American Youth Symphony Plays With Assured Maturity

We tend to not ascribe much emotional understanding to youth, who presumably haven’t the years or wisdom to dig deep. How, then, can we account for the richness of feeling in the American Youth Symphony’s performance of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings? The orchestra opened its concert Sunday night at UCLA’s Royce Hall on a somber note, with that classic 20th century lament.

As led by conductor Alexander Treger, the ensemble exuded dignified mourning, and nailed the score impressively. The message here is that the orchestra is capable of polish and depth, a credit to the organization, and, by extension, a good reflection on the refinement of a budding generation of musicians.

Now in its 35th year, the Youth Symphony is in the midst of a season of six free concerts at Royce Hall, a venue that complements its skills. Pianist Yoon-Soo Lee, all of 22, was the soloist of the evening, taking on Lizst’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat. A few rough spots in the beginning notwithstanding, Lee met and conquered the score’s challenges, and issued a nuanced sense of melodic repose in the Adagio.

After intermission, the ranks expanded for Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. Elevating brass, winds and percussion on tiered risers resulted in some balance inequities, but there were no major difficulties in the treatment of the material. It’s an oddly proportioned work, starting out with a slow, brooding air almost mirroring Barber’s Adagio. But it quickly yields to a happier temper, and ends with the Presto’s bounding energy--colored by Russian robustness--and resolves the minor mode into major. It was a fittingly high-spirited finale for a concert well-rendered by tender hands.