22 July 2026
Music is the Language of Passion: Brave New Worlds review
Australian Youth Orchestra Brave New Worlds | City Recital Hall, Sydney
Reviewed on 19 July 2026 by AYO 2026 Media and Communication Fellow Sarah Huang
Every performance by the Australian Youth Orchestra creates a bout of excitement among music goers. The audience leaving Sydney Recital Hall on Sunday afternoon returned in a daze, marvelling at the remarkable futures these young people will surely have.
Flying in from Darwin, in their first visit to the top end in thirty years, there was certainly no jet lag to speak of in their musicality nor concert programming. Brett Dean’s Testament, followed by Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto then Beethoven’s Eroica, was expertly interpreted under the baton of Dutch conductor, Antony Hermus. Hermus clearly enjoys working with young people, his infectious energy rippling through the orchestra and the music they perform together.
Shostakovich soloist, Charlotte Miles is equally emotionally generous in her music making. Miles controls her tone and articulation to truly encapsulate Shostakovich’s narrative. His sardonic response to living in Soviet Russia and his complicated relationship with the regime is stunningly told as Miles plays in a manner that shifts between biting and introspectiveness. Her playing feels as if we are right with Shostakovich in the hallway, sleeping in paranoia at the fear of being dragged away in the night. The famous opening motif of the concerto was performed with a biting gusto parallel to the friction between Shostakovich’s own values and those of soviet rule.
Miles’s bow painted the contrasting sections with a style that teetered with sense of foreboding tension, a performance that was truly in the nature of Shostakovich.
The second movement was particularly beautiful and sensitive. Miles’s bow painted the contrasting sections with a style that teetered with sense of foreboding tension, a performance that was truly in the nature of Shostakovich. Compliments must be given to the horn section- Henry Eames, Sarah Bernard and Thomas Ferriera-Montague, and especially Sarah Bernard as this concerto is as much virtuosic for the cello as it is for the horn. Her bold sound added a most brooding texture to an already emotionally charged work.
The opening piece, Testament composed by Brett Dean musically portrays the harrowing years in which Beethoven was losing his hearing, Dean takes inspiration from the despair felt by Beethoven on his deafness as written in his Heiligenstadt Testament. Audiences were treated to a range of extended techniques, most noticeably the use of rosin-less bows to create a whispering effect, seemingly symbolic of tinnitus.
Other effects such as siren like horns, and a yell-ish quality in the wind section captured the plight of Beethoven effectively. Episodes of hushed violins and flutes were interjected by lush melodic string lines, coming to a tremendous climax peaked by confronting timpani hits. Swapping between their rosin and un-rosined bows, the strings then pace into chromatic descent, bringing the piece to an abrupt finish.
Beethoven’s Eroica provided a passionate ending to the afternoon, but rather the heroism of Napolean, this performance reminded audiences of rather the determination and dedication these young people give to art. It clearly brings them great excitement and joy to play music with their friends who will no doubt be life-long thanks to their ties with the AYO.
Just as Maestro Hermus quotes Bach after the fiery third movement of Beethoven- “music is the language of passion!”. It is certainly so, watching the first violins shoot playful smiles at each other reminds the audience how remarkably young and talented these orchestral musicians are, music being the catalyst that plays such a transformative hand in their lives.
Watching the first violins shoot playful smiles at each other reminds the audience how remarkably young and talented these orchestral musicians are
The excitement can hardly be contained by conductor nor orchestra as Hermus invites the musicians to stand in the last movement of the Eroica. “Youth is power!” says Hermus as he begins an impromptu celebration in Beethoven-ese. At the last powerful strikes of their bows, the audience erupts into thunderous applause, though not unusual for a performance by the AYO, audience members no doubt left Sydney Recital Hall uplifted, reminded of the talent that is grown and cultivated on Australian soil.
To hear the Brave New Worlds concert in full, tune in to ABC Classic on 8 August
By Sarah Huang, 2026 Media and Communication Fellow
