Shostakovich: Symphony No 10

13/05/2005
Peter McCallum
Sydney Morning Herald (Aust)

If there was one composer who knew something about the expressive potential of banality it was Shostakovich, whose Tenth Symphony filled the second half in a beautifully prepared performance that brought the quality and colour of this year's crop of youth orchestra players to the fore.

Outstanding playing came from horn player Lin Jiang, who played the focal moment of the third movement Allegretto with transparent openness … in moments like the return section of the first movement, the dark sounds of bassoon and contrabassoon and the build-up of solos to string unison playing of white-hot intensity gave the music cumulative power.