The first meeting of Homework with conductor Mélanie Léonard was musical. A shock, with the transfiguration of a work: the Concerto for cello noh 2 by Latvian Peteris Vasks. “With Stéphane Tétreault, we had an easy, instinctive organic communication,” she recalls. If this interpretation was exceptional, it was because it radically changed the perspective on a work created a few years earlier. Score of 35 minutes, “Presence” (its title) suddenly increased to 50 minutes.
“Our interpretation was more reflective, but it’s a very valid proposition. This is what came naturally to us. What gives the weight of an interpretation is not measured in duration: there was a real impact in the reception by the listeners, but also in what happened on stage”, analyzes the conductor, that we will find in Symphonic womena documentary broadcast on March 8 on ICI Artv, and which will hold the OSM baton this week for the first time.
The determined and conscientious chef will lead the Symphony of New world by Antonin Dvořák, associated with the opening Hiawatha by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and The Spark Catchers (2017) by the British Hannah Kendall, which evokes the life of workers in a match factory. “All three works have a connection to literature, Coleridge-Taylor and Dvořák having been inspired in part by Longfellow, and The Spark Catchers from a poem by Lemn Sissay, Poet Laureate of the 2012 London Olympics.”
While we marvel at the strange coincidence that women chiefs are so often presented to the public in the Symphony of the new world (Xian Zhang at the OSM in 2020 and Alondra de la Parra at OM in 2019), as in the past, soloists who took the baton (Perlman, Vengerov, Znaider, etc.) were directed, either the 7and of Dvorak, i.e. the 5and of Tchaikovsky, Mélanie Léonard only sees it as a coincidence: “I cannot comment on past decisions. In my case, it happened by chance: the Ninth was in my proposals and there was a connection with the opening of Coleridge-Taylor. »
The musician, whose first contact with the famous symphony dates from when she was a violinist with the West Island Youth Symphony Orchestra, particularly likes two recordings of the Berlin Philharmonic, those with Rafael Kubelik and Herbert von Karajan.
Career
It was interesting to hear Mélanie Léonard on the current phenomenon of the almost weekly emergence of possible future new female stars of the orchestra, while the musicians who appeared a few years ago do not even seem to have time to s install and consolidate.
“I started professionally as conductor in residence with the Calgary Orchestra in 2009. I had this position for four years. The first two guest conductor engagements were the Metropolitan and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. I got my job at Sudbury in 2016. My contract ends this season, and I started on the 1er July 2021 at Symphony New Brunswick. My career as a guest conductor has developed a lot and I have conducted almost every major orchestra in Canada. I’m really happy and I hope it will continue, ”says the musician.
When asked if it is easy to cross the border and what is blocking her, she remains reduced to the following observation: “What is blocking, I would like to know, but I don’t have the answer. I continue to invest myself and develop links. »
In this sense, the coming week will be important for Mélanie Léonard: “Conducting a very large orchestra has an influence on the perception that people may have of you. And it is a very valuable baggage for the experience. After working with the OSM, I will be nourished. »
In the documentary Symphonic Women, we also discover a patient and methodical musician, who trains five times a week, works with a kinesiologist to “support the demands made on her body”. This reflection is present when one approaches his career. ” My focus is about what I can change: my preparation, my maturity which goes through personal development. The depth of the human experience feeds the interpretation, the way of interacting with the musicians and the public. These are parameters over which I have control because they are parameters on which I can invest. I can’t control the market. I am happy. My career has grown like a crescendo and I’m enjoying it. I was able to absorb and learn lessons. »
Inspire men
How does an established chef see “La Maestra”, a women-only directing competition to be held in Paris in the coming week? Is this positive discrimination caricatural or desirable? “It is difficult to keep an eye on a situation in full evolution. There is more and more room for women in management. In my journey, I am aware that being a woman can inspire other women and contribute to the development of women in the world of orchestral conducting, but, at the same time, I would like to inspire as much men than women, just as I had female and male role models. »
“I would especially like to see the day when “it will be normal”, in the sense that equality will be so present for several years that we will not need to ask ourselves the question. Mélanie Léonard’s observation is that faced with the slow evolution of mentalities, there are two strategies. “Either we let things evolve organically, or we create reserved opportunities. I don’t have the exact answer on the right solution,” she concludes.
“I don’t know if it would have helped me either, she adds, because I never asked myself the question, never having considered myself a woman conductor. I always wanted to be a sincere and honest musician. Music called me and has always been the language through which I felt I was able to communicate with others in my most sincere way. It is my contact with the world and it is not linked to the fact that I am a woman. »