The Orchester symphonique de Montréal concert on Friday evening was one of the events of the musical season. Chef Bernard Labadie has lived up to his reputation in Creation by Haydn.
The last performance in Montreal of this flagship oratorio by the Austrian composer dates back to a year before the start of the pandemic, with the Violons du Roy and its conductor Jonathan Cohen.
This time it was the conductor emeritus of the Violins who was on stage at the Maison symphonique, but with the OSM and its choir, as well as soprano Miah Persson, tenor Andrew Haji and bass James Atkinson.
As with Les Violons du Roy, Labadie judiciously opted for a pianoforte to ensure the recitatives, giving it, however, in the other pieces, a place which seemed to us more discreet than with Cohen.
The orchestra, led by associate concertmaster Olivier Thouin, did a marvelous honor to this not always easy score, especially for the strings.
The choir, made up of professionals, was quite impressive, showing real ease in the treble (even in the held it) and the vocalizations (amazing Stimmt an die Seiten).
Beautifully executed
Labadie may well direct seated, his direction retains the freshness of a young man. We may well find that such a perennial could have been slightly more impassioned (the trio with choir Der Herr ist groß in seiner Macht or the choir Vollendet ist das große Werk) or such a more balanced andante (aria with chorus Nun schwanden vor dem heiligen Strahle), these remain details in this large fresco magnificently executed by the chef.
The overture, depicting the chaos preceding the divine spark, is a veritable technicolor tableau, with every detail of this rich largo standing out in three dimensions. The sounds of the strings sometimes seem to come from another world, as in the recitative of Uriel In vollem Glanzewhere gently sepulchral basses are heard pianissimo before the Mit Leisem Gang.
Bernard Labadie also brings out the different figurative elements of the score, such as this abyssal C sharp of the double basses representing the dull roar of the whales, or the Leviathan letting out a few cries of the contrabassoon, to the surprise of several members of the public.
We must also mention the trio of soloists, to whom is entrusted the lion’s share in the oratorio. Swedish soprano Miah Persson is something of a hybrid between fellow mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (who she even physically resembles) and soprano Gwyneth Jones. A beautiful voice in general, but also quite acid at times. It seems to us that this work benefits from being entrusted to a more crystalline voice.
We have often said all the good things we think of the Anglo-Canadian tenor Andrew Haji, whom we are lucky enough to hear relatively often in Quebec. He too lived up to his reputation, with a voice that was always round and light, well projected, and excellent diction.
A great discovery that British bass-baritone James Atkinson, a voice that seems to reconcile opposites: powerful and soft at the same time, fine and full-bodied at the same time. Hopefully we’ll hear it again.
The concert is given again this Saturday at 2:30 p.m.