links are to his performance of Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, with "Teresa Carreño" Youth Symphony Orchestra, Manuel López Gómez (Conductor). Caracas-Venezuela 19/11/07

Note; that like so many 'Youth' orchestras, they play with much passion, in this instance, matched by their young conductor. The musicians are are not difficult to look at either.

For those unfamiliar with Francesca da Rimini: From Wiki:

Tchaikovsky presents a symphonic interpretation of the tragic tale of Francesca da Rimini, a beauty who was immortalized in Dante's Divine Comedy. In the fifth canto of Inferno, Dante the narrator meets the shade of Francesca da Rimini, a noblewoman who fell in love with the brother of her ugly husband. After the lovers were discovered and killed in revenge by the husband, they were condemned to Hell for their adulterous passions. In their damnation, the lovers are trapped together in a violent storm, whirled through the air around the second circle of Hell, never to touch the ground again. They are tormented most of all by the ineradicable memory of the joys and pleasures of the embraces they shared in life.

The piece is about 23 minutes and is unfortunately in 3 postings at YouTube. At least, please listen to the first section, I understand it won't be to everyone's liking.

Turn up the volume loud and expand the images to full screen.

[DesDownunder]

Third segment and conclusion to the above.

[Bruin Fisher]

Beauty and talent.... I'm floating!