The concert on Wednesday by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, which will be performed again this evening, was a little special, since the musical director, Rafael Payare, had invited his concertmaster, Andrew Wan, to tackle the Violin Concerto by Beethoven. Despite very palpable nervousness, the first of the OSM musicians delivered a superb and poetic performance, acclaimed by the audience.
The gesture was strong and undoubtedly accepted by the orchestra: after the Violin Concerto of Beethoven, although admirably accompanied, with, in particular, some ineffable bassoon sounds, Rafael Payare did not return to salute, despite three or four reminders from the public, so much so that the violinist was able to collect the applause alone and gave us played what seemed to us to be the German of the 1st Partita by Bach.
Finesse play
It was the end of a tension that had taken some time to release. Approved upon his arrival, but impassive and focused, ready to do battle, Andrew Wan first accompanied a few features of the orchestral introduction to relax and dive into the heart of the subject.
He was then able to approach the concerto with confidence. His tension caused him to make minimal blunders (a few interstitial notes in long sequences) perceptible only to experienced ears and he completely freed himself by approaching the cadence of the 1st movement.
Andrew Wan’s playing is not a muscular peroration: the orchestra provides the structure and weaves the lace inside the canvas. The game is fine, but in the “refined” sense not anemic or poor. The speech is punctuated here and there with small pauses, like a speaker taking care of his effects.
The peak in this aesthetic is reached in the 2nd movement where the refinements in the nuances are reminiscent of the diaphanous aesthetic sought in the Oïstrakh-Cluytens recording. The 3rd movement, totally liberated, shows what the concerto will be like on Thursday once the pressure has eased.
While it is common for Konzertmeister are offered concertos, it is rare that it is that of Beethoven. To record it, Joseph Silverstein, legendary concertmaster of the Boston Symphony, had to accompany himself. The most famous concertmasters or former concertmasters who have played Beethoven are Wolfgang Schneiderhan, former Konzertmeister of the Vienna Philharmonic converted into a soloist and Herman Krebbers of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Universal Australia has just released a box set of all his recordings where we notably rediscover a high-class Beethoven, despite the very tight vibrato which is a little outdated, accompanied by Willem van Otterloo,
Great Mozartian
This shows the rarity of what we hear this week, especially at this level. Moreover, in 20 years the interpretations of this Opus 61 which we remember in Montreal are first that of an incredible class and distinction of Corinne Chapelle 4th Prize at the Montreal Competition in 2006, in no way rewarded at its fair value. A recognized chamber musician, this wonderful artist and mother died in 2021 from cancer at the age of 45.
Then there was the concert marking the maturation of Kerson Leong in 2017. Finally, from a very unfavorable but equally unforgettable angle, Vadim Repin in 2010, whose work we wrote that he played “like a slut”. So hats off to Andrew Wan who joins Chapelle and Leong in the best we’ve heard here.
The first part was masterful, with Anton Webern both relaxed and carnal, transcribing Bach and igniting in his Passacaglia and an “Haffner” Symphony that it would have to be recorded and replayed over and over again, because it appeared so perfect in spirit, culture and production.
God knows we just spent several days trying to find music in the new discographic version of this 35th Symphony of Mozart by the posh Akademie für alte Musik in Berlin (a Pentatone CD). Here, suddenly, there was everything: the right polyphonic dosages, musical phrases, the spirit, the tempos. We will therefore say it again: Payare is a great Mozartian.