How often does a professional orchestra concert showcase a couple of university students still in their twenties? Just such a scenario made for a memorable performance by Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain. Conductor Glass Marcano put her stamp on Dvořák's Symphony no. 9 in E minor, "From the New World", while pianist Tony Siqi Yun dazzled in Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto.
Marcano's conducting style fosters musicality. This attribute was paramount in her returning to the OM podium after making her Montreal debut less than six months ago. When this director's body sways (her trademark gesture), the orchestra dances along with her. Relative to her previous Montreal appearance, Marcano demonstrated improvement in more consistently controlling orchestral balance; throughout this performance all the musical lines could be heard. An augmented degree of trust between conductor and instrumentalists heightened spontaneity. Clearly, Marcano continues to hone her craft.
To further improve, Marcano needs to pay more attention to the woodwind and brass sections. For example, at the outset of the Dvořák, the assiduous attention to interpretive detail that was shown to the strings was conspicuously absent when the woodwind and brass sections stepped into the limelight. Secondly, in both the Dvořák and Prokofiev, marcato material needed more punch: sharper articulations, weightier accents. This shortcoming was acutely apparent in the rather pedestrian rendition of the opening section of the New World Symphony's Scherzo.
Toronto-born Yun is currently a graduate student at Juilliard. He conquered Prokofiev's daunting Third Piano Concerto with élan and startling aplomb. Yun achieved a degree of symbiosis with his orchestral collaborators that belied his relatively young professional career, as evidenced by a collective freneticism that was particularly well suited to this work. Hopefully Yun will learn to draw more power from the concert grand (think Sviatoslav Richter). This would have mitigated the balance issues between soloist and orchestra.
Some kudos for a few of the more seasoned musicians on stage: gorgeous ensemble playing by the OM's woodwinds, particularly in the first two movements of the Dvořák. The sumptuous string sonorities displayed in the slow movement of the New World Symphony made for some absolutely sublime moments. In Gabriela Ortiz's Kauyumari, which rounded out the program, the percussion section's verve pumped up the crowd.
From the audience's reaction, it was clear that Marcano has developed an impassioned Montreal following. Her joie de vivre is infectious.
