Dvořák's 9th Symphony

Styriarte sound cloud: time travel to the “New World”

Mei-Ann Chen conducted the Styriarte Youth Orchestra(Bild: Nikola Milatovic)

Mei-Ann Chen conducted the Styriarte Youth Orchestra in the List Hall in Graz through Antonín Dvořák's 9th Symphony "From the New World" in costumes and with a lot of fanfare.

Crumpled linen aprons, caps, gilets: this orchestra looks as if it has just passed through the immigration gates on Ellis Island. Antonín Dvořák's journey to America was certainly more luxurious than the costumes suggest, but at least this was the New York he found in the 1890s before he composed his "New World".

Under Mei-Ann Chen, the Styriarte Youth Orchestra not only performs Dvořák's masterpiece, but also brings it to life. Beforehand, she gives a glimpse into the future of American music: Florence Prince's "Dances in the Canebreaks" - one of the first female composers of color - sounds sophisticatedly jazzy and almost like a musical.

Young soloists shine
Dvořák's symphony itself is also placed in the context of its sources of inspiration: After the first movement, in which the young soloists shine, Aaron Pendelton's bass fills the hall with an African-American spiritual - a touching moment that perfectly introduces the transition into the Largo. The last movement is preceded by an indigenous drum interlude.

The only flaw is the amount of unnecessary fuss the musicians have to put up with: leaning in one direction, standing up, swinging their violin bows, handing out notes to the audience, waltzing with the audience. This may be something for the cameras, but it is unnecessarily distracting.

Watch and listen in the ORF media library; August 4, 10:40 a.m. on 3sat