An angelic soprano alights in Montreal

If your music director additionally holds the reins of two world class ensembles, then it opens the door for booking superstar soloists to perform with your orchestra. On this occasion Yannick Nézet-Séguin brought soprano Angel Blue to Montreal to perform a pair of Samuel Barber compositions with the Orchestre Métropolitain.

Prior to the diva taking the stage, the OM premiered Montrealer Keiko Devaux's [inaudible] which explores abstract melodic, harmonic and rhythmic figments derived from the composer's personal reminiscences. The work weaves innovative sonic threads to fabricate an ethereal tapestry. Its cliff-hanger ending was particularly effective.

From a work that represents aural memories, the OM moved on to Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, which portrays childhood recollections of loneliness and wonder. The trio of Mélissa Tremblay (oboe), Martin Carpentier (clarinet) and Michel Bettez (bassoon) immediately set a mood reflective of halcyon summer days. Angel Blue, who took full advantage of her uncanny knack for fostering connections with orchestral collaborators and audience members alike, offered a dulcet interpretation that worked beautifully. The decision to place Blue behind the string section resulted in it being difficult at times to decipher the text. The OM's sensitive accompaniment was an integral element of this rendition, which was the evening's highlight.

Blue turned next to a work that has been associated with her idol Leontyne Price, whose delivery of Cleopatra's “Give me my robe” from Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra was one of the highlights from that opera's tumultuous premiere at the opening of the Metropolitan Opera's Lincoln Center venue. This evening Mélanie Harel's English horn solo set the stage for a passionate account, which inexorably drove all present towards a palpable state of anguish, precipitated in large measure by Blue exploiting her extensive vocal palette. 

Following the two soprano solos, it was time for the OM to step into the spotlight for Florence Price's Symphony no. 3 in C minor. Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra won a Grammy last year for their recording of this composition. Parts of the opening movement are reminiscent of a ballad from a Hollywood western. Here, and subsequently through much of the symphony, the large percussion section was instrumental in achieving many stylistic effects. With the exception of an excessively boomy bass drum, the OM percussionists were spot on. The schmaltzy slow movement benefited from the stellar section work of the three flutes and piccolo. In the course of the Juba, the temple blocks and trumpets combined to evoke the sensation of a gentle horse ride. The audience ate it up hook, line, and sinker. Nézet-Séguin went on to elicit 110% effort from each and every OM member in the symphony's concluding measures; block chords never sounded so riveting. A listener can only experience the thrill that accrues from this level of orchestral synergy at a live performance. Hats off to Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain for reaching these heights.