The programme for the National Youth Orchestra's spring tour consists of Thomas Adès's Asyla and Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, imposing works of considerable difficulty. Both are virtuosic and emotive, albeit in very different ways. And both are densely, if beautifully scored, presenting specific challenges to the NYO, who play with a larger-than-usual body of strings, and have a tradition of doubling or trebling brass and wind parts in ensemble passages. The risk of sonic overload is consequently high.
The tour's conductor is François-Xavier Roth, a restlessly intelligent maverick, noted for his fine sense of textural clarity. Even so, Asyla was not without its occasional problems. The title denotes the plural of "asylum", and Adès, a former NYO percussionist, examines the word's multiple associations with political freedom, spiritual refuge and mental instability. Away from the translucent second movement, Roth was unable to prevent the sonorities from clotting from time to time, but there were also some surprising advantages. This is a work in which the sheer immensity of the NYO sound pins you to your seat. The sinister motto of the first movement, suggesting political threat, is truly terrifying when hurled out by no less than nine trumpets. The third movement's obsessive pounding becomes genuinely maddening.
Strauss's controversial portrait of himself as cultural hero, meanwhile, was utterly compelling in its immediacy. Adopting a less ironic approach than many, Roth drove it onwards with tremendous urgency, though the final section was a bit too pressurised for my taste. The real delight here, however, was the playing, which was richly detailed and sensuous, with the NYO musicians conveying a tangible excitement at their involvement with the score. The big violin solos were done to perfection by leader Roberto Ruisi. A superb achievement.
• At Royal Festival Hall, London, on 19 April. Box office: 0844 847 9910. Venue: southbankcentre.co.uk
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