A JOYOUS AFFAIR, BEYOND JUST THANKS
There was more to Dutoit’s return to the OSM than the glow of nostalgia
It was Dutoit’s debut in the Maison symphonique, a structure that would never have been built without his musical spadework.
Just like old times, until about eight bars into the Andante sostenuto section of Berlioz’s Le carnaval romain, where I believe I detected — if my memory was not playing me false — a few touches of rubato that I had never heard in the many, many performances of this rousing overture the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal gave in Montreal and on tour, in another century.
Before indulging in any further analysis, I should explain that the occasion was the return of Charles Dutoit to the orchestra with which he was once synonymous, as well as his debut in the Maison symphonique, a structure that would never have been built without his musical spadework. If the cheers heard on Thursday night in this presentation of Spectra Musique represented a consensus of thanks, they also constituted an authentic response to what was — nostalgia be damned — a very good concert.
Back to Berlioz, where the slow sequences seemed more thoughtprovoking than before, not that the fortissimos lacked anything in vitality. Dutoit has always had an innate sense of how to maintain momentum while taking in the scenery. If he now wishes to linger a little longer, this is his prerogative.
Something similar happened in Stravinsky’s Petrushka, a ballet that is essentially an essay in chaos. We heard the quirky colours of the 1911 version with less stress on propulsion. The Shrovetide Fair accepts all comers. Step right up, folks. There is no need to hurry.
A few Petrushka veterans were present, including flutist Timothy Hutchins, who filled the hall with his trademark sonority. Yet the contributions of the principal clarinet and tuba, relative newcomers, were of high calibre. Dutoit maintained a perfect aura of suspense in the mysterious final pages.
Indeed, there was not a moment when the Swiss conductor did not seem fully engaged, his arms pulsing broadly, his left hand sculpting phrases for the benefit of audience and orchestra alike. I spoke to a physician and longtime OSM follower at intermission who thought “miraculous” was not too strong a word to describe what this 79- year- old was doing.
Was it sometimes too much? We have been conditioned by the purpose- driven, page- turning style of Kent Nagano. In La Valse, Dutoit reminded us through his choreography alone that Ravel’s exuberant score was written originally as a ballet. Yet what sounds emerged from the orchestra, the colours rich and the rhythms irresistible.
The main item of the first half was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Martha Argerich as soloist. If Dutoit has not aged a day, his Argentine- born ex- wife with a mane of grey hair seems to have gotten younger. Here was playing of consistent vitality, playful in its attention to exchanges between treble and bass and ravishing in the slow movement. The finale was a marvel of clarity, as was the encore, Scarlatti’s Sonata in D Minor K. 141 ( an Argerich specialty, as multiple YouTube postings attest).
One might suppose that a decade of Nagano schooling would have made for a lean and fastidious accompaniment, but strings were plush and woodwinds lyrical. Perhaps we will hear crisper trumpets and timpani in the repeat performance of Saturday night.
I would also vote for an encore other than Bolero in truncated form. As familiar as this warhorse is, it is a masterpiece that deserves a better fate. Judging by the audience reaction, my indignation was not widely shared.
As for Dutoit and the musicians with whom he used to be on hard terms, there was much handshaking, two- cheek kissing and general bonhomie. The young woman who brought flowers on stage got a triple peck. A Swiss practice, I am told.