For half a century its intensive orchestral courses and adventurous foreign tours have been a rite of passage for classical musicians growing up in and around Edinburgh.
And if the rostrum of guest performers at this 50th anniversary gala proved the strength of Edinburgh Youth Orchestra alumni, the sound of the current band bodes extremely well for future generations of Edinburgh-bred talent.
It was a marathon celebration, which at six works and three hours long could have done with some trimming. It was no easy bill, either, opening with Elgar's tricky Cockaigne Overture (its skittish central passages flummox even the most experienced orchestras). EYO Patron Julian Lloyd Webber took a pensive rather than impassioned approach in Elgar's Cello Concerto; I admired the space he and conductor Garry Walker brought to the opening movement, but they needed more ebb and flow to keep up momentum. Things picked up with Evelyn Glennie as a captivating soloist and conductor En Shao drawing attentive, colourful orchestral playing in James MacMillan's Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.
But it was inevitable that the finest sounds of the night came with Donald Runnicles, former EYO horn player and student conductor, at the helm. An indisposed Nicola Benedetti was replaced by the excellent Jack Liebeck for the first movement of Beethoven's Violin Concerto; his silvery sound and thoughtful precision were matched by classy backing from the orchestra. In Wagner's Prelude to Die Meistersinger the strings were full-bodied and winds and brass brilliantly robust.
A playful arrangement of Happy Birthday by Eddie McGuire and a heartfelt address from Runnicles rounded off proceedings: "It was here, in the Usher Hall with EYO, that music first bit me," said the conductor.
"Please look after this orchestra. It's incredibly precious."
HHHH
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article