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Review: The City Youth Orchestra Opens Its Season
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Writing task
Before you submit, check: ✓ I gave a discerning evaluation with at least one genuine strength and one measured criticism ✓ I used specific, vivid description of the music and atmosphere rather than vague praise ✓ I adopted an engaging critical voice with some wit and well-chosen idiom ✓ I used varied, sophisticated vocabulary and avoided repeating the same adjectives ✓ I considered the audience and finished with a clear overall verdict
Your school magazine has asked you to review a concert by a youth orchestra that you attended (you may invent the details, but keep them realistic). Write a review of 260-300 words. Give a balanced, discerning evaluation: describe what was played and how, comment on at least one particular strength and one weakness, and reflect on the overall impression for an audience that may never have attended a classical concert. Aim for a lively, knowledgeable style with some wit.
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Model answer: Anyone who still believes that classical music is a pastime for the grey-haired and the hushed would have been gently corrected at the City Youth Orchestra's season opener on Saturday. The hall was nearly full, the average age of the performers was around sixteen, and the atmosphere before the first note was closer to that of a football match than a library.
The programme was bold, opening with a brisk overture before moving to Dvořák's New World Symphony, a piece that demands both stamina and subtlety. The orchestra largely rose to the occasion. The famous slow movement, with its aching cor anglais melody, was handled with a tenderness that silenced even the restless row behind me, and the young player involved deserves special mention for tone that managed to be both fragile and serene.
Not everything was flawless, however. In the thunderous finale, the brass section tended to charge ahead of the strings, so that the rhythm occasionally wobbled like a table with one short leg. Such moments were forgivable in so ambitious a performance, but a firmer hand from the conductor might have kept the ensemble tightly together. Nor did the opening movement quite find its confidence until the second theme arrived.
What the evening lacked in polish, though, it more than made up for in sheer commitment. There is something uniquely moving about watching musicians who are still discovering what they are capable of, and who are visibly astonished by the sound they are producing together.
For those who have never attended a concert, I can think of few better introductions. Tickets are inexpensive, the music is thrilling and nobody will mind if you whisper "Wow" at the end. I certainly did.
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