MUSIC REVIEW : Season Finale for Youth Symphony

If the best things in life are free, then one always gets close to full value from Mehli Mehta and his American Youth Symphony, as happened again Sunday at Royce Hall.

Thanks to veteran soloists, the Double Concerto by Brahms received a performance dually satisfying. Those who yearn for the autumnal quality characteristic of Brahms’ late works found plenty of warmth in the playing of cellist John Walz, while violinist Endre Balogh consistently portrayed its sterner aspects.

Despite the apparent stylistic dichotomy, the two played as one. Clearly their long association together in chamber music provided a rare dividend in this frequently problematic work. Mehta assisted ably, unable only to elicit a true piano.

On the birthday of Richard Strauss, a reading of “Ein Heldenleben” seemed a perfect conclusion to a season-long survey of his tone poems. But although the colorful and sumptuous sounds the group produced admirably projected the gargantuan sweep of the score, this “Hero’s Life” was too often blustering and noisy. Despite a mostly self-assured performance, not until the closing pages could one experience anything like soft orchestral playing.

Concert master Sze-Hang Wong deserves a nod for capturing the treacherously capricious nature of the Hero’s Companion, albeit with some skittishness and lack of ardor. Dorian Marks, too, as first horn player of a dauntless and dependable brass section, is worthy of special mention.