Review | Yannick Nézet-Séguin all fired up at the foot of Mount Royal

The evening of August 2 was eagerly awaited by Montreal music lovers, who turned out by the thousands to hear the Orchester Métropolitain play at the foot of Mount Royal. A good-natured concert that did not skimp on the quality of the content.

The fauna was much more diversified than that found at the Maison symphonique. Younger, more relaxed too. Some came with a stroller, others on a bicycle or even on a scooter. Young and old had brought their folding chairs or their blankets, but also food and drink. Near us, a person had even brought his dog, silent throughout the concert.

Despite the disturbing weather during the day, we were treated to a magnificent twilight disturbed only by a strong breeze making the tall trees of the land along Park Avenue dance.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who was introduced by host Pénélope McQuade, was himself in a festive fashion, wearing multicolored sports shoes and wearing short pants revealing a tattoo on his left calf. The artistic director of the Metropolitan even took the time to film the public and the orchestra for its subscribers on social networks.

Moving on to serious matters, he explained that he wanted to give an overview of what his ensemble is doing during the season. In addition to Symphony n^oh 5 by Beethoven, which obviously needs no introduction, the orchestra performed works by two living Canadian composers, Montrealer Airat Ichmouratov and Anishinabée Barbara Assiginaak, as well as a great musician of the 19^e century, Louise Farrenc.

The public also had the right to recall A Fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy, a tasty disco paraphrase of the first movement of the symphony that the Metropolitan had just performed.

The excerpt from the opening Cosmopolitan city by Ichmouratov placed at the start of the evening was judiciously chosen, with its catchy fanfares and its quotations of rigaudon, spoon included. There is a real science of orchestration in there with ideas to spare.

Leap almost two centuries back with the Scherzo and the Finale of the Symphony n^oh 3 in G minor by Louise Farrenc. It will be remembered that the latter, who has become fashionable in this era of reconciliation with historically minority groups, was a much sought-after piano teacher in mid-nineteenth-century Paris.^e century.

She didn’t usurp her place at the concert at all. The two excerpts from his Symphony n^oh 3 heard on Tuesday evening testify not only to a very secure profession (she had studied for several years with the great Antoine Reicha), but also to an admirable inspiration. The Scherzo in particular, with its stealthy side, is a good candidate to become an earworm.

We had already rented in these pages the brief piece As long as the river flows by Barbara Assiginaak, heard last year at the Maison symphonique. The composer, who attended the concert, transports us on a canoe in the middle of the St. Lawrence (“the path that walks” for the Aboriginal people) while the most diverse sounds rustle all around. A lush piece, of incredible richness, which makes us want to hear a more developed work by the Anishinaabe musician.

What can we say, if not, about this Symphony n^oh 5 of absolutely supercharged Beethoven that Nézet-Séguin served us? We can of course quibble over the tempos, which are generally very (too?) fast, even more so than on his very recent recording with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Many also jumped when they heard the conductor elude the climax ending the first ta-ta-ta-ta. A new musicological discovery? In any case, it energizes the discourse.

The musician runs it at breakneck speed, but his musicians follow him like one man. Ditto with the other three movements, all the more so with the last, which even significantly exceeds the metronomic tempo suggested by the composer. It’s Beethoven “on the speed”, but which takes your hair off and renews the look on this overplayed work.

A word on the technical side in closing. You obviously have to get used to the sound, which is not optimal, especially when the wind rushes into the microphones, but that’s part of the game. The video control however left much more to be desired, unexpected camera movements ( sudden zooms or pans) having occurred on numerous occasions during the evening.