First review is in, and it's a rave !

The first review of the YO tour came out this morning in the Mittelbayerische Zeitung.  I do believe our critic at large was suitably impressed:  

June 25, 2012

MUSIC MAKING WITH GUSTO AND ZEAL

The young American musicians of the S.F.S.Y.O. enchanted at the season’s final Odeon-Concert at the Audi-max.

VON GERHARD DIETEL, MZ 

REGENSBURG.   Such enthusiasm is rare.  As the audience for the final Odeon Concert of the season enters the Audi-max, the members of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra are already seated on the stage, warming up and practicing key passages from their scores.  Such a focused engagement with the music heralds the artistically superior result to come. The members of this internationally recognized next-generation-ensemble from the West Coast of the US plays under the direction of Maestro Donato Cabrera and is without a doubt on the same level as the professional orchestras that regularly appear in the Odeon-series - even as, at the end of the extremely long and difficult concert evening, some minimal tiredness became apparent.

The strings, in great numbers, opened the evening with "Shaker Loops" by John Adams, an American minimalist inspired composition. Except for the quieter middle section, this tone-study is alive with excited tremolos, while the sounds of swarming insects slowly give way to long waves of harmony and space. Those who wish can see a religious connotation in the title: Adams not only refers to the technique of playing but also to the dance of the "Shaker" movement.

Soloist for the evening is Lars Vogt who provides clear contours in the Grieg piano concerto. He sharply chisels his entry chords and later offers powerful octave runs and in the opening movement offers bursts of canon fire from the deepest bass region of the piano, out of which he jumps flawlessly into the upper part of the keyboard. And, just as the composer demands, Vogt also produces a feathery light scherzando sound; forms softly sliding thirds or sinks into a very soft, dreamy nocturne mood. Great applause followed his presentation and the pianist expresses his thanks by playing a waltz by Brahms.           

After the break, Donato Cabrera allows the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra  to begin Mahler's first symphony quietly,  the sound of morning awakening, as if singular voices and signal calls are lost among the stillness. And out of this diffuse opening forms a powerful and cohesive symphonic construction, which Cabrera allows to build by encouraging the youthful temperament of his musicians.  Like a furious storm, the first movement’s long buildup of forces is unleashed to finally break through into the theme as the music hastens to its end. As Mahler pushes “forward,” the young musicians enthusiastically comply, eagerly unleashing their spectacular sound, as demonstrated in the end by the horn section.  Where the composer marks in the score "bells up" the young musicians stand up and triumphantly belt out the victorious chorale-like theme. No wonder that it drove the enthusiastic audience up out of their seats.