When the mercury hovers below -15°C, it's tempting to hunker down indoors. The many Montrealers who braved the elements to venture to the Maison symphonique were rewarded in spades by the sensational young French pianist Alexandre Kantorow's rendition of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto no. 2 in G major.
Kantorow conjured sonorities ranging from the shimmering to the majestic. His left hand judiciously moved along a continuum from supportive to forceful; the resonance of the piano's bass sonorities was gorgeous. Kantorow's lengthy first movement tour de force cadenza was clean and transparent – no mean feat in this hall's lively acoustic. In the slow movement Concertmaster Andrew Wan and Associate Principal Cellist Anna Burden were knockouts. The hand-off from their string duo to the solo piano's initial entry was perfect, a testament to the musicianship of all collaborators. Meritorious contributions were made by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal's first and second horn players who flawlessly executed their brief moments in the spotlight. The final movement danced, the music leaping off the page. Conductor Kent Nagano engineered a thrilling conclusion to this concerto which has regrettably been all but eclipsed by its older B flat major sibling.