“United for the Future” is the motto of a program that the national youth orchestras of Ukraine and Germany have worked out together. The joint evening of the two orchestras was originally planned in Odessa, where the concert was made impossible by Putin’s war of aggression. Now the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is opening a charity tour with the Federal Youth Orchestra, which is intended to keep the Ukrainian orchestra alive.
His work is supported by German partner institutions. Among them is the National Youth Orchestra, which is 53 years old when the German Music Council was founded. The sponsors are the Berlin Philharmonic, which has already performed under conductors such as Karajan and Petrenko.
The lighting of the Philharmonie is characterized by blue and yellow. The harpist of the orchestra gratefully points out the great importance of the friendship and help of the Germans, so one is “not alone in dark times”. Her orchestra was only founded in 2016 with the aim of promoting the brightest talents between the ages of 12 and 22 from Ukraine and acting as cultural ambassadors.
Members of both orchestras play together in a large cast. And the mysteriously circling semiquavers of the violas sound amazingly homogeneous. They introduce the symphonic ballad “Grazhyna” (1955) by Borys Lyatoshynskyi. In addition to the murmuring viola figures, the cor anglais is accompanied by the theme of the Lithuanian title heroine, who dies in battle against the Teutonic Knights. The composer is considered the father of Ukrainian music. Even in the turbulence of war, his score displays graceful individuality and includes a sensitive funeral march, after which the repeated theme leads to a soft pizzicato finish. The performance makes you curious to find out more about Ljatoschynsky’s work.
His work is framed by Beethoven’s Prometheus Overture and Dvorák’s Eighth. At the podium is the Ukrainian Artem Lonhinov, who was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie as a violinist and is now adding to his experience as a conductor at the Munich Music Academy. His imagination combines in cool presence. It helps the interaction of the musicians from the two orchestras. They are concerned with the common ground of “Youth for Peace”.