The Passion according to Saint Matthew by the OSM, although entrusted to the renowned Paul McCreesh and displaying a very luxurious cast, had only very moderately filled the Maison symphonique on Wednesday. Should we attend the recovery this Thursday? It depends on your priorities.
The Saint Matthew of the OSM displays the Sidney Crosby of the narration of Passions by Bach: Julian Prégardien. We don’t do better on the planet and he proved it on Wednesday, if only in the story of Pierre’s betrayal which leads to the famous “Erbarme dich” of viola, accompanied by the luminous violin of Andrew Wan.
There are several moments of true exaltation and incarnation, for example the account of the trial or that of the death of Jesus. But this death of Jesus also symbolizes the two worlds which are juxtaposed on this stage and which have nothing to do with each other: the burning world of Prégardien, the musicians of the OSM, so invested (flute, the two oboes, the solo violins, the viola da gamba solo that accompanies the air of the cross), the remarkable soloist Geoffroy Salvas, who holds the shock against Prégardien and, on the other Paul McCreesh, chief musicologist, who makes musical rhetoric.
The death of Jesus then. Climax. Tragic. Jesus gives up the ghost and Prégardien brings us this from afar. If Tag Heuer had sponsored the evening, I might have been lent a stopwatch so that I could precisely count the 1 second and 342 thousandths that Paul McCreesh gloriously allocated to “deep” contemplation before attacking the sequel, suddenly presto. We have seen more poignancy, especially in times of war.
The place of the text
Well, Mc Creesh was quite in a hurry from the start. It allowed the evening to end at 10:42 p.m. rather than 10:54 or 10:58 p.m., but it still deprived the set of religious feeling and depth, as we say in hockey. When, in the final chorus Bach writes music on the words “Wir setzen uns…” there is a “t”, a “z” and an “s” which are not epiphenomena or pitfalls to prevent Mr. McCreesh from go at his own pace. These are words that signify an action in the process of being done. Same when a choir sings the word ” Angst ” (fear). All this incarnation which makes the salt of an interpretation of Jonathan Cohen, Trevor Pinnock or Bernard Labadie, Paul McCreesh seems to make fun of it royally. Paul McCreesh conducts Pulse.
This does not prevent the conductor from having good ideas, especially on the perfect balances and the coloring, the main one being the entry on the scene of the Pierre-Béique organ in a few key moments, notably dramatic.
The choir did things well, insofar as no particular importance seemed to be attached to the text. The incisions of cantus firmus by the children’s choir in the first part were not emphasized enough (here again, it would be eloquence and it disturbs in relation to the beat).
Among the soloists not yet mentioned, Matthew Brook was a good Jesus and had to take on the bass parts in the 2nd half since Philippe Sly had canceled his participation. The alto Caitlin Hulcup was excellent, the tenor Werner Güra showing a brilliant voice but a vocal line that had become a little rough. As for Marie-Sophie Pollack, she has a technique of “push notes” and a confident voice but with few harmonics that do not seduce us. We are very far from Joelle Harvey!
So mixed results. Julian Prégardien is worth the detour, the mezzo and Salvas too, the choir and the orchestra are in their business and the work is precious. Up to you…