The Orchester symphonique de Montréal has no luck with its guest conductors this fall. After the replacement of Vasily Petrenko by Thomas Søndergård in October, it was around David Zinman to cancel his visit to Montreal. In his place: Briton Stefan Asbury, a specialist in contemporary music unknown to the battalion (as far as we are concerned). The choice could not be more judicious, because, like last month, the substitute made a faultless at the helm of the OSM.
From the first notes of the Piano Concerto No.o 2 in a major by Liszt, which Louis Lortie agreed to play instead of Schumann’s initially planned, we taste the way of sculpting the sound, the ductility of the line. But it is not yet time to take out the censer: many conductors make a favorable impression as accompanists, but then get lost in the symphonic main course.
Asbury is not one of them. Her Symphony no 15 in a major, opus 141, by Shostakovich compares favorably with the best recordings (Kondrachine, Haitink, etc.). He immediately finds the tone, a mixture of irony and lyricism, and digs into the countless contrasts of the score with consummate art. We have the impression that every note, every nuance passes through his whole body, and this, without ever putting too much. At the end of the initial Allegretto, he nods to the musicians, meaning “well done”. We also nod the cap.
The orchestra was not unworthy of the evening. The brass instruments impressed with their opulence, notably in the second movement of the symphony, but also in the concerto (the “Allegro deciso” part). The interventions of solo cellist Brian Manker in the two works on the program, however, seemed to us to lack projection, but our position in the room undoubtedly has a lot to do with it.
What about the soloist? Louis Lortie is a true piano poet. He proved it to us again yesterday. It is true that he sometimes seems exhausted in the most demanding passages of the score, but who would not be? Liszt without a sweat on his forehead would not be Liszt.
From her first intervention, Lortie gives us treble a satiny softness. In its first cadence, on the contrary, it makes the instrument roar. You would think you were hearing three orchestras.
At times, it transports us to the universe of Pilgrimage years (by the same composer), somewhere between the Obermann Valley and a Dantesque summit. The emotion is constant, immediate. The audience rightly gave him a warm ovation.
The concert, which was resumed this Thursday evening, will be webcast from December 7 to January 4.
Consult the concert page