THE Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Rafael Payare, opened the musical programming section of the OSM Classical Spree at Place des Arts on Friday evening. The work, which will be performed again on Sunday afternoon, always has a great effect, but Verdi will not yet be placed at the heart of the OSM conductor’s repertoire.
The Maison symphonique was packed on Friday evening for the first major symphonic concert of the Virée 2024, something that was a pleasure to see after two editions with mixed attendances. The spectators were treated to a Requiem Verdi’s spectacular in its outbursts, which Rafael Payare sought to frame well and to preserve from expressive excesses. The overwhelming majority of the audience therefore had a very good evening, especially since the major pitfall, that is to say an unbalanced or fallible cast, was avoided.
The quartet of soloists composed of Joyce El-Khoury, Rihab Chaieb, Oreste Cosimo and Adam Palka was well balanced in terms of vocal formats. We did not fail to notice the understanding of the two female soloists, who even held hands (a gesture that is at least unprecedented in such a context) to be better in phase during the Record. Joyce El-Khoury delivered a Free me of great vocal purity and nobility of soul. We were very happy to hear Montrealer Rihab Chaieb again. Her Free script was quite symptomatic of the general atmosphere: a sober and straightforward interpretation without vocal outpourings
There was a search for bel cantocertainly, but in a rather corseted acceptance of the concept, as demonstrated for example by the excellent tenor Oreste Cosimo. Certainly, Verdi initially began the composition as part of a collective project in homage to Rossini, but this does not mean that the vocal style of his own and accomplished work looks towards Rossini. The most ” verdian ” seemed to us to be the bass Adam Palka, excellent in his Confutatis and, moreover, very reassuring in his intonation.
“Italianity”
If in the interpretation of the Requiem Verdi’s Rafael Payare easily notices the spectacular finery of the Dies Iraewith a perfectly dry bass drum and differentiated between its first and second intervention, as well as the ideal spatialization of the trumpets in the Mirum Tuba and the general appearance rather aristocratic and certainly serious, you don’t have to scratch too hard to see the limits of the exercise, a word not too badly chosen in this case.
What a contrast, two weeks after theAida by Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the Lanaudière Festival. Indeed, there was a good dose of Verdi fiber missing from this Requiema sap which is summed up by the word “ italianity “. This musical typicality is reflected in vocal colors (simple example: should the first word be pronounced ” Requiem » or, more covered, ” Requiem »the second option giving more darkness and mystery to the atmosphere?). It is also embodied in the impulses, for example at the end of the ” Rex tremendae “, where theanimating is an incandescent acceleration after which, each “Salva me”, at the same timeshould follow one another as if by aspiration. With Payare, these things are framed, measured, wise.
These examples follow one another endlessly; before the ” Hosts ” of the tenor, there is a fortetremolo, suddenly decreasing, to violas and violins II. which gives a strong dramatic tension: we do not hear it. Same type of theatrical effect (with another notation) before the Lachrymosaalso flown over. The accompaniment of the soprano of the ” Free me » under the words « Tremens facts, sum ego » is a real storm in the orchestra, but everything is smoothed out. The “Agnus” slips rhythmically and accelerates, while the first reply of the choir is too strong, just as its first intervention of the “Libera me” lacks mystery. Last point, the excess of trumpets (I and II) in the ” Free me ” certainly makes one prick up one’s ears, but it is not defensible, since Verdi takes great care to note the trumpets pianissimo while bassoons, flutes and clarinets are piano with a crescendo.
In short, under the surface, we deplore the lack of what constitutes the whole sap of the composer’s style. Like Bruckner, Verdi suits Payare less well than Mahler, Shostakovich, Schoenberg or Stravinsky and therefore everything he touches does not turn to gold. In a sense, it is almost reassuring.