As Jean Dupré, the director general of the Orchester Métropolitain, put it in an impeccable speech, Sunday’s concert took on, by a combination of circumstances, a “most symbolic character”. Ukrainian-born pianist Serhiy Salov was called in to play the 1er Concerto by Liszt. On the last notes of the concerto, the native of Donetsk grabbed a flag of his country of origin hidden in the piano.
The Orchester Métropolitain had done things clearly and with dignity. “The musicians and the conductor are dedicating this concert to the Ukrainian population” had warned Jean Dupré, adding that “the arts are the best opposition to the canons”. The walls of the stage had been subtly lit in blue and yellow as a sign of solidarity and, in a warm message praising the prowess of his soloist who had agreed to replace André Laplante 12 hours before the first rehearsal, the young conductor Nicolas Ellis had the brilliant intuition to include a “solidarity thought for all Russians who never wanted this”.
resounding piano
Hats off to Serhiy Salov, winner of the Montreal International Music Competition in 2004, who made Quebec his adopted home. His name to replace André Laplante was obvious. Firstly because it was impossible to bring in a replacement from abroad, since until Monday any entrant can be randomly selected at the border for a PCR test and forced to isolate themselves between 24 and 72 hours. This is also what led to the cancellation of the concert by Jordi Savall and his musicians in Joliette on Saturday. They should have come from Boston, where they were playing the night before. Logical choice on the other hand, because this is really the repertoire where Salov excels. In 2013, he was the soloist on a Latin American tour with the OSM and Kent Nagano, playing the 2and Concerto by Liszt.
In fact, the performance almost went as if everything had been planned, even if Nicolas Ellis and Serhiy Salov did not seem on the same wavelength. The conductor lightens the pomp of the concerto, while the pianist does not let himself be asked to turn it into a great fantasy, rather unpredictable, which makes it relatively difficult to accompany, the conductor not being immune to a sudden acceleration. It is true that Liszt, with indications such as “strepitoso” (resounding), invites his soloist to excess.
Serhiy Salov took advantage of the fact that the last two notes of the concerto are intended for the orchestra alone to pull out of his piano a Ukrainian flag which he waved to applause. He then draped himself in it. Was it then necessary to take the microphone to, among other things, question Mayor Valérie Plante, ordering her to rename “Place d’Ukraine” the place designated by the pianist in undiplomatic terms such as what we understood to be the Russian Consulate? The artist was best inspired by playing the Nocturne op. 48 #1 of Chopin in which he had subtly instilled, after the exhibition, the Ukrainian anthem.
A remarkable leadership
Even if the concert was marked by symbols, the musical hero was undeniably Nicolas Ellis. The conductor has disentangled himself from two extremely formidable scores (notably on the rhythmic level): the Dances of Galanta of Kodály and the Symphonic dances by Rachmaninoff.
He imposed a certain musical mark, favoring the going to the build. Kodály’s episodes flowed subtly into each other while maintaining their sometimes raspy character. The orchestral outfit was excellent, Simon Aldrich remarkable on clarinet. We would have liked the trumpets to benefit from an elevation to stand out more in the final farandole.
In Rachmaninov, Ellis applied the same recipes with, in the end, a more bittersweet than tragic vision. Here, if there is death, it is in the form of a race to the abyss through dances; not in fear, by the stature and “wickedness” of the contours or the distortion of the colours. This is absolutely not our vision of this work, but it is very legitimate for a bubbling young performer. Its perspective was perfectly defended by a committed Metropolitan Orchestra.