The rate of medical interventions undertaken to evade the aging process is rising meteorically. The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal's decision to launch its season with a musical depiction of a tale related to the perils of striking a bargain with the devil in order to maintain youth and vigour is certainly apropos. The OSM exuberantly evoked the seductive, fiery and ominous passions of Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust.
The stark contrasts in moods engineered by Music Director Rafael Payare were impressive, as was the breadth of the palette of tone colours deployed. For example, listeners were instantly teleported from the exhilarating Hungarian March to the despair that characterises the opening of the subsequent Chant de la Fête de Pâques.
Unfortunately on occasion climactic episodes were marred by raucous brass and percussion playing. Having a nuclear option doesn't mean that it should be deployed on a regular basis. Furthermore there were times, such as in both the Hungarian March and The Race to the Abyss, where the orchestra peaked too soon.
To be fair, Payare’s reading was resplendent with a multitude of glorious moments, owing in no small measure to the vocal soloists who all hail from across the pond. Ashley Riches' acting chops came to the fore in his entertaining portrayal of Brander. The stentorian Sir Willard White was a daunting Mephistophélès. Karen Cargill was a standout as Marguerite, especially captivating in her King of Thulé aria. The evening belonged to tenor Andrew Staples, who was a tour de force as Faust, having held the audience in the palm of his hands throughout. His duet with Cargill was the high point of the concert.
Also impressive vocally was Andrew Megill's OSM Chorus. The women shimmered as Gnomes and Sylphs; the men rollicked in the Drunkards’ Song. Les Petits Chanteurs de Laval, under the tutelage of Philippe Ostiguy, contributed in no small measure to the exquisite overall choral timbre achieved in the oratorio's closing section.
The OSM instrumentalists rose to the lofty level of their vocal counterparts. Kudos to both the flute and first violin sections, and to the solo viola who so enticingly supplemented Cargill's lyrical lines in The King of Thulé.
A cabal of Montreal diehards might take umbrage with the decision to launch the season with Romantic French repertoire, which had constituted the pinnacles of the Charles Dutoit era, but Payare and the OSM’s 2025-2026 roster can hold their heads high regarding any such comparison.
