11/08/2025
【藝談共賞 ✨ | Teens In Tune: Ray Chen and NYO at a “Family” Concert🎵】
「聽完一場精彩嘅音樂會，內心感受如泉湧，好想寫一篇樂評同大家分享啊！」
大家有冇曾經有過呢種感覺呢？蕭樹勝先生 （Jimmy Shiu）今次聽完「國際綜藝合家歡2025-美國國家青年交響樂團」就有呢種感受，仲一氣呵成寫咗篇短篇樂評。不如我哋即刻一齊來睇下啦！
蕭樹勝主修作曲及聲樂，曾多年擔任演藝行政工作。他經常獲邀擔任講座講者及音樂會司儀，介紹古典音樂及其欣賞方向，並參與出版等各類音樂工作，積極推廣古典音樂。__________________________________________________
Teens In Tune: Ray Chen and NYO at a “Family” Concert
It’s always a joyous experience watching a youth orchestra perform. Energy, concentration, fearlessness, lots of body movement, players expressing their joy on stage by stomping their feet… all the above were in abundance at the concert given by the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) at Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 28 July.
Under the direction of Ginandrea Noseda, these 90+ aspiring musicians delivered a focused, confident, and expressive performance. The first piece in the programme was Carlos Simon’s Festive Fanfare and Overture; but the audience was actually first welcomed by a brass quintet in the foyer. The five players put on a refined performance, and were competent ambassadors of both the orchestra and their home country.
The second item in the programme, Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, was the centre of attention, not least because the soloist was star violinist Ray Chen. His large fanbase is evidenced not only by his 1 million Instagram followers, but also by the sheer enthusiasm of his audiences at concert halls. His aura was felt as the stage door opened — thunderous applause and cheers filled the auditorium.
As always, Chen was fully charged, playing with infallible technique, verve and commitment. The final movement was particularly captivating. With his agile finger movements, springing steps, and signature smile, everyone could tell he was having a great time.
Perhaps because this was a youth orchestra performance, the whole string part, with all 8 double basses, remained on stage with the Mendelssohn Concerto. Yet, Ray had a big sound. In fact, that sonority from the orchestra was a new and appealing experience.
Chen is an excellent communicator. Before playing the first encore – the Prelude from Ysaÿe’s second sonata – he greeted the audience in Mandarin, then pretended to continue conversing in Mandarin, before switching casually to English. This put a big smile on everyone’s face. Clearly, many people came for him. Quite a few of them even skipped the second half and queued up for more than an hour for the autograph session.
Back to the stage scene, after that virtuosic encore, Chen returned, continued to mingle cheerfully with the audience, and offered an unconventional rendition of the Gavotte from Bach’s E Major Suite with much freedom in dynamics, phrasing, and articulation. The audience was thrilled by this free-spirited performance.
I applaud the 16-19 year-olds’ courage to take on the most substantial work in the programme: Rachmaninov second symphony. Tackling this 50-minute masterpiece is a daunting task for anyone. There are huge ranges in dynamics, articulation, and tone colour. Noseda’s interpretation was detailed, and players responded very well, making it a rendition of the work on the level of many professional orchestras.
The concert closed with two wonderful encores – a charming Cavalleria Rusticana intermezzo, and the exciting Trepak from The Nutcracker.
While this was a remarkable show on stage, the ‘performance’ offstage left much to be desired. The concert, being part of this year’s ‘International Arts Carnival’, implied that this was a family show. Indeed, there were many kids in the crowd. No doubt, Ray Chen is an idol among young people, and hence a full house was almost guaranteed. Yet, I have a little reservation whether a heavy 50-minute symphony is appropriate as a family affair. Applause after each movement was comparatively trivial happening. There was quite a bit of restlessness in the audience. Many people left between movements, and – more egregiously – within movements! Actually, before the hypnotic clarinet solo in the third movement, a boy stomped out of the auditorium, his loud footsteps breaking the silence.
I started wondering, does the presence of a young people’s idol make a formal concert programme a family concert? True, it was an orchestra made up of teenagers, and it sounded fit for parents to bring young kids. Their repertoire, however, was not necessarily family friendly.
By Jimmy Shiu
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睇完Jimmy 咁精彩嘅樂評，如果你都有諗法嘅話，就一齊來講港Arts 🗣啦！「藝評獎勵計劃2025—大專及畢業生組」活動8月29號就截止啦！記住預留時間創作你嘅藝評啊！
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#蕭樹勝 #陳銳 #國際綜藝合家歡 #樂評
