The Orchester symphonique de Montréal (OSM) held its annual Classical Spree this weekend, which began under the best auspices on Friday. In its successes, as in its disappointments for the organizers, it contains very interesting ferments of what represents the challenge of the coming years.
Of course, there is Rafael Payare at the head of the grand opening concert or the prestige concert on Saturday evening. But there is also, just before, a conductor that we meet at the Complexe Desjardins leading an orchestra free of charge for passers-by. There is a conductor who does not hesitate to associate himself, at the end of the afternoon, with Obiora, the first Canadian classical music ensemble composed of musicians from diverse backgrounds, an orchestra somewhat comparable in size to I Musici. Finally, a conductor who organizes a brass and percussion concert for his friend Pacho Flores.
There is a culture in these reflexes, the one we come from; where he comes from. Sharing and welcoming. The change of “system” is radical and it goes as far as the repertoire. This is where it may be necessary to handle the dosage.
A busy schedule
Our visit to La Virée on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. for the Jeanine De Bique concert began with a great shock: an almost empty Maison symphonique. The program: Jean Coulthard, a Canadian composer, Knoxville, summer 1915 of Barber and Margaritena by Inocente Carreno. It was evident, as walking the halls elsewhere in the day that, as with other cultural events, the 2019 audience was far from back. However, in the past, the mere name of the musical director, Kent Nagano, would have been enough to probably ensure half a room for an adventurous program.
That said, you shouldn’t give up. The evening concert, associating Scorpio by Murray Schafer, the Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff and ending with the glorious Bachianas brasileiras noh 7 the watch. The name of a long-awaited soloist had drained the crowd that Rafael Payare put in contact with a repertoire from which the OSM and the Metropolis had hitherto been very far apart. The formidable final fugue by Heitor Villa-Lobos, a gigantic homage to Bach, impressed a very attentive audience.
You certainly can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs, as the concert at the Stade showed, with its second-rate South American repertoire and a program that is too inaccessible. But there are ideas to be explored there, if indeed they are balanced. Chaining the discoveries, the Virée must also have been unusually demanding for the orchestra, and a piece as brilliant as Scorpio by Schaffer, rhythmically tricky, even if very professionally played, deserves the framework and pace of preparation for the regular season.
The soloists of both concerts lived up to their reputation: Jeanine De Bique, with magical expressiveness and vocal range in Barber, and Bruce Liu with verve and wit in the Rhapsody of Rachmaninoff. He played in encore a dazzling Study op. 10 No. 5 of Chopin.
From now on, the Orchester symphonique de Montréal will return to the Fifth Symphony by Gustav Mahler which will be recorded this week.