ORCHESTRE MÉTROPOLITAIN IN FINE FORM
This was by no means the debut of Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the Dortmund Konzerthaus. The globe-trotting conductor is a popular figure in the former industrial hub of the Ruhr Valley, and will return this season with both the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
This was, however, the Dortmund debut of the Orchestre Métropolitain, not to mention the first performance by Montreal’s not-so-second orchestra outside Canada.
Hearty cheers for Elgar’s Enigma Variations, the redoubtably English conclusion to an otherwise Franco-Québécois program, suggest the penultimate instalment of this seven-concert whirlwind tour of Europe, Saturday in Paris, might also have its moments. You can watch the concert starting at 2:30 p.m. Montreal time on the Mezzo Live HD pay-TV service.
So can the rest of the world, although one must resist the temptation to exaggerate. Not that the players were in a particularly subdued state of mind in Dortmund.
“As you can tell, everybody is excited to be here,” Nézet-Séguin said after the first rehearsal. “The nervosité that I could feel a few months and weeks ago has given way to eagerness.”
Which, in turn, gave way to excellence in a variety of repertoire. The start was Pierre Mercure’s Kaléidoscope of 1948, a certifiable Canadian classic, but not one heard lately in Dortmund. Colours were as ample as the title.
Then came Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été song cycle with contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, undoubtedly a Québécoise, but also something close to a star in France. Lustrous tone conspired with daringly slow tempos to create a hypnotic experience.
Which, happily, the crowd snapped out of to produce shouts of approval and strong, steady applause. On the fourth curtain call, Lemieux ventured a low bow to acknowledge the recognition.
Next, Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Jean-Guihen Queyras, a Montreal-born Frenchman, taking the title role nobly. The justly vaunted skill of the orchestra as an accompanying ensemble (notably for the Opéra de Montréal) again came in handy.
But the true showpiece for the OM was the Elgar, which makes masterly use of both solo and concerted music. There were splendid contributions from various parties, with special mention owing the cello, clarinet, timpani and viola.
Nimrod in this acoustically superb facility of 2002 was sustained at a true pianissimo. The combined violas and cellos in the “B.N.G.” variation turned the off-white walls of the dauntingly modern shoebox into something like walnut, maybe mahogany.
There was only one full rehearsal overseas, and a productive one it was, in equal parts goodhumoured and hardworking.
“People should be dedicated and play well, yet also feel something joyful, like a bunch of friends rehearsing chamber music,” the conductor explained. His philosophy obviously works. “He knows how to get the best from everyone,” Lise Beauchamp, the long-serving principal oboe, said backstage. “That is why we have confidence.”
The orchestra, which combines a core of 51 regulars with extras to form a travelling cohort of 89, surely also took heart from the welcome they received.
At a reception after the concert, Nézet-Séguin presented the mayor of Dortmund, Ullrich Sierau, with the baton he used in the concert.
“Maybe with your council members it will work even better,” quipped the conductor.
“I doubt I can handle it as well as you,” Sierau replied.
Also on hand was Canadian ambassador to Germany Stéphane Dion, who decided to toss his speaking notes.
“The reaction of the audience was so spontaneous and so sincere, I don’t know what I can add,” the former federal cabinet minister said.
He thought of something: “We need to have more harmony in the world.”
The presence of the dignitaries could be explained by NézetSéguin’s former status in Dortmund as Exklusivkünstler, resident artist. The Sunday concert was his 23rd in the Konzerthaus.
Further receptions awaited in Rotterdam, of whose Philharmonic Nézet-Séguin is the outgoing principal conductor, and in Paris, where the tour concept, rich in concertos, had its beginnings.
Other stops: Cologne (the Philharmonie, a fan-shaped amphitheatre of 1986), Amsterdam (the illustrious Concertgebouw of 1888) and Hamburg (the spanking-new waterfront complex known as the Elbphilharmonie). The Paris Philharmonie is another newbie, opened in January 2015.
In a curious way, the OM’s long history of playing outreach concerts in off-brand churches and auditoriums on the island of Montreal has prepared it for a high-end European campaign.
“We are accustomed to playing in various halls,” said tuba principal Alain Cazes, one of a few founding members of this 37-year-old ensemble. “The difference is that these halls are very good.”
And in some cases, unforgiving. The Enigma Variations, notwithstanding the title, leave little doubt of the calibre of an orchestra.
“Every soloist has a chance to shine, but also the collective,” Nézet-Séguin said of the score of 1899, which he chose in part to express the British heritage of Canada.
YNS has made reference to more touring with the OM. Which implies a continuing relationship with the orchestra that hired him in 2000.
“The talks have not started about 2021,” Nézet-Séguin said, referencing the year when his OM contract expires, when he will be busy as music director of both the Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra. “I guess they will start soon.
“The way I see this growing and developing, if I can tour these great halls with my orchestra, record for Deutsche Grammophon and ATMA, and have the orchestra deliver, to even greater heights, in every concert, why would I leave?”
Arthur Kaptainis is following the Orchestre Métropolitain at the invitation of the orchestra. For information on the Mezzo Live HD broadcast of Dec. 2 and repeat broadcasts go to mezzolivehd.tv.